Letter Re: An Expedient Toilet Flushing Method for Grid-Down Situations

Salutations,
[In a recent letter to SurvivalBlog,] Jeff in Ohio mentioned filling the toilet tank with water in order to flush it, however, this is not necessary. You can flush by pouring about a gallon directly into the bowl. (Don’t dribble it in, but also don’t get carried away and slosh it in at once . . . unless you really want to use more water to mop the floor.) I learned this from my military service in Okinawa in the late 70s where we had water rationing with running water only every other day. On water days we filled 55-gallon drums with water and then used one-gallon coffee cans to flush the rest of the time. (If you live in an area that tends to lose power, you do fill your bathtubs with water prior to storm onsets, right?)

Give it a try today, for the sake of familiarity. There’s nothing like indoor plumbing, until you lose it. – Home’s Cool Mom

Letter Re: Finding a Mineshaft or a Gemeinschaft

JWR
I think that your “Mineshaft or a Gemeinschaft” article was especially true and timely. However, there are some problems [with living in a community]. Even given how imminent I personally fear financial Armageddon is, there is still time that it might be a nuclear event or a disease pandemic, etc., all of which demand slightly different responses. There is no possible way one or even five individuals can be totally self-sufficient. Even the hermits come out once a year or so to trade for things like salt or ammo, or whatever. Personally, I think a small community of up to 300 varied skills, pooling their resources and pulling together towards a common goal, is ideal. Still small enough that everyone knows everyone else, and has their own estimate of the reliability of every other person, so a community can be totally and realistically democratic.

However, I do think that the more remote the better, and the less known publicly about it the better. In my studies of the downfall of empires, it is clear that officialdom is the greatest thief of all. Anything they can find, either through records or investigation is subject to their attention. In my own case, no one, even me, knows where I will land. (Although I do have a variety of potential areas in mind.) In terms of being found, all are very remote. Your comment about a road or trail being a roadmap to your retreat is very accurate. I am having a problem directing attention away from my trail in for moving in equipment and supplies. Given my bush experience, if I get a few weeks before someone comes looking, I think I can cover that base using game trails. Satellite [image]s are definitely a problem. But hopefully, a little smudge that is difficult to get to will either not be noticed, or deemed not worth the effort. Hopefully, during the first year, there won’t be even much of a footprint.

My greater fear is that if someone knows I am preparing, and where, then the story is sure to be embellished, and suddenly I become a worthwhile target. If I have the very basics underway, surely people (who have survived) will see the benefits and be anxious to join. My theory is that most people will stick to the roads in the early stages at least. I intend to be remote and difficult to get to, and I hope to look like something else, not worth bothering about.

The few [that find us] that are experienced woodsmen will likely be great community member. Otherwise, I can hand pick my community members before they even know they are being considered, or any other details or hints. By that time, if my assessment of the civil distress to come is somewhere near target, I am sure that the survivors will have the most crucial element of being good community members, [namely that] they are survivors, not theorists. They will likely have some other warts that are difficult to deal with, but a common interest will hopefully smooth that path somewhat.

I do have many problems with my scenario and plans, but depending on the start date, I think the first 18 months will be the worst. If I/we survive that length of time, we will probably survive much longer. – Allen C.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Nanny State Britannia run amok: YouTube bans knife and gun videos in England. I suppose that this ban will also include instructional and safety videos, but worry not: They tell us that it is all for the public good! (Tut, tut! We mustn’t “glamorise!”) OBTW, I think that using a third party web browsing portal such as Anonymizer will probably remove any do-gooder impediments. (And, BTW, it is wise for everyone to use  Anonymizer, just on general principle, to prevent leaving an audit trail of your web browsing. Think OPSEC!)

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From Cheryl, our Economic Editor: Bush, Congress Working on $700 Billion Bailout — 12th Bank Failure of the Year (AmeriBank Inc.) — Paulson Commits Trillions of Dollars to the MOAB (“The global mass exodus from the U.S. dollar and Treasury debt is about to begin: Do not get caught in the stampede.”) — US Gov’t Disaster Fix-it Plan Send Stock Markets Soaring — US Economy Stares Into The Abyss — Money Market Accounts Shaken (“This week, shareholders pulled more than 60 percent of the assets from Reserve Primary Fund, which on Wednesday became the first money-market fund in 14 years to expose investors to losses.”) — GM Tapping Remainder $3.5 Billion Credit Line (“Everyone is running to cash, hoarding it, and we’re not out of the woods yet,” Mikelic said. “There’s a little less pressure with the government stepping in. But the government needs to keep printing money, printing securities, even if there is negative yield.”)

