The March 11th earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan has California residents feeling more than a little vulnerable. I am willing to bet that more generators were sold this year than the last five years combined.

I’m starting to have clients, friends and even family members sharing information on food storage and disaster preparation. It’s easy to get caught up in all the hysteria. The Japan disaster has only cemented what many California residents know in their hearts: if it can happen there, it can happen here.

It is important to keep things in prospective. Being a member of the “over 50” crowd, I can remember all the hype about building bomb shelters, and the tornado drills in school; let’s not forget the Y2K threat, which turned out to be far more hype than substance.

That’s not to say we should be caught unprepared, but rather to be sensible. In an ideal world, you should get to know your neighbors (if they are long-term residents or locals), or work together with relatives living in close proximity to purchase and store items that can be shared in an emergency.

I remember that when growing up, I lived a short time with my Aunt and Uncle. I learned a great deal about growing vegetables and how to preserve them. She worked hard all summer long and would have five years worth of canned goods in the root cellar. She was proud of her work and took great pride in properly preserving her food. I’m certain that much of the food she put up would still be edible today.

If you are ready to consider getting better prepared for an unexpected disaster. I’ve collected some helpful links. Be sure to share your favorite disaster preparation links.

• Disaster Preparedness Checklist – TheEpicenter.com has compiled a list to help you prepare for an emergency.
• Emergency Preparedness – Are You Ready? provides a step-by-step approach to disaster preparedness by walking the reader through how to get informed about local emergency plans, how to identify hazards that affect their local area and how to develop and maintain an emergency communications plan and disaster supplies kit.
• Putting Your Natural Disaster Kit Together – When putting together your own kit, consider the size of your family, your mobility, and the emergencies you are most likely to face. Understanding these factors will leave you better prepared.

We found many bulk food suppliers. We have no direct experience with any of these food distributors but we’d love to hear from anyone who has.

• The Survival Center
• PrepareWise
• Nitro-Pak
• Emergency Food Supply Kits
• Survival Acres

There were many more. At the very least I challenge you to give some thought on how you would survive a disaster where you live. It’s not a bad idea to make sure you have tools, guns and ammunition on hand as well. You may have to protect your family from looters or worse.

Don’t wait for a disaster to strike and find you unprepared. You may not be able to collect everything you will need but at least you will have an idea of how long your family can survive on it’s own if necessary. Explore your options today and plan a course of action, as much as you are able.

Being better prepared in an emergency situation can help ease your own mind and help you to be able to think more rationally, when those around you may be in a panic. Just don’t spend so much time worrying about a disaster that you don’t take time to enjoy today. You’ll be surprised how relieving it is simply to be aware that someone else has already thought through disasters such as this.