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nameonhold -> RE: Individual Responsibilities for Storm Preparedness (11/4/2012 7:20:01 PM)
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I honestly have a limited amount of sympathy for the folks whose homes were wiped away, TWO BLOCKS FROM THE ATLANTIC OCEAN ! These folks are either stupid or are counting on the rest of us suckers to bail them out.
Yeah, I live on a piece of lake front property here in New Hampshire. And the lake is formed by a dam at the end of the lake. When I bought the house, I was at least smart enough to make sure my house was above the damn. It's really simple: MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. You don't have these problems.
As a kid, I lived on south shore of Long Island, in and around NYC, and down on the New Jersey shore, not far north of Atlantic City. I learned a little bit about bad weather preparedness.
Now, I live in New Hampshire where the electrical grid is so crappy, we're out of power all the time. Some kid accidentally drops his electric toothbrush in the toilet, and we're without power for a week. Hurricane Bob, I went 13 days without electric. December 2008 ice storm, I went 10 days without power. A few storms in between were 4, 5 or 6 days without electric. One year ago over Halloween, we had a freak 3 foot snow fall. Another week without power. So you could say, "I'M USE TO IT."
Well, I'm actually so use to it, if I lose power, if the entire state loses power, if all of New England loses power, it just doesn't matter to me. Certainly during daylight hours, I live off-grid, selling about half my solar generated power back to the electric company. Obviously, at night I am buying power back, which is a problem when the grid isn't live. But I actually have two backup generators, one gasoline, the other LP. I've got a fuel supply enough to run one of the generators 24/7 for six months. The gasoline supply is "stabilized" and rotated. I've got at least a two year supply of firewood in a wood shed, and I've got a lifetime supply of wood uncut, right here on my own property. I could go one hell of a long time, keeping my home, generators and vehicles completely powered, even if the whole damn world shut down.
Food ? Not a problem. Most of us don't realize it, but the LDS Church (the Mormons) are the foremost authorities on food storage. Many years ago, the US Army even consulted with the LDS Church on how to store food to make sure the US military was properly fed even in the event of all out war. The LDS Church doesn't "promote" their expertise to the entire world, but their know-how is readily available online. Some of these "Survivalist" websites feature the ramblings of "End of World" types, but some of the council they offer on food storage and long-term preparedness is not all foolishness. I've got enough food .... very high quality food ..... there are NO cans of Spam, Deviled Ham or canned beans in my inventory ..... to last four adults for six months. You do the math, that's two adults for a year and one adult for two years. And some portions of my food inventory is rotated. Trust me, I will eat very well while everyone else is starving.
Now some wise-acre will undoubtedly ask, "What happens if you get flooded ?" or "What happens if your house burns down ?"
First, I'm on high ground. I will NOT get flooded. I do not have flood insurance. I don't have it because where I live, it's a waste of money. I'm on high ground. Get it ?
Second, It'll take more than my house burning to the ground before I'll starve. I could theoretically shelter on another small building I have on the property and I have building materials sufficient to build another shelter if need be. Food and water is not stored in my home alone.
Now, my sort of preparedness didn't happen overnight. Many years ago, I sort of "started taking notes" about all the things in society that start going wrong when "the lights go out," as an example. And quietly, and on a budget, I started addressing all those problems, one by one. And when you're prepared to make a five year project out of this, you can buy everything ON SALE. I'm so choosey as to what I buy and when, an "ordinary sale price" isn't good enough for me. I only buy stuff when they're "virtually giving it away."
Two other things .....
If you're really considering "longer term independence" you need to consider waste disposal. This is extremely important. But it's reasonably easy to deal with. Learn to compost.
And lastly, consider that when and if the "shit really hits the fan" in this country, or in your region, etc., you're going to find that there are "Two Classes of People." There will be "the Have's" and "the Have Not's." If you're prepared, I don't need to tell you which class of people you're going to be in. And while they're not making headlines out of it in the news, there has been PLENTY of looting going on in New York and New Jersey. In some areas of NYC, it's "survival of the fittest." Go ahead, Google the words "LOOTING" and "NEW YORK." You'll find more stories than you can read in a day. So you better be prepared to prevent other folks from taking your preparedness from you.
When the "shit really hits the fan" trust me on this, nobody from the government is going to "stop by to make sure you're doing okay." I've been without power more times than I can count, been weathered-in plenty of times, and never once has anyone from the government stopped by to "check on me."
Now I know some will call me extreme, and you're correct. I'm more prepared than 99% of everyone. But you can "Bet your bippy" (as they use to say) you won't be seeing me standing in line with you down at City Hall hoping they'll give you some Instant Mashed Potatoes and a pint of water.
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