Category: FEMA & Other Disaster Agencies

Letter: Ebola and Hajj

Last year more than two million Muslims from all over the world performed hajj, or travel to Mecca, to participate in the Muslim rituals there. People are in close contact, often shoulder to shoulder and even stepping on each other, for several days as they go through several rituals of hajj. When the hajj is over, these people return to their homes in dozens of countries across the globe. This year 70,000 Nigerians will travel to Mecca, despite that country having more than a dozen confirmed cases of Ebola Zaire, with over 300 suspected of exposure to the deadly virus. …


Why I Believe A World-Wide Pandemic Will Bring About Civil War and Ethnic Cleansing in the United States, by S.T.

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A world-wide pandemic is my worst nightmare. I fear a pandemic more than I fear a nuclear war. We have scientists who have already weaponized the flu virus. http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/421-national-security/8630-scientist-weaponizes-flu-strain-in-bioterrorism-experiment The majority of the American population is just nine meals away from anarchy. The government lawmakers– those who are elected to act in the best interest of the citizens of the United States that they represent and to act upon the citizen’s requests and desires– have, for the last 40 odd years, only acted in ways that would: Get themselves elected or re-elected, Get themselves additional campaign contributions, Get themselves time …


Potential Bioterrorism Agent Found in Colorado, by Cynthia J. Koelker, MD

July 2014: One of the deadliest diseases on earth is right here in our own back yard, so to speak…with no vaccine, fatal without antibiotics, and on the CDC’s “Category A List” of potential bioterrorism agents. Don’t panic just yet. The disease also occurs naturally, as is the case in this month’s outbreak. However, overnight I’ve changed my outlook on the disease. What I’ve recently described to my students as highly unlikely is instead alive and well on the prairie. I’ve gone from believing I’d never encounter this infection to thinking it’s entirely possible. The next time I see a …


Letter: Confiscation of Stored Foods

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There is quite a bit of “buzz” going on that the DHS will come in and take stored foods. What might you know about this and what are the odds? I know, with this admin anything goes, but I think it is certainly worth addressing. – P.W. Hugh Replies: That is the whole point of OPSEC, but practically speaking, the DHS isn’t who you will have to worry about, unless you are a grocery store or warehouse. Anything smaller than that isn’t worth dealing with when you factor in the manpower and risks to personnel. The danger for individuals comes …


Letters Re: Militarization of LEOs

HJL, I am a Peacekeeper, otherwise known as an LEO. I am a firm believer in being part of the solution, not part of the problem. I teach my children “dont fuss, fix it.” The first step to fixing it is understanding the problem. I will do my best to not respond with bluff and bluster. I took this job by choice. I do not expect nor look for sympathy or a medal for my career choice. There are a few issues at work here. I will highlight a few recent incidents that will shed some light on part of …


Family Disaster Planning, by N.J. – Part 2

Resources Food and water, everyone needs it, and everyone will be looking for it. Remember the “six P’s” mentioned at the beginning of part one of this article; plan and prepare. Store as much food and water as you can, but do not rely on this to get you through the disaster. If organized groups come around passing out food and water, send someone (or several people) to get some. Even if you have to stand in line for hours, it behooves us to send someone. Do all that you can to NOT create a security issue by putting the …


Letter Re: Useful CERT Publications For Preppers

The article on CERT was well written and very useful. I hold a CERT certification through FEMA’s online certification process, along with a whole grocery list of courses from the same source. I did so as part of my involvement with my local amateur radio club’s efforts regarding the Amateur Radio Emergency Service unit of the club. It’s all part of being prepared for the worst while hoping for the best. Also, in regards to your link to the article about mob mentality, I would refer you and your readers to, among other books, The Lord of the Flies and …


Letter Re: CERT Training

Regarding CERT Training: Thinking about volunteering your time with your local Department of Emergency Management? You may need to leave your concealed carry at home! I submitted an application to join a volunteer section of the Pierce County Washington Department of Emergency Management. I received a packet in the mail that contained additional forms that needed to be submitted. One of the forms was a Pierce County Department of Emergency Management Emergency Worker Registration Form. One item had to do with certifying my non-drug use and also prohibiting “any concealed weapon possession while engaged in emergency worker activities” . The …