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I spotted this linked at Drudge: Almost Armageddon: Markets Were 500 Trades From A Meltdown. The $1.00 Net Asset Value (NAV) barrier for money market funds is practically sacrosanct. The Fed has promised to continue to step in whenever a $1.00 NAV is in danger. But given the sheer scale of money market investing, I wonder how long that this can go on. I therefore urge SurvivalBlog readers to divest from any uninsured money market accounts, ASAP. Reinvest those funds in tangibles and perhaps some Treasury Inflation-Protected Security (TIPS). Most other US Treasury paper is risky, since US Dollar inflation is very likely to accelerate radically in the next few years, threatening the real value of any investment that is denominated in dollars.

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Several readers mentioned this Politico piece by Mike Allen: Foreign banks may get help. I must ask: How big can the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) get if it also includes foreign entities?

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I didn’t know how long we’d have together… Who does?” – Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, in Blade Runner (1982). Screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, based on the novel by Philip K. Dick

Finding a Mineshaft or a Gemeinschaft

I’ve observed that survivalists tend to fall into two schools of thought: those that are loners and those that are community-minded. The loners would prefer to disappear into the wilds and essentially find a mineshaft to crawl into–somewhere they can lay low, whilst things sort themselves out, back in civilization. That is both a naive and selfish starting point for preparedness. Short of moving to the roadless interior of Alaska, it is not realistic to expect that you can find a remote rural property where you’d have no contact with outsiders for an extended period of time. We live in the era of Google Earth, where there few truly secret hideaways. I recently read that Mel Gibson couldn’t buy total privacy. Even if you live off-grid, if there is a road leading to your house, eventually someone will find you.

I have only seen a handful properties in the lower 48 States that I consider truly isolated. One of them was a ranch in the Basin and Range country, about 50 miles out Lovelock, Nevada. (It was actually 15 miles east of the tiny hamlet of Unionville, Nevada, (which is a 37 mile drive out of Lovelock) but I doubt that many people have heard of it). This was a 200 acre parcel that I evaluated as a potential retreat purchase for one of my consulting clients. (Note: I can describe it here, because the client eventually selected a different ranch in another county.) The road leading into the property traversed a dry lake bed, then went through a full section BLM land on a very dusty lame excuse for a road. Then, as the road started up into the hills it would appear to a casual observer to just become a rocky trail. But in fact it was in fact drivable in a 4WD vehicle, and the condition of the road actually improved, farther up the canyon. The upper end of the property had a surprising number of trees (including some pretty cottonwoods) and a large creek. But that property was a genuine rarity. There, if they were careful about noise and light discipline, someone could conceivably build a retreat and have it go entirely un-noticed indefinitely for anyone approaching by road. (And, BTW, it would have been a terribly long way to drive into town, especially in these days of high gas prices.) But even with a retreat that is out of line of sight from any road, it would still still be visible from the air, and from Google Earth. There is no such thing as total privacy.

I can safely say that 99% of SurvivalBlog readers will never own a truly remote retreat. For the rest of us, we will be on a recognizable road, and we will have neighbors. And we will have the occasional Jehovah’s Witnesses come wandering by to hand us copies of The Watchtower and extol their bad doctrine. Resign yourself to that fact. Having neighbors generally necessitates being neighborly. More about that, follows.

The German word for community is Gemeinschaft. This word describes both a community of people and their collective will. From the perspective of disaster preparedness, one of the positive aspects of community-mindedness is what the Germans call Kampfgeist (fighting spirit), or what the Boers call laager spirit. I’ve alluded to this before in SurvivalBlog, as a component of the “We/They Paradigm.” The downside of this is the risk of developing xenophobia and racial bigotry–which I, along with most SurvivalBlog readers, abhor. But the desirable side of Kampfgeist is that unifies a community in defending itself against outside foes. Kampfgeist is most often seen in small communities, but on rare occasions it can even be seen on the scale of a metropolis, where every able-bodied citizen pitched in. This was best illustrated in the defense of Stalingrad, in World War II. The city was defended by a large portion of the local Russian citizenry. (There, there were some phenomenal manifestations of Kampfgeist. The one there that comes immediately to mind is the perhaps apocryphal creation of propagandists: As the German army advanced on the city, the employees of the local tank factory personally manned and went into battle with the very last T-34 tanks that came off the assembly line.

