Are you Prepared?

[PurpleChicken]

This may sound harsh but it's my honest opinion. Take it or leave it.

I believe a large catastrophe would be "historically" a good thing for this country. We rely too heavily on the government which will do fine at defending us from an invasion. Our police forces are generally useless too. We've become fat, lazy and ignorant.

Lets for example just say we were hit with a hurricane that leveled the continental U.S.. I know this is not possible but for the point of discussion it would work. I'd rather not ponder a nuclear or terrorist attack or the breakdown of our currency.

So, all our communications and transportation systems are out. The electrical and water grids are shut down. We are on our own. What now? For the people living in urban areas well, I don't know. However, the people in more rural areas will need to band together and form REAL communities, the same way humans have always done it. You see, I believe this is where many of us would shine. Sure there will be armed gangs, especially in the cities, but out farther bands of people will join together for a common good. That is our nature. After Katrina the news agencies were more than happy to show people looting Walmart. What they failed to show was the vast majority of people working together and in service of others.

Yes there would be a lot of death, especially in the first few months as people in the cities starved and killed each other off. This would happen in the country too, just not nearly to the same degree. People who relied on prescription meds would find many of those meds aren't as important as they believed they were while others would sadly pass.

We as Americans have this idea of the "Lone Wolf" inspired by our culture and folklore. However, the funny thing about wolves is that they hunt in packs.

 

[warmfuzzies]

Quote:
That is what makes me so sad... our immediate family is blessed to not have any medical needs, but there are so many things we take for granted. We have many extended family members and friends that are diabetic, and then there are other medical needs we take for granted. Asthma, transplant patients, etc. My MIL had open heart surgery for a hole in her heart, which is really a pretty commen event as far as medical issues go, and they told her she would be on heart medication for the rest of her life. She is off of it now, but most arent. There are so many things we take for granted, from the availability of antibiotics to the ability to communicate with family members.

 

[PineappleMama]

Just a random tidbit... I had a boss once who at one time lived on a little island (want to say Caribbean) for quite a while. She said that down there they didn't have 'luxuries' like water piped in from a big town. They didn't even have a well. They had cisterns. Given the rainfall in the area it was enough. And to keep the water clean for human consumption, cooking and cleaning they just dumped bleach into the cistern every so much every so often.

Donno if that's remotely safe according to science, but she lived through it... *shrug* I reckon in an emergency, if my only water was creek that I might just break down and use bleach ... though I'd rather have tablets/electric sanitizer and/or boiling.

But, in general a cistern isn't a bad idear. If you can afford one it's a good way to squirrel away water during the rainy times (IE May down here) for the dry times (IE June, July, August) so you have water for your crops/lawn without 'wasting' water. And, in case of an emergency you would have a bit of a water bank to fall back on... maybe.

Anyone know anything about this? Bleach is fairly cheap, and can be stored for quite some time... if it is safe then that seems to be a fairly inexpensive and easily obtained option.

 

[Prettiest Frog]

Quote:
Please don't get angry, but this is scary to me.

People die in short emergencies. The thought that an emergency of a month is not extended is amazing to me. Do you have a clean water source for a month? That means at least a gallon a day, drinking water only. Do you have a way to dispose of your sewage, without contaminating other's water? What will you eat? What will you do when others come to take your chickens and other animals to eat them? How will you wash your hands? What will you do if you get the flu or a cut? How will you heal a infected wound without antibiotics? What will keep looters from coming into your home and killing you ALL for your last loaf of bread? These things are not speculation or extremism.

Actually, they are both speculation and extremism. And, in some cases, a sort of twisted, self-indulgent desire, pride, and hope. Some folks disapprove of society and thus hope it will be destroyed. A few actually have plans to destroy it. They figure because they are the smart ones who are prepared, they then can rebuild society as they want it and get rid of all the types of people and attitudes they don't like. Note: I am NOT accusing anyone on this board of this, just discussing behavior I have observed among a certain sect of survivalist-types. I have a cousin who joined a militia, and honestly, those people are fricken SCARY.

But yeah, anything over a month, and to be honest, even that month, is speculation and extremism. I don't think a lot of people realize just how large and diverse the US really is, and how many totally redundant systems there are to fall back on.

