Are you prepared for a disaster?

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2005-09-02 12:16pm

Liar, you get Tornadoes, Freak showers of Fish, and the ever present danger of a Brummie invasion.

Dick all happens in south west England though.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2005-09-02 12:19pm

Except the odd earthquake, landslides, major radon gas leaks and the occassional great white shark.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2005-09-02 12:32pm

I live in Nottingham. We don't get disasters. Even man made ones like riots are just accepted as a normal part of the nightlife, as no-one can tell the difference.

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2005-09-02 12:32pm

El Moose Monstero wrote:Except the odd earthquake, landslides, major radon gas leaks and the occassional great white shark.

Thats Cornwall though, no one notices that load of crackpots. Devon is almost Royalty compared to that lot.

And anyway, you have the Scousers

Thats the end of my argument

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2005-09-02 12:45pm

How many people in New Orleans had emergency supplies in the basement but were unable to haul them up to the second floor or the rooftop when the flooding started? What are they going to do now, swim down 20 feet to somehow drag that shit up?

Sometimes, having emergency provisions doesn't really help, and the real answer is to get the fuck out of the way of the emergency.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2005-09-02 12:49pm

Everyone understands that, but not every disaster wipes out the basement, I belive the OP was asking in a more generic sense of your level of preperdness.

Zed Snardbody · Post by **Zed Snardbody** » 2005-09-02 02:15pm

Mlenk wrote:Here in Vegas we don't get things like hurricanes, tornadoes, and snowstorms/blizzards. We've gotten minor aftershocks from earthquakes that happen in California (though the last time that happened was in the mid-90's I think) and we also get the occasinoal minor flash flooding. But other than that we here in Vegas don't really have any concept of preparing for disasters or for extreme weather conditions.

Zombie Horde.

I look at a realisitc quarantine situation. With the ammount of tourists we get from abroad. An out break is a possibility. That or fire from the outlying wilderness.

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2005-09-02 02:36pm

Well, in case of quarantine I imagine you'd be provided for anyway. A fire wouldn't be too bad either-- just drive out of town, or catch a plane, whatever. Not too difficult, I imagine...

Zed Snardbody · Post by **Zed Snardbody** » 2005-09-02 02:56pm

Elheru Aran wrote:Well, in case of quarantine I imagine you'd be provided for anyway. A fire wouldn't be too bad either-- just drive out of town, or catch a plane, whatever. Not too difficult, I imagine...

I just look at it that if you have to flee in a hurry without knowing exactly where to go, you probably want to make sure the car is loaded with supplies, if you running, having to stop at the wal mart is not a good thing.

I try to keep enough drinking water and distilled water for myself and 2 other in the apartment at all times along with enough dry, canned goods to sustain 3 people for 3 days.

With the ammount of chemical processing and transport we get through the city, I'm not terribly sure what could happen, but it probably wouldn't be good.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2005-09-02 03:27pm

Darth Wong wrote:How many people in New Orleans had emergency supplies in the basement but were unable to haul them up to the second floor or the rooftop when the flooding started? What are they going to do now, swim down 20 feet to somehow drag that shit up?

Sometimes, having emergency provisions doesn't really help, and the real answer is to get the fuck out of the way of the emergency.

Very true...imagine keeping supplies in the basement to protect against a tornado, only to have a flood fill the basement and high winds tear off the roof.

Here in earthquake country they sometime recommend keeping supplies in two different spots. That way if there is a partial collapse of your structure you can still get to something...mabye.

Jason von Evil · Post by **Jason von Evil** » 2005-09-02 03:55pm

Northern England borders Scotland. Thats a natural disaster.

Zed Snardbody · Post by **Zed Snardbody** » 2005-09-02 04:05pm

Jason von Evil wrote:Northern England borders Scotland. Thats a natural disaster.

The long bow will keep the natives in check.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2005-09-02 04:09pm

We're actually less prepared than usual, as we've been trying to eat through the food we have around the house so that we don't have to lug as much stuff when we move in a couple of weeks.

If a major earthquake were to hit, though, I reckon we could probably get to my grandmother's place - she's got a ton of food up there.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2005-09-02 04:18pm

Darth Wong wrote:How many people in New Orleans had emergency supplies in the basement but were unable to haul them up to the second floor or the rooftop when the flooding started? What are they going to do now, swim down 20 feet to somehow drag that shit up?

Sometimes, having emergency provisions doesn't really help, and the real answer is to get the fuck out of the way of the emergency.

There are no basements in New Orleans. the water table is far too high. They even "bury" their dead above ground in crypts.

desertjedi · Post by **desertjedi** » 2005-09-02 04:20pm

Well I'm poorly equipped to handle a disaster here in San Diego, which is really stupid with all the earthquakes that have been going on for the last few months. I'n my defense I did move and didnt' want to lug all that food. I think it's time to restock the new apartment.