I have long been an advocate of setting up small covenant communities, inhabited by like-minded people. Consider my vote for Gemeinschaft, not a mineshaft. The “mineshaft” is essentially a myth. I’ll have more comments on covenant communities in an upcoming article.

Letter Re: Comments on the 2008 Financial Collapse and the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB)

Hi Jim,
This [current economic news] is nauseating. Now, not only are we in the insurance business, but we the taxpayer are going to be forced to purchase all of the bad and recklessly created debt generated over the last eight years. We know it’s bad, it’s even been called “toxic debt”. We’re not going to be given a choice on whether or not we want to purchase it. It’s being purchased in our name and we have no say about it. I can think of no better definition of socialism.

If this is not the end of the world as we know it, it certainly is the end of our once great country as we knew it.

Seeing all of the pundits saying that this is a wonderful idea, I am reminded of a quote from Star Wars III, Revenge of the Sith, when Padmé Amidala says, “So this is how liberty dies… with thunderous applause.” Regards, – Rod

Letter Re: Preparedness Advice for the Parents of a Newborn Infant

Mr. & Mrs. Rawles,
I hope you and the family are doing well. I have been reading your blog for over a year now and it has been quite helpful. We are making our way slowly in our preps but now I have a new issue. My wife has blessed our home with a child. We had been trying for 12 years with no luck, I guess God decided it was time! My daughter is now two weeks old and with all the excitement I hadn’t put any thought into preps for a new born. Maybe the Memsahib could give me some direction. Thanks so much for what you do! Also I’m a 10 cent challenge subscriber and it’s time for me to renew. I’ll be getting that done soon! – Jason in Missouri

The Memsahib Replies: Congratulations! The most important thing is that your wife breast feeds your baby! I hope that she is doing so. The first week or so is the hardest. If she is having difficulties do let her know it will get better. The La Leche League is the best resource for help with breast feeding difficulties.

If you hope God will bless you with more babies, you ought to be prepared! You can order home birth childbirth kits from a number of vendors in the US, and in the UK.

Your biggest concern will be diapers. Depending on circumstances (availability of spring or well water and grid, generator, or photovoltaic power to run a washing machine) you will have to decide between cloth diapers or disposable diapers. When I nursed my newborns, I often changed diapers more than 10 times per day, to prevent diaper rash! (My family has fair, sensitive skin.) Untreated, diaper rash can lead to serious infections. Proper hygiene is crucial.) Choose you diapering method and then stock up, in quantity!

The very most useful items in my experience are:

For childbirth:

Sterilized cord clamp

Betadine solution

A bulb syringe

Bed liners (like those made for the disabled, available at medical supply houses)

For your newborn:

Plan on breast feeding, but as a back up consider stocking up on canned infant formula

Lanolin cream for your nursing wife

Petroleum jelly ad zinc ointment as diaper rash preventatives

Diapers and diaper covers,

Multiple”onesees”, sleepers, or saque gowns would be a real blessing. They can be found at yard sales for maybe 25 cents per outfit.or less if you don’t care about stains. As you have already discovered babies spit up a lot and diapers leak. In a post-TEOTWAWKI world, when washing and drying baby clothes won’t be so easy, then having multiple changes in every size would make daily life easier.

I also would never be without a front pack infant carrier.

I’d appreciate other SurvivalBlog readers chiming in (via e-mail) with childbirth and infant care suggestions, including recommend brand names of useful products.

I should also mention that I highly recommend the childbirth book “Heart and Hands“. And, although not from a Christian perspective (It has Hippie/Flower Child perspective!), the book “Spiritual Midwifery” presents childbirth as a natural process–not just as a medical condition.

