Sorry to be late with publishing today’s addition to the “go bag” we’re building together, one day/item at a time, here during Washington State Disaster Preparedness Month. Part of the reason we’re late is coverage of one of the smaller “disasters” that might wreak a little havoc in your life – or a lot: This afternoon/evening’s West Seattle power outage.

Usually, if an outage strikes, it’s a few hours at most. Then, there’s a situation like the windstorm power outages of December 2006, when some in West Seattle lost their power for more than a week (left). And if a major catastrophe like a big quake hit – it might take a lot longer to get it back, and, unlike those post-storm days, there might NOT be anywhere nearby where the power stayed on.

So, here we are on Day 6 of bag-building. (Remember, you can catch up at any time – any way that works for you – the goal here is just to get SOME preparedness into your life/home.) From Cindi Barker of West Seattle Be Prepared:

Today you should put “comfort” items in your bag. Toys for children, a deck of cards, a book, the things that can keep you busy should you have to evacuate to a shelter.

Bonus preparedness info: Cindi says the Seattle Times (WSB partner) earthquake story linked here the other day had a companion “pullout page” in the Sunday print edition – and now that guide can be seen online.

Catching up? Our previous PACK YOUR BAG! installments are archived here, newest to oldest.