Category: FEMA & Other Disaster Agencies

Lessons Learned from Hurricane Helene, by N.C. Ham

I really did not give a lot of thought ahead of time about the approaching storm. I spent time at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo in Cuba growing up and I have lived through several hurricanes in the Southeast. I won’t make that mistake again. I now see how we can get way too comfortable with the daily situation live in and not see the forest for the trees. My work location is several hours from my home which is in the mountains of Western North Carolina. I work from home about half the time and was in the mountains when …


Assembling a Stealth Prepper Group – Part 2, by PrepperDoc

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article) Developing your leadership skills If you work at this, you’ll gain many skills in the areas of operational communications, and in logistics as well. You’ll find the Professional Development Series will help your skillset for leading a volunteer group– whether a prepper group or an ARES group. You’ll be well accepted by the local Emergency Management folks for your willingness to help forestall the onset of anarchy in your community. Most emergency managers realize that communications is a weak spot in their own knowledge base, and if you come across as likable, …


Behind the Scenes, by 3AD Scout

In April of this year, SurvivalBlog published “WHEN WAR COMES”. In that 2-part article, we explored some reasons why war is coming soon, what life might look like, and what we can do to be better prepared. Since writing that article, I have done a lot of research. Ninety percent of intelligence is open source, that is it is, in the public domain. It takes a lot of time, a little training, and a little luck to find the puzzle pieces and start connecting them. There are a lot of people out there who are stating that war is coming. …


YOYO Civil Defense, by 3AD Scout

Sometime between the First World War and the start of the Second World War the concept of civil defense or civil protection was born. The original purpose was to protect civilians from aerial bombing. After World War Two, the United States dismantled its civil defense corps. With the US the sole possessor of atomic weapons, there was no perceived need to spend money on civil defense. That perception did not last long due to the Soviet Union testing their first nuclear weapon in 1949. President Truman re-established civil defense with the goal of protecting the civilian population against a nuclear …


Pandemic Policies are Destroying the Economy and our Liberty

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I am deeply troubled by the cascade of events that we have seen in these United States since February of 2020.  The rapid spread of the Wuhan coronavirus has caused politicians to veer off into panic mode policies.  They’re acting like a herd of anxious Soccer Moms at Costco.  They see the threat, and they instantly decide: “I’ve got to do something!” But instead of just holding a credit card to buying toilet paper rolls, they can write extra-constitutional policies “for the public good.”  The end results are absurdities like having police breaking up funeral services or arresting lone surfers. …


Eight Lessons Learned From the Polar Vortex Plunge

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The recent plunge of the Polar Vortex deep into the American Midwest should serve as a wake-up call for those who are preparedness-minded. Here are some recent headlines: Polar Vortex Triggers Coldest Arctic Outbreak in at Least Two Decades in Parts of the Midwest Minneapolis could break low temperature records originally set in the 1800s, and Chicago could challenge its all-time record low of minus 27 F, set on Jan. 20, 1985. (BBC): Polar vortex brings deadly cold snap to US states (BBC): Polar vortex: Ice quakes, burning railways and other quirky effects Polar vortex brings coldest air in a …


Family Preparations for Nuclear War

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Today, I’m addressing a subject that I suppose should have had more emphasis earlier in SurvivalBlog: The risk of nuclear war, and how families can plan and prepare to survive it. The Risk The risk of nuclear war is now actually greater than during the bad old Cold War. Back then, there were just a handful of nuclear powers that were divided into two or three camps. But today, there are umpteen factions and even terrorist groups with potential access to nukes. Face the facts: We live in a dangerous world. Someday, one or more of hose nukes is going …


Family Earthquake Preparedness: Are You Ready?

