Random thoughts - stocking up?

[AdamSmith22134]

Chernobyl, Fukashima and New Orleans (Katrina) are great classic examples of unpreparedness and denial on a large scale.

In the case of Chernobyl there was no warning of course, and so the USSR had to use busses to get the people to bug out fairly quickly, within a day or two.  The initial denial then was on the part of the plant managers and the government.  But eventually the USSR had to act, since they understand nuclear contamination better than anyone.

In the case of Fukashima there was about half an hour of warning between the quake and the tsunami.  That's about how long it would take me to load everything into my SUV if I hurry it -- maybe 15 minutes if I really hurry it.  Once again, the plant managers and the government played down the seriousness with a denial strategy.

In the case of New Orleans (Katrina) there was lots and lots of warning, with millions of people ignoring the danger completely, and many waiting until the last minute.  The highway jam-up is going to be the recurring snafu in cases like that because people drive like idiots and have accidents all the time.  And they are not even smart enough to get their own crashed rigs out of the way by themselves, they just sit there and wait for the highway patrol and a tow truck.  Again, there was denial on the part of the government, and the people were again left to themselves.  Even worse this time, some bozo mayor decided to send the police around to collect everyone's guns from them.

New Orleans was as close to a simulation of a complete zombie bugging-out scenario as there has been in a long time.  And approaching storms are usually the reason why.  I don't live in a hurricane zone; if I did, I would be bugging out every time one got close like that.  My toughest personal experience was 3 days of sheltering in place after the 1989 Loma Prieta quake.

During the 1989 quake here, I was living in a villa style apartment complex, with a central grassy quad in the middle of it.  One of the neighbors organized a bbq in the grassy quad for everyone to bring their own meat from their freezers before it spoiled.  It was great fun.  I cooked up and served white rice for everybody, in a Rice A Roni style with bouillon broth -- it tastes pretty good like that.

Everyone was happy and we sheltered in place for 3 days like that until the collapsed freeways were dealt with, and commerce could get back into our areas.  I had plenty of rice left over after feeding everyone for 3 days.

[ExCDNGuy]

Another (?from the sounds of it?) Utahn here - not native or Mormon but living here in the Salt Lake area now. For whatever reason - and this is NOT to bash on or advocate religion in any way  - the LDS (Mormon) Church does do a very good job of telling and urging its membership to be prepared for disasters etc. Whether that is because of some belief in Armageddon or some other biblical end of days scemario matters not, those preparations and the concept of self-reliance taking care of yourself and taking responsibility for your family and as such being prepared will benefit many local (Mormon) folks in the event of a natural disaster. 

Sidenote - Those supplies are also important or at least come in handy in a possibly more common situation outside of a natural disaster. EXAMPLE - last summer I came home one day to find the water turned off after a work crew hit or damaged a water main nearby. So, what to do for dinner and clean up? Got 2 of my older 2.5 gallon jugs of water out (due to be replaced a few months later) and filled a pot of water, made pasta and then used the rest of the jug to rinse off the dirty dishes. Jug #2 was used to wash up the kids, wash hands, brush teeth etc. By the morning the water was back on and life was normal - the supplies were helpful. 

On the disaster side, living in a seismically active area along the Wasatch Front Mountains, an earthquake and the resulting chaos and lack of infrastruture is a real worry and possibility at some point. For that reason, food, water and the ability to shelter in place for an extended period is important. I try to keep those supplies as well as camp stove fuel stocked and rotated as a "just in case" with the hope that I will never need them - much like I have a CCW and carry it with the hope that I never really need it (like car insurance). 

Being married to a practicing doctor (with her own health issues and our young kids as well) we certainly always keep a healthy supply of "just in case" personal medications but also other common medications of all types (not in violation of any DEA rules mind you for the record)  that could help those in need - friends and neighbors. 

The other thing I think of is "what about a toilet?"  I have a stand type thingy with a toilet seat and a big supply of bags to go under it that could be used for an indoor latrine allowing you to use it in a handy place like the garage and then bring the bags outside. Seems better than squatting in the yard in an urban neighborhood. 

Finally, don't forget about your pets - extra dog food for the pooch on hand.  The last thing you need if you shelter in place is a nervous dog with diarrhea caused by a sudden change in diet to people food.  Fido will be nervous enough - make sure you have his regular food.  My 2 cents. D.

