|
DomAviator -> RE: "How to Survive a Disaster" (6/7/2008 9:39:40 AM)
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: Irishknight
Fight when you can win. Run when you cannot. Learn which tactic is necessary as quickly as possible.
I agree with Popeye that the most likely thing to happen is a depression. My family and I are already preparing. We've paid off our home and vehicles. We're raising our own food. We even use a clothes line instead of a dryer. We'll weather it alright even if I have to break out the shotguns and the .40 cal to keep what is ours.
In my area - the most probable scenarious are
1) Hurricaine - which Ive got well covered - starting with the design of my house, which uses masonary and steel framing rather than wood. In a post NOLA type flooding I would essentially only need to replace drywall and interior finish items. Wouldnt even have a mold problem... I would ride that out at home, as I am safer in my home than I would be trapped in traffic in a low lying area of I-45. (Think Rita, how many people sat in the parking lot of I-45 as they ran for the hills) Essentially, get any of the shit in the yard that might become a projectile secured, drop the hurricane shutters, and ride it out in a Hurricane Party.
2) Nuclear Accident At South Texas Project- again easily handled. Load up on Potassium Iodide Pills to do a thyroid block at the first sign of trouble, and either shelter in place in an inside room with the ubiquitous duct tape and make sure the central air had a good HEPA filter in it. (or if it was really bad don a tyvek coverall and a respirator with a HEPA filter cartridege which will remove radionuclide particles and bug out to the cabin.) The same precautions would work for a "dirty bomb" or nuclear fallout. There is relatively little in a nuclear accident / dirty bomb that cant be dealt with via time/ distance / and shielding followed by a simple soap and water decontamination.
3) Refinery / Chemical Plant Accident - as above. Probably a shelter in place situation with HEPA filter and duct tape to maintain positive pressue in the house. If its organophosphate release shoot up with Atropine and amyl nitrate if symptomatic. Respirator with organic solvent cartridges. The finery folks have good hazmat teams and would shut the leak down quickly, so it would be a short term "ride it out" followed by decontamination... My pressure washer is my friend... [:D]
In terms of an End Of The World As We Knew It situation I would say historically the most probable is a disease outbreak / pandemic. This has occurred several times in history - The Black Death, The 1918 Flu, all of which had the potential to be much worse. The Black Death did however lead to the dark ages so I can see a Mad Max world following a serious enough pandemic. Not much you can do with that as I dont have a Level 4 lab and a microbial background and am not equipped or trained to isolate the Andromeda Strain LOL. However, I do keep antibiotics and antivirals around - Tamiflu, etc.. and have the supplies and knowlege to treat tje symptoms and maintain homeostasis - ie IV's (saline, ringers, and D5W to keep dehydration at bay), oxygen, antibiotics to fight off secondary/ opportunistic infections, etc... (Even in most serious diseases you dont die from the disease itself you die from the effects - bacterial pneumonia secondary to influenza, dehydration secondary to the diahreah associated with cholera or dysentarty, hypovolemic shock secondary to the blood loss of a viral hemmoragic fever etc) Mostly though surviving a pandemic is a matter of good sanitation / handwashing, self quarantine, so if bad enough bug out to the cabin and avoid contact with the infected or potentially infected at all costs. Assuming you live through it, the trick then is to come out at the top of the food chain in the aftermath. If the govt / civilization fell it is going to be a dog eat dog world and thats when you make sure you are the big dog....
I don't see a depression as a survival event. There is no historical precednt for anything economic , even the great depression, leading to the fall of civilization / a reentry to the dark ages. Frankly, by throwing fish and game laws to the curb I could live quite well without money - either here or at the cabin. Galveston Bay alone could sustain me quite well feasting on shrimp, crabs, and flounder and there are no shortage of tasty edible plants or foods that can be grown. Salt can be obtained by evaporation of seawater, potable water obtained by catching rainfall, a fresh water source, or a solar still etc... Even in a worst imaginable case, where currency was worthless and the govt ceased to function, a prepared person can obtain what they need either by barter or by taking it from the weak...
|
|
|
|