Odds ‘n Sods:

From the folks over at The Oil Drum: How Much Will Gustav and Ike Affect Gas Supplies? An Update

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More on the MOAB, from The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Bailout Plan Calms Markets, But Struggle Looms Over Details

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Another slug of cheer from SurvivalBlog’s Economic Editor: Stocks Soar As Investors Look To Gov’t Rescue Plan — Current List of Failed Banks (another bank failure was announced on Friday) — Wall Street Dumps Mortgage Corruption on Taxpayers — New Wall Street Crisis Will Create a New Financial World Order — Forecast: US Dollar Could Plunge 90%.

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Kevin A,. recommended this piece of commentary from Charles Hugh Smith: Restoring the Con in Confidence

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Mr. President, we must not allow a mineshaft gap!” – George C. Scott as Gen. ‘Buck’ Turgidson , in Dr. Strangelove, 1964. (Screenplay by by Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern and Peter George.)

Letter Re: Anticipating Another Federal Ban on Semi-Auto Rifles and Full Capacity Magazines

Hello Mr. Rawles,
I am assuming that no matter who wins the presidency, we are probably looking at the next assault weapons ban in about a year (if TEOTWAWKI doesn’t happen first). I don’t recall exactly what the effect of the last ban was on pre-ban guns, but I assume the prices of pre-ban AR-15s rose dramatically? If that is the case, would it be wise to purchase several AR-15 lower receivers now, with the possibility of selling them at a profit after the ban is in place (since they will then be pre-ban)? The relatively low price of a stripped AR-15 lower [receiver] [around $120, or less, in quantity] seems to offer an interesting opportunity, since I could buy 10 lowers for only $1,000, and I’m assuming this is the part that would really increase in value.

I already have a number of ARs and other guns for personal use, so I’m considering this mainly as a potential investment.

Also, as a side note, what is your opinion in investing in foreign currency? In particular, I see Everbank has a CD which lets you purchase Australian, New Zealand, South African, and Canadian dollars (currencies dependant on commodities). Obviously such an investment would be useless after a complete collapse… but if we just had severe inflation?

I’ve been prepping for survival situations for a while now, just recently started thinking about these other scenarios as well (extreme inflation, etc). Thanks, – Dylan

JWR Replies: When the US Congress passed the so-called “assault weapon” ban (circa 1994-to-2004), the BATF came out with an edict that stripped receivers that had been made before the ban, but that were assembled into completed rifles after the ban would not be legal build in a pre-ban configuration. So that nixes your low-cost “hedging on potential legislation” investment idea. If you are worried about a Democrat in the White House and the advent of a new ban, then I think that investing in full capacity magazines is a far better investment. You will probably triple or quadruple your money. See this piece in the SurvivalBlog archives for my detailed recommendations: The Falling Dollar–Sheltering Your Assets in Steel and Alloy Tangibles.

As for foreign currencies, since virtually all national currencies are now issued by fiat (un-backed by metallic specie), they are all doomed to inflation. The only question is, which currencies will suffer the least from inflation? With that in mind, I can only reiterate my long-standing recommendation: tangibles, tangibles, tangibles. Buy your practical tangibles first (such as productive farm land, common caliber ammunition, and full capacity magazines), and then, as your budget permits, follow that up with some barterable precious metals (such as pre-1965 US “junk” silver coinage). And if you are wealthy, then move on to buying gold bullion, such as Krugerrands, Canadian Maple Leafs, or American Eagles.

Letter Re: Recommendation for the Cool Tools Web Site

Hello –
Survival Blog readers might be interested in the Cool Tools web site and e-mail newsletter. The site was originated by Kevin Kelly, who edited Whole Earth Review in the 1980s and also put together several versions of The Whole Earth Catalog, Cool Tools offers one new “Cool Tool” per day.
Far from just being gadgets, a Cool Tool “can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or web site that is tried and true.” All submissions are reader reviewed, they are not just regurgitations of product literature.
There are good recommendations in many categories that might be of interest to Survival Blog readers. For example, backpacking (improvised shelters, stoves, maps), dwellings (building underground homes, yurts, building your home yourself), homesteading, edibles, vehicles (like the Kawasaki KLR 650) and more. A recent entry was from a reader who has been experimenting with alcohol stoves.