Panicking - I've seen it in a building fire, where doors opened in, but the panicking people kept pressing up against the doors so they couldn't get them open. So they all died because they couldn't calm down long enough to step back and open the doors. I also knew a guy who had never experienced an earthquake before. There was a little tremor (3.0, maybe) and he freaked out and ran down the stairs, tripped, and broke his leg. 3.0 isn't enough for the natives of the area to get out of bed. There is also things like evacuating when you don't need to and thus clogging up the transportation system for people who actually do need to evacuate and for rescue personnel. Or trying to go into an area that is being evacuated and causing the same clogs plus adding yourself to the list of people who need to be rescued. And during the riots, instead of going back into their houses and avoiding the commotion, people ran to their front yards with guns waving and thus incited violence.

You should listen to the people who have survived through hurricains and earthquakes.

To date:

Four major earthquakes, two tornadoes, two hurricanes, eight forest fires, four mudslides, two riots, one blizzard, and three floods. And some military action.

Been there, done that.​

 

[warmfuzzies]

Everyone here used to have cisterns. They were big holes dug into the ground and lined with concrete. They are still there in most places, and they are pretty dangerous, but very useful. Some people still use them. They hauled water from those fortunate enough to have a well. I think they just used them as they were, without treating the water. But it came from a well, not rain water. A cistern is a great idea, especially if you have a lot of rain in the spring, or if you set up a rain-water collection system on your roof. (My personal dream.

) You could get enough to water you animals and garden all summer off a few rains. (Of course that does depend on your house size)

I read somewhere that you can figure 2 gallons of water per square foot, with an inch of rain. So a 1000 sq ft house would give you 2000 gallons of water if you had a 1" rain. I am not sure where I got those figures, I think from Gaiam. It doesnt matter how steep your roof is, only how many sq ft of flat area there is.

You would have to be set up to handle a LOT of water in the spring, a rain barrel would not do it. That is where the cisterns come in.

 

[warmfuzzies]

"Prepper" Interesting, I didn't know there was a name for "us".... how kind.

I can't answer your question, because I am not going to have either of those scenarios happen to me. If there was that chance, I would plan for it. The only one of those that could happen to me, would be a home fire, not a forest fire. That is not a disaster, and there would be plenty of community help and family help in that instance.

And I think part of preparing for a disaster would be preparing mentally for the possibility of an evacuation- being organized, having a plan, and knowing where everything you need to take is. It is not all about stockpiling, you know.

I ask you please to not get this thread locked. If you disagree, stay out of it. That's what we are supposed to do on political and religious threads, and this seems to be just as controversial.

 

[CedarRidgeChicks]

 

[Goose and Fig]

Quote:
You're right on so many levels. I felt a little guilty for thinking it- but then I heard Bill Clinton talking about Haiti in NPR. They were asking him if this(earthquake) was going to eliminate all the progress they had made there in the last few years. His response was something like- well- it is a setback, and the loss of life is trulely tragic, but it is also an opportunity for them.

How many times in history have there been disasters & plagues that wiped out thousands if not millions of people? And humanity always finds a way to bounce back.

 

[WalkingWolf]

This topic could turn ugly but I hope it does not. As others have said we are wayyyyy toooo dependent on government and it cannot solve our woes. On top of that we are so woefully out on a limb with borrowing that we will not be able to borrow in time of great need. IMO the only time we should borrow money from outside our borders is for war or catastrophe.

I do not know when, but the scientific community agrees we will be hit with a major event of proportion we have never known or could imagine. It could be the eruption of YellowStone, it could tsunami on either coast wiping out the whole coast or the plates could shift so bad we could see the pain Haiti is feeling across the whole nation. It is time to wake up, it is time to stop the madness and balance the budget and prepare a fund for ONLY disaster relieve. It is time for us all including the government to act responsibly.

Haiti and Katrina though very small, and that is not meant to diminish it, is just the way it is, should be a wake up call.

 

[Boyd]

I did qualify my earlier statement for preps or a Bug out location... in my case my house is better than many instances than any bug out location I could have for in this state. I do have one, but my house is my primary. The only way my house could burn is from the inside out.. There are no large trees that could catch fire and fall into the roof in event of a forest fire... flooding has been addressed many years ago with a back hoe and almost 1/2 acre re-countoured, p gravel put down then topsoil over top of that. Any water will run around the house.

So I am pretty safe here. I have close to 1000 yards open for 300 degrees.

I jokingly refer to myself as a crazy survival guy, as well as one of the many colorful names my dad gave me, but honestly its helped. Like I said in an earlier post.. I've been without a paycheck for almost 13 months. Yes my supplies are down and I need to restock, but what money I do have saved up, I haven't had to blow a bunch of it on food. And we all eat really well.