Turtle Posted June 30, 2006 Report Posted June 30, 2006 disaster - A happening causing widespread destruction and distress; a catastrophe. Nuclear bombardment, hurricane, volcano, earthquake, train wreck, tornado, flood, ice age, disaster, disaster, disaster ... The question is not "what will you do" , the question is "what have you already done to prepare for disaster?" Do you have a plan & at least 3 day kit of survival supplies? If no, why not? Quote
dagaz Posted June 30, 2006 Report Posted June 30, 2006 I voted no. Technically speaking I am living in the middle of a natural disaster - we've been undergoing a drought for the last five years out here, and it was bloody dry before the drought started! I had a shocker the other morning. Woke up to find we were in the middle of a blackout. If the power doesn't come straight back on out here, you know its going to be out for a while. Anyway I normally wake up at 5 am which (our winter at present) means that's dark. I was struggling around and finally managed to find some candles, but couldn't find any matches. Finally woke my girlfriend up and she told me there was some in the lounge room. As soon as I opened the door I could smell that our dog (who has cerebral palsy and is really effected by the cold so sleeps inside) had done a smelly **** and here I was tip-toeing around in the dark to try and find some matches! Thankfully I didn't have an encounter of the turd kind before I found the matches. But got me thinking how unprepared we were, especially seeing as I once went twelve months living in a teepee with no electricity and no running water. Quote
Jules Grimm Posted June 30, 2006 Report Posted June 30, 2006 I guess i just never thought of it and since at the moment i am currently throwing out everything i own - except what can be fitted into 2 bags at under 20 kilos i doubt i'm going to get one together now. Again - it's strange since down here we've been the victims of massive power cuts for quite a while now, luckily the situation is under control again (touch wood). I just hope life in England is mildly more civilised in terms of amenities - i know the weather is far worse. Quote
Boerseun Posted June 30, 2006 Report Posted June 30, 2006 Nope. I think any disaster that requires only three days' worth of supplies can't be that bad, can it...? Quote
ronthepon Posted June 30, 2006 Report Posted June 30, 2006 It is important to have disaster kits now that I think of it... Quote
Vagabond -SC2- Posted June 30, 2006 Report Posted June 30, 2006 I actually have just started setting up kits. small ones for each car, personal ones and larger ones for the family (the personal ones are included in the larger family one). Any disaster for even as short as a day can be tough on people. Boerseun, try living with out water for 3 days or if you need meds with out them for 3 days..... Food sure would not be fun but water with no shelter would really not be fun.. Most people want and expect others to take care of them when they take no responsibility for themselves. Disasters would not be so taxing on aid if people were just slightly prepared. Quote
Jay-qu Posted June 30, 2006 Report Posted June 30, 2006 interesting question turtle, I have thought about it but I'm noy exactly in a disaster prone area.. Quote
Pyrotex Posted June 30, 2006 Report Posted June 30, 2006 Nope. I think any disaster that requires only three days' worth of supplies can't be that bad, can it...?ohhhh yes, Boerseun! ohhhhh yes! Hurricanes and floods are common examples here in Houston, Texas. It doesn't matter whether you elect to stay put, get in the car and run but get totally caught in the world's largest traffic jam, or get in the car and make it to safety. The lack of 3 days' worth of clothing, toilet paper, plastic bags to poop and pee in, something to roll up in for sleep (or cold), something to keep your stomach from rumbling and hurting, a tuck-away of ready cash if you wind up in Tobacco Spit, Texas, where they don't take NO credit cards atall, clean dry socks (for god's sake Boerseun!!!). Three days may not make the difference between life and death, but it could mean the prevention of you wishing you WERE dead!!!!! Gwen and I have TWO large plastic tubs with snap-on lids sitting in our patio closet. They have already saved our sanity ONCE, during hurricane Rita. We wound up at her mother's cabin in a pine thicket WAY out in the middle of nowhere and the power failed. We were safe from the storm--BUT--without those tubs, we would have been miserable. Quote
