How to prepare for a disaster

Earlier this week, I found myself in a small New York hotel as it was hammered by Hurricane Sandy.

During a particularly violent blast of wind, the glass from a lobby window shattered and I thought, probably for the first time in my life, that a disaster emergency kit might not be a bad idea. In fact, it might be a very good idea as weather extremes become the "new normal."

Now I’m safely back in Canada, I am assembling my own natural disaster emergency kit. Here is what I have pulled together for a (very) rainy day: