Mr. Rawles,
I live in the Upstate area of South Carolina. Actually live in Spartanburg. Here is the info on my area, from Wikipedia:
“Spartanburg has a municipal population of 37,013 and an urban population of 145,058 at the 2010 census.[4] The Spartanburg Metropolitan Statistical Area, corresponding to Spartanburg County, had a population of 284,307 as of the 2010 census.[4]
Spartanburg is the second-largest city in the greater Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Combined Statistical Area which had a population of 1,266,995 at the 2010 census.[4] It is part of a 10-county region of northwestern South Carolina known as “The Upstate,” and is located 98 miles (158 km) northwest of Columbia, 80 miles (130 km) west of Charlotte, and about 190 miles (310 km) northeast of Atlanta.”
We have a ten man team with families, but to my thinking, this area, even out in farming country ( Where our retreat is.) within 15-20 miles, this is still very risky, and personally feel the need to find a place further out, maybe out of state. What is your opinion? I’d really appreciate any thoughts. No detail needed, just a confirmation or set my mind at ease. Thank you sir.
God bless, – S.F.C.
JWR Replies: There is some good farming country and many good and trustworthy folks where you live. But the key problems are population density and the distance to urban areas. There are just too many people to pull through a grid-down collapse without a major die-off. That die-off would not be peaceful. The sad fact is that the population density problem is true for most of the eastern United States. Lets choose Montana, for comparison.
Compare these statistics:
“The population of South Carolina (31,189 square miles) is 4,679,230.” And “…the greater Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Combined Statistical Area which had a population of 1,266,995 at the 2010 census.”
…to these:
“The population of Montana (147,165 square miles) is 989,415.” And: “Montana is a large state – a trip via interstate [highway] from the far eastern town of Wibaux [Montana] to the western border town of Mullan, [Idaho] is over 700 miles, an estimated 12 hour trip.” [Emphasis added.]
So… Montana is five times the size of South Carolina, but it has less than 1/4th of its population. Here is brief intellectual exercise: What cities would you pass through and where would you end up if you drove 12 hours from Spartanburg at 70 m.p.h. in any given direction? (Well, obviously if you went east it is just 230 miles to the Atlantic Ocean…) But how much population would you pass through in those 12 hours, especially if you headed north, or northeast, or south? Now consider the same exercise, but starting from, say, Cut Bank. Montana. You certainly wouldn’t reach any significant “urban” area for a long, long while. The first good-sized city that you would reach (after two hours of driving 70 m.p.h. without taking a bio break) is Helena. That is the state capitol, but it has only about 28,000 people.
See the Retreat Areas Page for my recommendations. Be sure to take a look at the “Lights of the U.S.” photo maps at Blue Marble. A picture tells a thousand words.
If you must hunker down in the Upstate region of South Carolina, then for a true “worst case” situation be prepared to have no outside contact for two years or longer. Meanwhile, while refugees from the cold northern states will presumably flood the southeastern U.S. while concurrently a nationwide die-off takes place. Living through that will take a lot of stored food and fuel, plenty of teamwork, and castle-like architecture. Furthermore, you would have to be situated on a piece of land with spring water or a shallow well that is well away from any highway or other natural line of drift for looters and refugees.
Granted, the Upstate region is quite good by southeastern US standards. It is certainly much safer than the Atlanta or Raleigh-Durham regions. But that is all relative, as I outlined above. The Upstate region might pull through a deep economic depression just fine, if the power grid stays up. But if the grid goes down for more than a month, then update your will and say your prayers.
If you can, then relocate to The American Redoubt. We have lots of elbow room.In my estimation, fewer people will mean fewer problems.