After-the-Quake Survival : Californians Have Been Jolted Into Reality; Here’s What to Buy and Where to Buy It

Green tags now identify such “earthquake preparedness items” as flashlights and batteries, first-aid kits and fire extinguishers on the shelves of California’s Sav-on drugstores. A Sunset Boulevard carwash sells 20 earthquake car kits a week. And Harvey Enterprises of West Covina reports that weekly sales of emergency kits have climbed from 500 to 1,200 a week since June’s big shakes.

Are complacent Southern Californians finally getting prepared since the 7.5 Landers and 6.6 Big Bear quakes? It seems so.

“Usually after an earthquake, the emergency kits sell fairly well, then taper off,” says Bob Bush, owner of Sunset Car Wash in West Hollywood, who has sold emergency kits for cars, schools and homes since the 1987 Whittier quake. “But these last ones caused people to get a little religion.”

The 72-hour emergency kits come in various sizes and prices, ranging from $16.95 for a one-person kit to $220 for four people. Most are packaged either in nylon bags or heavy cardboard boxes.

You can put together a three-day, one-person kit yourself for about $25, but you may have to go to several stores to find all the items. If there are more than two people in your household, you can assemble an earthquake survival kit for about half the cost of a ready-made one.

A one-person 72-hour basic survival kit should include: six emergency drinking water pouches, one S.O.S. Emergency Food Ration bar, first aid kit, thermal emergency blanket, a flashlight, a portable radio, extra batteries, tissues, wet wipes and waste bags.

Water pouches and food bars, which are approved by the U.S. Coast Guard and are good for five years, can be purchased in most sporting, camping or surplus stores and are dated to ensure freshness. Whether you buy a prepared kit or do one yourself, be sure to check dates on the packages. Each should include the date the pack was prepared and an expiration date.

The emergency food bars, which the U.S. Coast Guard stocks in lifeboats, each provide 3,600 calories over a three-day period. But don’t expect a gourmet treat. They taste like unbaked coconut cookie dough.

“They’re loaded with sugar and fat,” says Dan Sonenfeld, general manager of California Surplus in Hollywood. “But that’s what you’ll need.” If you don’t think you’ll like the S.O.S. bar, Sonenfeld recommends stocking “several MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) to get you through. That’s what the Army uses, and they taste better than they look.”

Each MRE kit (about $8.95) includes a meal and utensils, tissues, toilet paper and matches. But they take up a lot more space than the emergency food bar.

If you decide to stock a full 72-hour food supply in your home, nutritionists recommend including two servings of canned meat, poultry or fish, two servings of milk, four servings of fruit and vegetables and four servings of breads and cereals per person per day. Add four extra servings of milk for each child during the three-day period.

Store a minimum of two quarts of water daily for each person.

A comprehensive booklet published by the University of California Cooperative Extension includes a detailed list of emergency food supplies for a family of four for a two-week period. If there are pets in the household, include extra water for them, a can of food per pet for each day and a bag of dry food.

Choose nutritious foods you and your family are familiar with--an emergency is no time to experiment with different foods--and select food that will keep for at least six months in a cool, dry place.

“You could probably go as long as 18 months before rotating your emergency food supply, but we recommend rotating every six months,” says Evelyn Tribole, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the California Dietetic Assn. “It shouldn’t be stored above the stove--that’s too hot--or under the sink where there might be chemicals.”

Tribole also recommends dating food items so you’ll know how often to restock your supply.

“If there is an earthquake or other emergency, they should eat the most perishable items first--those in the refrigerator and freezer,” Tribole says.

With no electricity, food in a refrigerator will last only a few hours, according to recommendations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Frozen food in a fully stocked freezer will last two days. If the freezer is only half full, food will last only one day. Food will stay frozen longer in a partially filled freezer if you group packages of food together so they act like a block of ice.

If you include freeze-dried foods in your emergency supply, remember they must be cooked with water or with liquid from canned vegetables.

Select the can or jar size of foods for an emergency to fit your family’s needs each day. For one person, choose single serving portions so you won’t have leftovers that will spoil quickly without refrigeration. For breakfast variety, choose single serving cereals in four or 10 packs.

Preparedness experts recommend storing sterilized whole fluid milk or canned evaporated milk instead of dry milk powder, which requires rehydration. Or, you can find small boxes of liquid milk in some markets. Be sure to use these before the expiration date and then replace them.

Try to make the majority of food you store edible without cooking. Or include in your emergency supplies a Sterno stove, a long-burning candle you can use for cooking or a propane stove.

If you don’t want to include a couple of saucepans, you can store an empty three-pound coffee can to use as a cooking container. Keep a supply of waterproof matches in your kit.

Remember to keep a manual can opener and an all-purpose knife with your foodstuffs, as well as a supply of plastic cups, plates and utensils.

“Be sure to have some fun foods, too,” says Tribole. She recommends instant puddings, nuts and dried or canned sugar-free fruits. “In three days, what you eat is not going to make or break you.”

* For a copy of the California Dietetic Assn. booklet, “Nutrition Survival Plan: A Food Guide for Emergencies, Big and Small,” send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Nutrition Survival Plan, 3170 4th Ave., Third Floor, San Diego, Calif. 92103.

* For a copy of the University of California Cooperative Extension’s “A Food Plan for Emergencies,” send $1.75 to: ANR Publications, University of California, 6701 San Pablo Ave., Oakland, Calif. 94608. Make checks payable to UC Regents.

72-Hour Meal Plan for One Person: $25

DAY 1

Breakfast: Dry cereal with milk (buy single-serving boxes).

Grapefruit juice (buy six-pack of small cans).

Coffee or tea.

Lunch: Medium-sized can of beef stew.

Dried fruit.

Whole-grain bread.

Fig cookies.

Milk.

Dinner: Remaining stew. Cook some rice in the liquid from a can of stewed tomatoes. Add the tomatoes to the rice and stew.

Whole-grain crackers or rye crisp.

Small can of pears.

Coffee or tea.

DAY 2

Breakfast: Whole-grain bread with honey.

Dry cereal with milk.

Dried fruit.

Coffee or tea.

Lunch: Canned chop suey.

Small can of peaches.

Crackers or rye crisp.

Coffee, tea or juice.

Dinner: Freeze-dried spaghetti with meat sauce. Cooks in 1 1/2 cups of water.

Small can of zucchini.

Cookies.

Coffee, tea or milk.

DAY 3

Breakfast: Dry cereal with milk.

Grapefruit juice.

Coffee or tea.

Lunch: Ready-to-serve canned chicken noodle soup.

Crackers with peanut butter.

Raisins.

Coffee, tea or milk.

Dinner: Tuna fish salad. (Use packet of mayonnaise saved from a fast-food restaurant.)

Small can of green beans.

Rye crisp.

Cookies.

Coffee or tea.

These Foods Can Save Your Life

Top 10 long-lasting staples you should have in your emergency food supply:

1. Pastas and rice.

2. Peanut butter.

3. Canned fruits and vegetables.

4. Canned meat, fish and poultry.

5. Canned stew.

6. Powdered or canned milk.

7. Canned or dried beans (instant beans--just add water--are available in many markets).

8. Dry cereals.

9. Canned or dried fruits.

10. Canned all-purpose biscuits.

Source: California Dietetic Assn.