Thanks for your work on SurvivalBlog! – John in Michigan

Three Letters Re: Tropical Storm Ike’s Devastation Works its Way North to Ohio

Hello Jim,
This note is in reference to the letter from Melanie and Rick in Columbus about the woman who never thought of using the grill to cook. I had a similar experience with my mother-in-law. While we had power and water, she had lost hers. I offered to bring buckets of water to her house so she could manually refill the toilet tank to flush with(she has septic).
Not only did she not think of that, she couldn’t understand the concept. She ended up going to a hotel for a couple of days. People like this will not last long in a prolonged crisis. Just goes to show the most critical piece of gear is your brain and knowledge. Take care, – Jeff in Ohio

Hi Jim,
I just finished reading Melanie and Rick’s letter and what they faced during their ‘hurricane’ event in Columbus. The conditions they experienced sound very similar to what I related to you was occurring in Cincinnati a few days ago. I just wanted to make a few comments regarding the need for self-defense and owning a gun to do so. Rick was concerned about someone who was driving by coming back to ‘liberate’ his generator. That would concern me too, so here are a couple of my thoughts on the situation. First, it is a good idea to conceal the fact that you have power when the rest of your neighbors don’t and it’s pretty obvious at night. So close the blinds, black out the windows and do what you can to conceal the fact that you have power. Second, do what you can to muffle the sound of your generator with sound baffles or a soundproof enclosure. Third, “nail it down” and secure it as Rick did with chains and locks.

Now to the more important issue, protecting the generator using deadly force. A couple of years ago when concealed carry was first permitted in Ohio, I completed the required course to get my permit. While not a lawyer, I do remember the most important lesson taught regarding the law in Ohio is this; you can use a firearm to protect human life, but you may not use a firearm to protect private property. So to Rick’s point, if he did have a gun and used it to protect his generator from a would be thief and actually injured or killed them during the event, he could be prosecuted should he cause injury or death to the intruder. It does go without saying however, if Rick was threatened and feared for his life or the life of someone in his family while and intruder was trying to steal the generator, he could defend his or their life with deadly force. Personally, I always feel my life is in immediate danger anytime someone invades my home, regardless of their intentions, but simply threatening someone with bodily harm using a firearm is also currently illegal and depending upon the circumstances and the court and lawyers involved, one could potentially face some time in state provided accommodations. There have been a few cases reported where people defended their property by shooting a fleeing intruder in the back while trying to escape and were found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon. For someone to be attacking you they must be facing you. However, one could certainly detain the intruder for the police if the police could be successfully contacted (communications/availability might be an issue) and would actually show up to make an arrest.

With this said, I believe everyone should own and trained to safely use a firearm(s). When the defecation impacts the rotating oscillator the laws may not change, but the circumstances will definitely change for the worst…so when you have only seconds to make that life-or-death decision you will be more likely to successfully do so while waiting for the cops are just minutes, hours or even days away!

It is essential to be prepared for the worst, but hope – and more importantly, pray for the best. – Larry in Cincinnati

 

Sir:
I am an ex-cop, who served in St. Tammany Parish, just above New Orleans. (On the other side of Lake Pontchartrain). I was there during [Hurricane] Katrina. Believe me when I say I have many stories to tell, and I am sure I will, eventually.

However, I have been lurking on your web site for a while, and I had to comment in a recent post.
The people in Ohio who almost had their generator stolen made me remember a looter we had in Post-Katrina St. Tammany Parish. He would bring a lawn mower in the middle of the night, turned on and throttled down, to your house. He would put it near the generator, and over the course of 10 or so minutes, throttle it up. Then he would simply turn off the generator and trundle away with it, leaving a similar noise behind. The cold air from air conditioning would last long enough for his get-away. If I remember correctly, he stole about 36 generators before being caught.
We even had a gennie stolen from the Sheriff’s LEC (Law Enforcement Complex), three nights after Katrina. And one of the jail’s large generators was given to the hospital when theirs died. Essentially, hide them, do not use them at night if you can avoid it, and think about putting a muffler on it to hide the sound. And buy a gun.
Any questions? Thanks, – Joshua

Odds ‘n Sods:

