It’s somewhat unfortunate that Norwalk’s Emergency preparedness education effort chose the cult name “Plan 9″ for the serious idea that there are 9 things that every household should have on hand for an emergency. The Ed Wood film, Plan 9 From Outer Space, is legendary–maybe for providing Don Rumsfeld with ideas for quotes. How can we forget, And remember my friends, future events such as these will effect you in the future…. Look, up in the sky, it’s a plane, it’s a bird, it’s a saucer!
Saucer?! You mean the kind from up there?
Yeah… or it’s counterpart… it was shaped like a huge cigar…
Norwalk’s Plan 9, alas, offers no aliens, zombies or B movie plots to kick off the weekend. Instead, according to the Hour, 9 essential items to have ready for a 72 hour events are:
Food, water, clothes, medicine, a flashlight, a manual can opener, radio, hygiene items and first aid material.
What, no duct tape?! Other items you might want to include, Maps of the area, flashlight, batteries, a fire-starter, toilet paper, and stuff to entertain you for a few nights in an emergency shelter. Reading material, cards, or all the personal documents that may be lost if your home gets wiped out by something, like the walking dead aliens from outer space.
Remember, electrical outlets will be few and not available. So any gadget that requires an electrical cord might not be able to be recharged. Having a spare fully charged battery for your cell phone might be a good idea.