[armoredman]

Adam, good info. Might have to try the rice thing.
ExCDNGuy, I agree, we had several incidents at one of the mobile home parks we lived in, (ditched the tornado bait several years ago, BTW), where idiot crews putting in new homes would screw up the water for hours if not days. We always have large supplies of non drinking water for flushing toilets. I say non-drinking because they are stored in plastic jugs in a dark garage for months at a time, and will be very stale. COULD be drunk in emergencies...wouldn't want to, but could. Potable water is stored in many other, rotated jugs.
I agree with the pet food thing - we have cans of both dog and cat food in the stash. If we "bug-in", we'll be able to feed our furry babies.

[1SOW]

re lack of potable household water.  I've been in a three-day+ disaster scenario with no power, water or communications (when only land lines/CB Radios were used).
Most people "forget" they have a 40-50 gallon Hot Water Tank full of 'potable' water.
Just reminding.

I built a 1000 gallon in-ground fish pond in the back yard that also serves for toilet use during an outage--which has happened twice here in suburbia.

[md02geist]

No, not the stuff for the Zombie Apocalypse, but for far more real events, hurricane, flood, other types of disasters that interrupt food supplies, power supplies and other luxuries of civilization we have grown so accustomed to over the years. Food, well, it was explained to me, is easy, even on a budget - one can of canned meat, bag of rice, other long term staple, just one or two, every shopping trip. Get a plastic big, tote, movable box, and start filling it. At the end of a year, you have a lot more food items than you thought was possible. You want to have the basics stashed, food, water, shelter, medical, energy - if you can. I'f seen cell phone chargers that work on small solar cells. Given the number of games, books music and other items to wile the time away that can be stored on a modern smart phone, this might be a good idea, even if service is interrupted, especially if you have children. Also solar chargers exist for almost all other portable batteries nowadays, which could provide for a host of things if you don't want to dip into store energy supplies.
Just some random thought.

That's a *really* good idea for the food. I'll have to go that route. Simple yet would be totally effective.

[1down]

Holy thread revival!!

Just last year I threw out cases of vegetables and fruit that had leaked.  Admittedly they were well past their freshness date by several years but they were stored in a fairly climate controlled environment.  Yet even so it underscored the limited storage time for canned foods. 
So since, I have been purchasing a few cans of freeze dried as often as I can when I get to Walmart.  Their freeze dried section is limited so I have augmented with orders from Costco as budget allows.   I go for the staples rather than the ready made meals for now.  We have beans, rice and pasta in 5 gallon cans with oxygen absorbers tossed in before sealing. 

[Catdaddy2]

About a week ago I got in my car to go to work and my windshield wipers weren't moving. So I look up and see a pretty good glaze on all the windows. The time where you can't roll down the window or move the blades.  So I cranked up the defroster to high and hit the windshield wiper fluid a couple of times and waited. Living here in New England for many years I calculated it would be about 7 minutes or so. Even though I knew it would be more like 10 minutes 7 sounds a lot quicker. So I'm sitting there with the defrost on high the windshield wipers ready to go once they get clearance from the ice . .  I was checking my messages on my phone when all of a sudden I see this shadow then heard a noise then I see a face. As I'm sitting there my wife started clearing my windshield with a cadence of a chainsaw and a look of discussed I really haven't seen in 25 + years of marriage. I tried to roll down the window to say thanks but it was still iced up.  I love my wife

[the war wagon]

No, not the stuff for the Zombie Apocalypse, but for far more real events, hurricane, flood, other types of disasters that interrupt food supplies, power supplies and other luxuries of civilization we have grown so accustomed to over the years. Food, well, it was explained to me, is easy, even on a budget - one can of canned meat, bag of rice, other long term staple, just one or two, every shopping trip. Get a plastic big, tote, movable box, and start filling it. At the end of a year, you have a lot more food items than you thought was possible. You want to have the basics stashed, food, water, shelter, medical, energy - if you can. I'f seen cell phone chargers that work on small solar cells. Given the number of games, books music and other items to wile the time away that can be stored on a modern smart phone, this might be a good idea, even if service is interrupted, especially if you have children. Also solar chargers exist for almost all other portable batteries nowadays, which could provide for a host of things if you don't want to dip into store energy supplies.
Just some random thought.

ANYBODY who thought this was foolish advice BEFORE 2020, has CERTAINLY been dissuaded of it by NOW!

I've been reading Survivalblog religiously since 2007 - J.W. Rawles has been advocating all of this for years.  If you're in LA today and had been prepared, you're feeling a LITTLE bit better, anyways.