Our Economic Editor sent us another huge batch of news and commentary–plenty for you to digest over the weekend: But I’ll focus on perhaps the most important article, that confirms my prediction of a gargantuan Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB): Paulson plan could cost $1 trillion. And now for the rest: Treasury pulls out stops to support money markets — Fed, Central Banks Move to Boost Global Confidence (“Wall Street’s biggest crisis since the Great Depression forced the Federal Reserve and central banks in other countries to pump billions of dollars into the world’s banking system in an urgent bid to stop further damage.”) — Fed Quadruples Money Central Banks Can Auction — Drowning Fed Swims Against Credit Crisis Tide — Gold Largest One-Day Price Rise In History — AIG Collapse: Too Awful To Contemplate — America Will Need Trillion Dollar Bail-Out — Russia Injects $19.6bn To Restore Markets — Central Banks Pump $180bn To Ease Strain — Global Credit System Suffers Cardiac Arrest on US Crash — Winter to Bring Avalanche of Job Losses — More Banks to Die — Investors Rush Into Gold and Bonds — Bright Side of a Total Financial Collapse — Morgan Stanley, Sachs Goldman Shares Sink: Fear Spreads — Crash: The World As We Know It Is Going Under — After Lehman, Banks Jettison Commercial-Property Debt — 3-Month T-Bill Rates Lowest Since WWII — Treasury to Sell $100 Billion in Bills to Help Fed Balance Sheet — SEC Bans Naked Shorting For All Securities — FDIC Heading For Failure — Morgan, Goldman, HBOS Crashing (WaMu Too) — Barclays Buys Lehmans for $1.75bn — Feds Shopping For WaMu Buyer — Bank of Scotland Faces Its End — Economist Recounts Talk With Fed Chairman — Panic Grips Credit Markets — Federal Bank Insurance Fund Dwindling — WaMu Next To Fail? — It’s The Derivatives, Stupid! — Hedge Funds Crash Halifax, HBOS Rescued By Lloyd’s TSB — Credit Crisis Darkens US Outlook — Crisis Seeps Into Everyday Life.

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Anyone with a Saiga 12 gauge shotgun should check out the new drum magazines from MDArms. They reportedly work very well, and require less fitting than the Wraithmaker drums that I mentioned in blog previously. They are also less expensive.

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Welcome to sunspot minimum: NASA to hold press conference on the state of the sun. (A hat tip to KAF for the link.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs." – Theodore Roosevelt

Observations on a Life on the Gulf Coast During the Hurricane Season

Jim,
With [hurricanes] Gustav and Ike paying us a visit, I thought I would send you a note regarding the importance of self reliance versus shelter life. Living in the Gulf South, hurricanes are something you have to prepare for. Government support and shelter will not be there for you in the way you might think. Your lack of supplies or resources when you most need them, depending on the emergency, could mean a thoroughly miserable experience for you and your family at best; or [something far] worse if the emergency is wider and deeper in scope. Start making your preparations now, when they’re not needed immediately and are readily available. When the time to act arrives, don’t hesitate, and you will find yourself in safer territory long before the rest of the unprepared and sometimes frantic crowd.

Hurricanes are simply a part of life in the Gulf South. Out West there are earthquakes, wildfires and even volcanic activity. Elsewhere in the US we have to prepare for tornados, blizzards, nor’easters, floods, et cetera. And these are just what nature can throw at us and often does. Barely a day goes by where we are not reading about some unfortunate people caught short in an unexpected event, and unprepared for [the] emergency. In addition, in today’s world there are legitimate man-made concerns, such as terrorist activity, industrial accidents and the threat of economic collapse as highlighted in your most entertaining and informative novel; “Patriots“. In short, I don’t think anybody; anywhere is 100% immune from some sort of emergency or cataclysmic event. The time to start preparing was yesterday. The time to stop, is never. Always look to improve and renew your preparations.

Before Hurricane Katrina, I thought that I had my act together. My wife laughed at how prepared I always was. I took great pride in her labeling me as her little Boy Scout. But I soon found that I wasn’t. After the storm passed I discovered that the recoil [starter] spring on the generator was broken. (I hadn’t checked it for the last couple of years). And although I found a way around that, I only had enough gas to run it for a few days. I figured it would all be over quickly as had been the case with so many other storms that merely brushed by and brought little more than an inconvenience. My easily prepared food was also limited to a few days, maybe a week at best. Water I had enough of for a week or two. I soon realized that I was little better prepared, if at all, than anyone else on my street. Sure, I was the first one with boards on my windows, and I had a generator; but that was about it.

