Major disasters are a fact of life. Now and again Mother Nature simply has to “do her thing.” I’m not trying to make light of the terrible events that can occur when I say this, but since nearly all of us are vulnerable in one way or another to her whims, I feel the central question becomes … Are You Prepared?
Nearly every state in the Union is susceptible to some kind of disaster. Based on the whims of Mother Nature, one might experience any one (or more) of the following: forest fire, flood, earthquake, tornado, major snowstorm, hurricane, landslide, tsunami, or … ??
Admittedly, some areas of the U.S., because of their location, are relatively immune to the massive disasters that Mom Nature can inflict, but this does not make them totally safe. In these days of climate change, many are experiencing drought conditions and even insect infestation. Some readers can probably name other inflictions common to their state.
So, taking all this into account, the question remains: Are You Prepared?
Do you have reserve provisions on hand? What about a generator? Do you have some freeze-dried food stashed away? Medical supplies? Pet necessities? And most importantly, have you stored a LARGE supply of water bottles? The value of this last item becomes evident in the following incident that happened to a fellow blogger.
“Scottie” and his hubby recently suffered through the Florida hurricane. Wisely, they took heed of the warnings and left the area where they lived, so they stayed safe. However, when they returned, they found a section of their home had received some major damage. Fortunately, the rest of it was still livable and this allowed them to at least “make-do.”
However, the water and sewer systems in the area were damaged and they had no electricity. He wrote the following in one of his updates to his readers:
We dipped buckets in the pool to get water to pour into toilets when the desperately needed flushing. With no sewer system working we had to be careful not to fill the lines or it would backup into the homes.
As soon as I read this, I wondered how many of us realize the many and several uses that water plays in our daily living.
In any case, if you are someone who has not made any emergency preparations, perhaps it’s time to give some thought about stashing away at least a few supplies … both in your home and in your car. The potential dangers of the area in which you live will help you decide what you need and where to store it. Since my other-half and I live in an earthquake prone area and don’t know what the shaking will damage, we have supplies stashed away in several locations.
In any emergency, it is the “unknowns” that always need to be considered, which is why it’s so important to take a few moments and ask yourself … if a catastrophic event were to take place where I live … Am I Prepared?
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Image by Lavir Hamil Lavir from Pixabay
I can speak first hand…definitely be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. And if you are near the coast, best to evacuate if that is the suggestion.
Im glad Scotty is OK…
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Prepared 3 months at least for the cats and birds. Not so much for us. Electricity will be the big concern where we live. Everything else depends on what happens. We live in a very small town in Far Northern Alberta. Reality is if people don’t help each other, no one will get help up here.
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The thing is, rawgod, if you aren’t around (because you have not stored any food or water) to take care of those cats and birds, what then?
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I won’t be around much longer, relatively speaking, as it is. But I cannot worry about that. I live in an area where nature is already cruel when she wants to be, but most disasters that are hitting the world will not happen here for a long long time. No hurricanes or even tornadoes, no earthquakes, no floods. We already deal with huge snowstorms here in winter, droughts in summer, and wildfires that can wipe us off the maps. As far as a target for nuclear bombs, we are not even close. As I said, the biggest thing that can happen to us is an electricity failure. That could be disastrous. But we would figure our way around that too.
I am not trying to ssy preparation for some things would not be a good thing, but we are not going to turn our home into a fortress just in case. Life is about coping, and it is impossible to prepare for everything that “might” happen. I chose to live in a stable part of the world, again relatively speaking, so that I did not have to live my life in fear of the “possible.” I am not about to change that now just because the world is going to hell around us. I am a survivor, so what I cannot survive can have me. Something will, in the end.
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Of course it’s impossible to prepare for everything … primarily because we don’t know the mind of Mother Nature. And yes, I’m well aware that many (most?) of us tend to live for today and let tomorrow take care of itself. I’m just saying that it doesn’t hurt to have a few things on hand … just in case. 🙂
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I think it’s time to stop pointing the finger at ‘mother nature’ …. we might have to start taking some of the blame ourselves and acknowledge that, in some instances, prevention might have been a lot wiser than preparation. It might be a bit late for that, though, and I’m wondering if any sort of preparation will be sufficient to buffer us from what is coming.
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If “what is coming” is what I think you are suggesting, then I agree no amount of preparation will help. However, “earthly” and sudden catastrophes are a different matter and can happen at any time.
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Oh yes, I realise that flood, famine and so on have always been unpredictable but inevitable events. It’s just that we still seem hell-bent on making them more frequent, and more frequently worse. By all means though, keep stockpiling the canned food.
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Our town (pop 14,000) was without sewage and reticulated water for months in 2004 following a devastating storm and subsequent flooding that damaged the infrastructure of both facilities beyond repair. Such never before seen events are now expected to be one in 20 year events. That’s the reality of global climate change.
We’ve always had an earthquake survival kit (these being the “Shaky Isles”), with sufficient water and food and temporary shelter to last several weeks – enough for survival until outside aid could arrive. So we’re prepared for most disaster possibilities. The most likely disasters to hit our neighbourhood are earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and severe storms. While flooding is a concern for the region, we’re approximately 60 m(approx 200 ft) about the the town proper, and as this region is pastoral, which is likely to become wetter with climate change, significant fire events are unlikely.
What is being seriously discussed and now being planned for is “organised withdrawal” from areas that are likely to be seriously affected by climate change. Withdrawal from coastal locations is an obvious one, but it’s estimated that in Aotearoa, for every site at risk from rising seas or coastal erosion, there’s another ten locations that are likely to severely impacted, mostly by flooding. Some towns have been built on what are only now being recognised as flood plains, and the question arises whether it’s better to build flood protection schemes, or move entire towns to safer locations. In some cases, the latter may be the cheaper, not to mention safer, long term strategy.
