As the cleanup begins in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, and as local preppers assess what went right and what went wrong in their planning, we are reminded of a bit a Ground Truth: There is no substitute for being fully prepared early. Because once a disaster strikes a wide region, and once some key items such as generators [1] are desperately needed, they can’t be bought even with an entire handful of gold coins. So it is better to be prepared a year too early than a day too late. – JWR