Earthquake Preparedness

dpugh0720 asks,

I live on the West Coast in earthquake country. I want to put together an earthquake kit filled with canned goods and water. I want to store these items in a shed in the back yard. I live in Riverside and it gets very hot in the summer. Is there a problem storing canned food and bottled water in temperatures up to 115 degrees? It would be a metal shed so the inside of the shed would probably be hotter than the outside. I have young children so I don’t want to risk harming them with canned foods that spoiled due to heat. Thanks.

Our Answer

Canned foods are heated to high temperatures to kill off bacteria during the canning process. As long as the cans don’t appear to be bulging or dented, or damaged in any other way, they should be fine for an emergency. I don’t know that I would store everyday use canned foods in that shed. Also, you might want to consider dried foods like rice, beans or even MRE’s (meals-ready-to-eat used by our troops while in the field) as an alternative. Good for you for being prepared!