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The recent strong earthquake near Anchorage, Alaska underscores the importance of family earthquake readiness. Thankfully, we live in a country with modern building standards. This is not in the case of many Third World nations, where unreinforced masonry construction is the norm. In the Third World, folks tend to be very stingy with reinforcing bar (“rebar”). So its seems that every time there is a large earthquake in those regions, there are building collapses, with large loss of life. By far, the safest houses for earthquakes are of wood frame construction. This is because such structures can flex and sway, …


Toward Federal Decentralization: A Long Term Plan for the GOP

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Decades ago the leadership of the Republican Party began to succumb to Hyper-Federalism — the centralization of regulation, taxation, and sheer power in the Federal government. This gradual change crept up first on the Democrat Party and then the GOP. These shifts were so subtle and gradual that the Generally Dumb Public (GDP) hardly noticed. The end result has been the diminution and subservience of the State governments to the Federal government, gross over-taxation, and over-regulation.  The Republican leadership of the early 1960s would hardly recognize the form of government that has emerged in the early 21st Century. Vast Federal …


The DHS: Acquiring a Core Competency in Tyranny

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Did you see this recent news item at Forbes? Department Of Homeland Security Compiling Database Of Journalists And ‘Media Influencers’’. Hmmm… That’s interesting. The contract will be for “DHS Media Monitoring Services.”  Ah, that sounds suitably mundane. But digging deeper into the original FedBizOpps announcement to read the Statement of Work (SOW), I noticed that it begins with: 1.) Core competencies. Introduce your company’s core competencies and relate those to the specific needs of the attached SOW. That gave me a laugh. How does one describe a Core Competency in Snooping?  Or a Core Competency in Tyranny? I see that …


Rethinking Federal Government Preparedness Resources, by J.P.

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The government can’t always keep you safe, but they can always get you killed. For a long time I’ve held that notion near and dear to my heart only to have it revalidated whenever and wherever calamity strikes our nation. I’m sure there are some bureaucrats that would agree with my opinion. Furthermore, it appears that some people within our government have fought the good fight for the preparedness community when they made available a number of free resources to add to any preparedness library. It just so happens I keep electronic copies of these publications on my smart phone …


What To Do and Not Do When a Pandemic Starts- Part 1, by Scientist69

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The Basics (Science is Awesome) What is the basic difference between an epidemic and a pandemic? In an epidemic, an infectious disease spreads quickly between people; however, this will be relatively confined to a geographic area, country, or even a continent. The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is an example. On the other hand, a pandemic means that this infectious disease spreads quickly to other continents, basically causing disease globally, most likely resulting in high fatality rates. Examples of infections that can potentially cause a pandemic are the bird flu (avian influenza), SARS or MERS like infections that are caused …


A Realistic Assessment of Epidemic Disease After TEOTWAWKI- Part 2, by Dr. DMC

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As we learned yesterday, malaria, like so many other important epidemic illnesses, is a disease of poverty. The poverty we refer to here implies poor housing, poor nutrition, unsanitary and crowded living conditions, and most important, bad water. Remember that the mosquitoes that spread malaria are still around. If America’s high standard of living is destroyed, people will be exposed to the mosquito again, and with time, the parasite will find its way back into the U.S. Malaria is not the only disease to consider either. We have already looked at upper respiratory infections, including influenza (flu), and measles. Today, …


A Realistic Assessment of Epidemic Disease After TEOTWAWKI- Part 1, by Dr. DMC

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Malaria In 1850, malaria occurred throughout the entire region of what is now the lower 48 states, with the exception of some of the higher altitudes of the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. It sickened and killed thousands of the pioneers moving westward, even though the type of malaria most common in the country tended not to be the most fatal form of the disease. Today, malaria is so uncommon that American physicians often fail to recognize the rare cases seen in travelers or immigrants. Cases are rare, and deaths are even rarer. Perhaps surprisingly, the mosquitoes that can spread the …


Hurricane Preparedness in the Sunshine State- Part 1 , by D.H.

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We, down here in the “Sunshine State”, just recovered from Hurricane Irma. It was a massive storm that covered almost the entire state. Floridians are used to hurricanes. We expect them every year, and most of the locals don’t freak out when the local weathermen starts predicting mayhem from a storm over 1,000 miles away. Don’t get me wrong; we’re prepared year-round and watch storms closely, but as one of the fastest growing states we have lots of newcomers who aren’t experienced with this annual weather phenomenon. Hurricane Season Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30th. Since most …