Emergency Preparedness 101

The content of my blog is going to change from nothing… to giving advice about how to prepare yourself and your family to survive a natural or man-made disaster.   I’ve received a lot of positive feedback from my Facebook posts about common sense ways to be prepared for earthquakes, power outages, food shortages, etc.  After much consideration I've decided to listen to those voices and expand those quick posts into something more comprehensive. 

I’m compelled to do this because I read many expert opinions on the subject and they all have the same three pieces of advice. 

1.)    Leave your house and go to the woods or mountains.

2.)    Create a massive secret cache of supplies in said woods or mountains.

3.)    Build a nuclear bomb proof shelter buried deep under said woods or mountains.

This “advice” is good only to those who can afford to build a massive underground bunker complex, stockpile 25-30 year’s worth of food and water, and who already live in the woods or mountains.  For us regular people, this is just not practical or realistic. 

I’ve been told many times that I am going to die if a serious event occurs because I live in the suburbs.  Well.  Many of us do.  In California especially, the wilderness is an hour or two away by car.  If roads are shut down due to accidents or checkpoints, then no one is driving anywhere.  Your only way of getting to the woods or mountains is on foot.  And you’re left with only those supplies you can carry on your back.  Walking for four days to the spot you’re going to starve to death at just seems counterproductive to me. 

So the advice and recommendations I give will be primarily for people who live in the suburbs or cities of California.  I will take into account that you have small children.  I will take into account that your mobility may be hampered (either by ailment or just not being able to drive anywhere).  And I will take into account the fact that you will likely have to stay in your home, condo, or apartment. 

I will not be speaking of an end of days scenario.  I will not attempt to predict Marshall Law or anything like that.  What I will speak of is earthquakes, economic collapse, and water, fuel and food shortages which will likely occur in the event that a terrorist or cyber-terrorist group attacks the United State’s power grid, banking system, etc. 

I know many “experts” predict that everything is hunky-dory, a-okay, and that these things will never happen.  But keep in mind that in 2006, I attended a conference given by “experts” who predicted that the housing boom in the US would continue unabated for years because “poor people with bad credit are always going to want to buy houses.”    

And we know how that turned out.

Experts are wrong more than they are right.  Their jobs are to placate the masses using “best-case” scenarios.  Look at gold prices.  The experts told everyone to buy gold because it was going to be over $2,000 an ounce. It was a “sure thing” they said.  The safest place to put your money.  Well.  It never got to $2,000 an ounce.  Now it’s barely hovering above $1,200 an ounce.    

So I’m going to give you practical tips and tricks to help your family survive ten, 15, 30, 60 or even 90 days without electricity, water, and sanitation. 

If things are not restored after 90 days, we are facing a whole new world.  And I don’t think anyone can realistically prepare for that. 

And please, if you have a topic you would like to know more about, drop me a line in the comments section and I’ll address it in a future post!