January seems to be a time when weather is in the news. This is an El Nino year. Washington and Oregon have been hit by snow and freezing rain. California is being inundated with rain nearly every day. I expect to hear of mudslides and floods that accompany heavy rain in those parts of the company in the near future. The mountain west has frozen for the past few weeks, even the deserts of Nevada and Arizona face unusually cold weather. People in the midwest, especially Missouri, are recovering from flooding and tornadoes. The east coast has been unseasonably warm, receiving no snow and at the end of the year golfers, rather than skiers, have enjoyed their sport.

Those of us in the west are accepting the gift of moisture and praying for the safety of our loved ones. While much of the rest of the country suffered from floods and heavy storms, we in the west have faced severe drought. The sun has been lovely, but it is scary to watch our lakes, and our future water supply, dwindle. Water piping has been moved to deeper in Lake Mead to provide Southern Nevada with drinking water. We hope these rains refill our lakes and reservoirs, though the drought is so deep, meteorologists say we will need many years of El Nino rain to end the drought.

Reports of future disasters add to the jitters. Seismologists warn that the Pacific Northwest is a disaster waiting to happen when the tectonic plates “give” and cause major disaster along the northwest coast. Others are watching the dormant volcano in Yellowstone. Hurricanes regularly threaten Florida and the east coast, as well as the west coast. If you are fearful, you will stay far away from these possible disasters. When I read again about the Pacific Northwest, my first thoughts were “I’m not going to visit Washington or Oregon and I hope none of my family move there.

It would be easy to be frozen in fear of future events, never traveling, always fearful. Preparing for emergencies, with sufficient water and food for at least 3 days in a pack you can evacuate with would be wise. Stocking shelves with the January case lot sales makes sense. Having food, water, and cash on hand to use during an emergency of any kind would be valuable.

I doubt Eve was faced with scientific warnings of future disasters and would not have been frozen in fear of these. She didn’t have stores to run to if she ran out of food, so she would have spent the growing seasons preserving and storing food for the coming year. I believe she and Adam faced floods and droughts, and even felt earthquakes and saw volcanoes. They did all they could to be prepared for any emergency.

What about you? Are you prepared for an emergency? Will you allow your fears to prevent you from enjoying the coasts of the Northwest? More importantly, how are you staying safe in the January weather? Share. I’d love to hear from you.