Taking it a step further, I had these preparations for myself. My wife and family had evacuated. In the event there was an emergency where they wouldn’t be able to evacuate, with generator power for a few days, food and water maybe the same, we would have found ourselves in dire straights all too quickly with little or no choice other than to rely on charity. If we were creative, we might have been able to stretch it out for almost two week, at best. Cleaning up after a storm and trying to put your life back together requires a lot of extra calories and is certainly not the time to scrimp together a minimal diet.

We were lucky, however, in that we had saved money for a grand family vacation the following year, so there were funds available to take care of everyone for three weeks while they were evacuated. Fortunately for me, I am a police officer, so decent hot food and support was available to me. Not to mention being able to take home a few gallons of gas each day for my generator. Had I of been Mr. John Q. Public given the same set of circumstances, I would have been in line for Red Cross meals twice a day before long, and totally without power unless I went from 8-to-12 hours per day to 2 or 3.

Again, taking it a step further, if my family needed shelter, given either a lack of funds or the opportunity to evacuate, and unable to stay in my house due to storm damage, we would have wound up in line for food and spending the night in the corridors of a local school which is used for [a public] shelter. I have worked as security at those shelters. Believe me, they are not places you want to spend time in, filled with the homeless, near homeless, mentally ill, infirm and a rough assortment of folks with near nothing to their name.

During [Hurricane] Gustav our city had several shelters, and by design, they are not comfortable. One shelter where you could bring your pet (in a crate & with food & supplies only!) had a huge generator. All of the pets enjoyed air conditioning. The people, housed in a separate area, did not. The other shelters where pets were strictly not allowed also had no air conditioning. When asking the Red Cross officials about this, they stated that their rules demanded air conditioning and 20 square feet of space per pet. For people, no air conditioning was required and only 15 square feet of space was deemed necessary. They said they didn’t want the people to be too comfortable where they wouldn’t want to leave. They achieved this goal ‘handsomely’. The walls of the school corridors were soon sweating profusely from condensation and pools of water covered the floor. Anything like sleeping bags, or bags of clothing left on the floor soon began to absorb water. Even after 24 hours, the smell began to set in. No one hung around any longer than they absolutely had to. Mission accomplished. Given different circumstances and recourses, I’m sure they would have been more accommodating, but I never want to find out first hand.

The local school board was also what I would describe as less than considerate. At the shelter I worked at, the folks from the Red Cross were told by the principal that they were limited to the hallways, cafeteria and gym; that the people requiring shelter could only be from that area – no evacuees from further afield; and that 12 hours after the storm passed, everyone had to be out. In short, evacuees found themselves in miserable conditions, and felt unwanted all round. The Lord should smile on the Red Cross volunteers who actually manned the shelter as they worked themselves silly to do all they could for the inhabitants, but try as they might, they simply could not do much to alleviate the miserable conditions. I never want to find myself there, and refuse to let my family go through anything remotely like that.

Today I am far more prepared in every respect, and continuing to improve on my preparations all around. When I first started getting truly prepared, my family thought I was a little ‘nutty’. Now, in many ways they see the need, but still see a somewhat eccentric side to me. They were all born in a time of plenty. A time where we are accustomed to having what we want and when we want it. Increasingly, the finer things in life are taken for granted and many segments of society even demand not only their necessities, but the luxuries of life to be handed to them, gratis. In time of need, the more sudden, the deeper and prolonged the emergency, the more severe their reaction to take what they don’t have and we do have, by any means necessary.

Hurricanes are relatively small emergencies. Given the scope of [hurricanes such as] Ike, Gustav, Katrina, or Andrew, for example, some may say they were anything but small. To many, they lost everything. But on the whole, hurricanes produce short lived, localized emergency conditions which the rest of the country responds to. Given a far wider reaching event, such as a [large scale] EMP attack, economic collapse, pandemic etc, the effects could be very widespread over a far longer period. It wouldn’t take long for people to realize that no one would be coming to help. The 911 telephone system wouldn’t work, or would work less effectively. Shelters, if available, would be hell, but for those of us unprepared, we would have little else to fall back on. This, in large part, is why I prepare. It is why we all should. – DZ in Louisiana