Pyrotex Posted June 30, 2006 Report Posted June 30, 2006 interesting question turtle, I have thought about it but I'm noy exactly in a disaster prone area..Yeah, but ANYTHING could go wrong. I'm talking about what if your apartment building or house catches on fire?? What if a chemical factory blows up or a train derails and the governor orders evacuation NOW?? What if your best friend is deathly sick/injured and you have to go IMMEDIATELY to be there?? The dam breaks?? The army ants swarm?? You're trapped in your garage in the middle of a killer bee disaster?? Aliens from space... ...woops. Wrong thread. :( Quote
Turtle Posted June 30, 2006 Author Report Posted June 30, 2006 Now thens, we have some talking points.:( ◊ First, my interest. Equal parts obsessive-worry/paranoia & good reason to prepare. Within 50 miles of me 3 explosive volcanos, one of which continues a steady 8 month eruption accompanied by earhtquakes & ash emmisions reaching 10's of thousands of feet. [dust masks part of disaster kit] Under me, one of the most active earthquake zones outside of Callifornia. Above me, extremes of weather related to living at the throat of the 10th largest river in the US.◊Just because a person's geography is not "disaster prone", doesn't make them immune from the effects. If the disaster strikes a port for example & interupts cargo then everyone downstream is hobbled for any new supplies.◊The gentleman stumbling in the dark for a light at least had the candle, but he poorly planned for its use. [put the matches with the candle now maybe?] In this case it seems preparation ahead may have helped. [flashlight]◊Prepare as I might, I can't seem to avoid a disasterous pile of crap every month when one of my housemates refuses to pay rent on time & acts put out that I ask for it. Good grief!:doh: Quote
dagaz Posted June 30, 2006 Report Posted June 30, 2006 ?The gentleman stumbling in the dark for a light at least had the candle, but he poorly planned for its use. [put the matches with the candle now maybe?] In this case it seems preparation ahead may have helped. [flashlight] Just to say in my defence that we usually keep a torch (flashlight) and a cigarette lighter in that drawer. However, one of us had used the torch and not put it back (it was probably me since it has sinced turned up in the garage near where I would use it to check the oil levels etc in the car), and the cigarette lighter ran out a while ago and we just hadn't gotten around to replacing it as we hardly ever use it. But yes, it was a good little reminder. Quote
Stargazer Posted July 1, 2006 Report Posted July 1, 2006 No, never really crossed my mind. No volcanoes around here, earthquakes are rare and very weak, no hurricanes. Quote
Pyrotex Posted July 1, 2006 Report Posted July 1, 2006 No, never really crossed my mind. No volcanoes around here, earthquakes are rare and very weak, no hurricanes.As often as not, the kind of disaster that would make you want to load the car and run fast is NOT something you would predict or expect. Some folks believe they can just grab some stuff and run, but our experience is, trying to assemble what you need (in the face of a crisis) and loading it in your vehicle, can take 3 to 5 hours!! One's brain thinks "oh, it'll just be a few minutes, maybe 15" -- but you keep thinking of things you must take, you can't find stuff, you have to rearrange it in your vehicle, you can't find containers, you panic... and it takes what seems forever. Quote
TheBigDog Posted July 1, 2006 Report Posted July 1, 2006 I am not organized with a prepared kit right now. But I do talk to my neighbors about stuff like this. We have discussed how we would help each other in times of trouble. I live in the center circle of the evacuation zone for the Perry Nuclear power plant, so if they ever declared an emergency we would have to evacuate. I could rely on my neighbors to help my wife and kids to evacuate if they needed it, and they could rely on me. I would not abandon anyone on the street if it came down to it. That is the only thing I can think of that would cause an evacuation here, other than a tornado it if whiped out the neighborhood. Bill Quote
C1ay Posted July 1, 2006 Report Posted July 1, 2006 I am actually prepared to begin a permanent camping trip if required. Quote
Jay-qu Posted July 1, 2006 Report Posted July 1, 2006 wow, now you guys got me thinking.. might have to start making plans. Anyone know the date of the next apocolypse? Quote
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