Useful CERT Publications For Preppers, by T.L.O.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program was created in 1987 by the Los Angeles City Fire Department. Los Angeles officials were asked to help Mexico City with a critique following an 8.1 earthquake that killed more than 10,000 people. It was noted that many “spontaneous volunteers” (people with no training who pitched in to try and help others) had saved over 800 trapped victims, but at least 100 volunteers were killed in the effort. They died because of a lack of knowledge and training that would have kept them safe. LA officials knew they would have a similar situation …


Letter Re: Perspective from the Inside

Hugh, As a retired (federal) law enforcement officer, I think JH’s article was well written and presented a number of very good points. His comments about budget issues, the police tendency to grab so much free military surplus gear, and officer’s dedication to the job was well done. For better or worse, the police are often the layer between “the government” and the people. They must deal with extremely difficult situations in, often times, dangerous conditions. Most are well-meaning, and, yes, a few are over-the-top authoritarians. I suppose what bothers me (as I have observed) is a tendency for officers …


Two Letters Re: The Blackout Docudrama

James, To respond to the recent letter about the fictional Blackout show:   I too was annoyed with the way they portrayed some of the people in the story but after thinking about it I am afraid that this is how a lot of the people will act.    The prepper is the story obviously had no idea what he was doing.  I think they portrayed an arm-chair prepper with more resources than street smarts spot on.  First of all letting his young son patrol the perimeter in the middle of the night while he is nice and cozy in bed …


Colorado Flooding Aftermath: A First Hand Report, by Roger I.

I lived in Jamestown Colorado until three weeks ago, and was prepared for various disasters, mostly fire, and I always expected a road system to exist.  Wrong-o! I have a more keen sense of the Lord’s blessings, and they are amazing. The outpouring of support from the various communities that I’m in has been amazing.   I am walking in abundance, but not everybody is. My life has had a hard reboot – I was in some middle-aged doldrums – no more! I anonymized my name and corporate affiliation in the narrative, otherwise, it’s unedited, and reflects my understanding of the …


Letter Re: Observations on the Alberta Province Floods

Mr Rawles, You may already be aware of the devastating floods Alberta has experienced in the past 10 days, with some areas receiving up to an amazing 8-11 inches of rain and over 100,000 people evacuated.  The flood has washed out dozens of highways and bridges, stranded campers in the Rocky Mountains, and saw lions from the zoo moved to city jail cells.  The hippos almost escaped into the river.  In even more worrying news, police have confiscated firearms from flooded residences ‘for safekeeping’ much to the outrage of the citizens.  [JWR Adds: It is noteworthy that with Canada’s system of gun …


Mark Levin: Government Is Simulating the Collapse of Our Financial System, the Collapse of Our Society and the Potential for Widespread Violence

Along with Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, leading conservative radio host Mark Levin reaches tens of millions of listeners weekly, and what he talked about recently on his nationally syndicated show has sent shivers down the spines of many of them. A few years ago this was fringe theory, restricted only to the sphere of alternative (conspiracy) news. Warnings of a massive economic collapse, government stockpiling of weaponry, and the idea that Americans could be broadly classified as terrorists and then detained indefinitely or killed often fell upon deaf ears. Today, as more information ‘leaks’ into the mainstream, it is …


Survival Tips From the May 20, 2013 Oklahoma Tornado

Let me first say thank you to all who have contributed to this blog for your columns and all your wisdom.  Without this site, my experience during the recent tornado would have been much different! For some background info, I have only been prepping for about a year. I have been an Emergency Medicine physician for over 10 years.  I treated patients of the May 3, 1999 Moore, Oklahoma tornado during my training years and I was involved in door to door search and rescue for the recent May 20, 2013 tornado. While my house was not hit, it did …