As a consequence of the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes, and several smaller ones over the past decade or so, many areas that were considered safe, are now deemed to be unsuitable for habitation. For example several suburbs in Christchurch have been converted into farmland as they are prone to liquefaction and sinking in major earthquakes. In Wellington (out capital city) obtaining insurance in some suburbs is virtually impossible.
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As I suggested in my post, each area has its potential dangers. Some more than others. And it’s been demonstrated on more than one occasions that Mother Nature doesn’t play favorites.
It’s encouraging to read that your country has taken steps to deal with climate change. Unfortunately, (too) many in the U.S. are ignoring/denying that’s it’s happening and as a result, people are going to suffer for their inaction in the coming years.
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Does bottle water last very long as drinkable, if you store it? The tap water is better and more affordable here, so I have never even tried bottle water. Does it taste like plastic?
Investing in a portable dry toilet might be a good idea.
I do not know what sort of catastrophy to await and prepare for. This year we have had some talk about the condition of our local population shelter bunkers and vaults and having a small storage of canned and dry food at home, in case of a Russian invasion.
I live by the coast on a hill in a medieval city. The land rises here at a pace of a half a metre in 100 years (and has been rising since the last ice age). So, as the city was founded in 13th century, rising seas are not at least going to be very high on my list of problems, unless the flood reaches several meters. Hurricanes, or eartquakes do not happen here. Snowstorms are a common enough phenomenon, so our society is quite well prepared for them. A heatwave might be new and nasty and a drought might rise the price of food. Now our problem is the price of energy, because the EU banned buying gas from Russia, the long awaited new nuclear power plant is a decade late from finishing and they can not get it running, and apparently there is a problem with building more windmills to the eastern part of the country, since they disrupt our radars.
Seems like good old Mother Nature is not so much to blame for our catastrophies as we humans are ourselves…
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I, too, do not know what disaster to prepare for. But in the event a disaster were to strike, we would innovate.
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Just remember, Mak, that you will need certain items on hand in order to “innovate.”
As I mentioned, some areas are less prone to major disasters, but this doesn’t make them immune. And climate change is affecting everyone.
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In Africa, every day you have to innovate, my friend. We are far from immune but kind of live through some sort of human caused disaster on the daily
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No, the water does not taste like plastic. But you want to store it in a cool dry place or in the fridge.
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Storing it in the fridge? That should be handy, incase the water is cut because even the city auxiliary power source does not give power. (We recycle basicly all our garbage and produce heat and power for the city by burning what is unrecyclable.)
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Yes, rautakyy. in many cases, humans do cause their own disasters. However, Mom Nature still has the upper hand. And, as I mentioned in my post, while some areas may be less susceptible to “natural” disasters, I don’t think any area is totally immune.
As for bottled water, it tastes just like … water. However, if it is stored for long periods of time (years?), it would probably be best used for other purposes in an emergency situation (e.g., toilets).
Losing power is something that can happen in nearly every part of the world — and this is probably the thing that has the greatest effect on our lives during a disaster.
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Ofcourse Mother nature has the upper hand. She might throw a meteorite at us. I mean, that a catastrophic drought in Finland is more likely a result of the global warming and in that case a result of human action, not so much a natural phenomenon. Our natural strugle to survive has translated to a srugle against nature and each other. There in lies the source of our predicament.
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I have sometimes wondered in the local supermarket why the immigrant families buy a lot of bottle water. As if they did not know the tap water is safe and drinkable here in Finland, but perhaps they – many coming from catastrophic areas – are simply preparing for the worse, as experience has taught them to. Typically the bottle water is bought here only by families going for their summer cottages and in smaller bottles by young people trying to look fashionable – as people in commercial advertisments. At the same time plastic bottles are one of the main sources for microplastic in our oceans.
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And ain’t that the truth? We made our beds and now we’re going to sleep – or die – in them whether we like to or not.
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I have a caravan and I will ditch my house and escape with my caravan into the desert. If that does not work plan B is head back to my original home in New Zealand and again if this does not work out it is plan C and that is to kiss my lovely arse goodbye.
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This started for us while living on Guam. Lived a few years in FL. Not planning to return.
The two possible disasters here (central Texas) are tornadoes and Republicans. Some water and enough food to manage for a few days. I have filled bathtubs (no pool) and hoped for the best. It is always something.
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Yes, Bill, it is “always something.” But in the case of natural disasters (😉), it seems you know what it means to be prepared. Good on you! 👍
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Thank you, Nan. We used to evac our airplanes from Guam to Okinawa when a typhoon was coming, leaving our families to ride it out. Only had one scare in Florida, but it decided to devastate New Orleans instead. I have one MRE package and may get one or two more. But the big deal is water. There is much info available on how to prepare. 🙂
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See that stuff on-sale ~ fire-sale even ~ almost all over the Internet.
Mostly at the “liberal” websites. Funny that …
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Growing up in the rural midwest, we would occasionally have a snow storm that would knock out power for a few days. We always had backup heat and cooking (a wood stove) as well as lots of canned food on hand. To this day, I always have lots of extra stuff on the shelf, including a 5 gallon jug of water.
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Smart! The thing that many seem to overlook (ignore?) is that it doesn’t take a MAJOR disaster to find themselves in a pickle. All it takes is for water and/or power to be cut off for an extended period of time. I really don’t think people realize how dependent we humans have become on our everyday conveniences. In any case, thanks for sharing a firsthand experience.
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It was the extra toilet paper that was most useful in early 2020. Lol!
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