Hi Don - I think its best to plan for a 2 week excursion myself. I remember when we had the LA riots back in 92 - I though of the situation as a good dry-run for conditions after a quake and the level of preparation was deplorable - fires raging, trying to deploy National Guard, people shooting at eachother and on their roof-tops with guns. Lots of fires out of control and burning for days.

It took a few days for all the activity to die down but I thought it was a very poor showing of what to expect after a quake. The level of service from the local government left a lot to be desired - I don't think it will be much better in the event of a quake - I know that if there is really something bad our local police are just people too - they will worry about thier family and friends before they report to duty (I know a few police) - you can bet that most people will first worry about family then think about their jobs.

It;s my hope that when things get really bad that people will come together and help eachother - but the opposite is always a possibility - the 'haves' vs the 'have nots' - So having 2 weeks worth of food/water is always good - it might be enough for you as well as a few neighbors who haven't prepared. It surely doesn't hurt.

I think water is the easiest to have on hand - $4 for 5 gallons at Costco - it comes as 2- 2 1/2 gal water containers - a nice square box - easy to stack - each box has a date when it was filled - great to take camping or use in the house for rotation purposes. We always have at least 4-6 boxes of that water on hand, then add in the water heater and we've got about 70 gallons or so for 2 people (and our kitties).

There's no excuse not to have water at least on hand - there's bottled water everywhere!

Canie