Caius · Post by **Caius** » 2005-09-02 04:36pm

The worst that happened was that major power outage in the summer a few years back in Canada that left practically all of Ontario without power for almost three days. I managed to survive that pretty well. We had water and what not so it wasn't too bad. Nothing as devastating as what's gone on in the States.

So nope, not prepared at all. If something like that were to hit Toronto I think I'd be screwed, unless I made plans to prepare when the first reports starting coming in. Which seems like a resonable idea. To me at least.

Duckie · Post by **Duckie** » 2005-09-02 04:41pm

The Floribama area takes the brunt of most of Hurricane Season, so we're prepared for a lot. The house can take Cat. 4 winds, possibly a low five with only minor roof damage (although the screened in porch would buy it quick), and we have tons of bottled water and maybe a week's worth of food. Unlike NO, we can get food and such if any's left as soon as the wind and water dies down, too.

Only problem is gas- we don't have any sort of stockpile except what's in the tanks, and even if any gas stations in town had any right now we can't really afford to stock up a lot of it. I expect that won't be a major problem assuming gas starts becoming more available in Gulf Breeze before the next disaster. (I hear they have it in Pensacola, which is just 3 miles away.)

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2005-09-02 05:55pm

Darth Wong wrote:How many people in New Orleans had emergency supplies in the basement but were unable to haul them up to the second floor or the rooftop when the flooding started? What are they going to do now, swim down 20 feet to somehow drag that shit up?

That's why when the threat is flooding, you don't put the supplies in the basement. Meanwhile, if the threat is an earthquake you might not want them in your house at all (if possibul) and if a tornado is coming then the basement is the best spot.

Sometimes, having emergency provisions doesn't really help, and the real answer is to get the fuck out of the way of the emergency.

Indeed, but not all disasters give warning or come where they are expected. One of the more powerful earthquakes (well acutely it was three major quakes over two months, each more powerful then the last) to ever strike the United States for example, the New Madrid quake, was centered in the American Midwest along the Mississippi. Not a place people normally expect that sort of thing.

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2005-09-02 06:42pm

The only disaster I could possibly think of hitting me here is either an earthquake (which is a very slim possibility), or maybe a very strong storm (which would be mitigated by the local geography).
Flooding is a non-issue.

Dangermouse · Post by **Dangermouse** » 2005-09-03 06:29pm

TrailerParkJawa wrote:
Dangermouse wrote:Here's a question: Besides supplies, do people have contact plans or areas to meet up with family or friends in the event of a major disaster? Reading through the Katrina blogs and all the posts from people asking about their family / friends has made me think a lot more about having a contact plan / area to meet up.
Thats a good point. I don't have a plan. My family has all but moved out of California. I have no plan to meet up or contact my friends or their kids.

South Carolina's DHEC Hurricane Preparation page sends me to this site that has materials for a communication plan. I suppose it could be useful.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2005-09-05 01:13pm

Well now I have a kerosene stove 5L kerosene, 100 packets of noodles, canned foor for five days and about 10L of vater.

Now I am somewhat better prepeared for problems.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2005-09-05 02:01pm

No, Nit and I aren't that prepared for emergencies. With warning, we could empty the bank accounts, and that's about it.

However, here in WV, about the only thing we really worry about is flooding.
Some of those floods can be major gully-washers... back in '01 parts of the state were nearly as bad as NOLA, with stretches of road stripped away by raging creeks, bridges gone, houses ripped off foundations. Some creeks completely changed courses by ripping their banks and finding new ways to flow. We still have people in FEMA housing, trying to finish rebuilding on higher ground.

Of course, that was a 'hundred year' flood, as the saying goes. The last one flooded Charleston in the 20s. Now we have too many dams and locks where flood waters can be caught upriver and slow-released, otherwise downtown would have been flooded again.

Danny Bhoy · Post by **Danny Bhoy** » 2005-09-06 01:30am

Since I'm living in an expatriate compound in Riyadh, an emergency situation would probably be an assault and occupation of the compound by Tangoes. For that scenario, I don't know the meaning of prepared.

I usually have enough food and liquids for a week tho.

tharkûn · Post by **tharkûn** » 2005-09-06 07:58pm

I can just bust out the camping supplies which are kept in the garage. I have a supply of water purification tablets that are great for reducing the weight I need to lugh when heading up a mountain, I can also use reverse osmosis and filters so potable water isn't an issue until long after I could have evacuated on foot. Trail food (olive oil, peanut butter, canned tuna, jerky, vacuum sealed pasta, sealed nuts, etc.) is bought in bulk and takes forever to go bad. I have enough propane for cooking, a generator with about 3 days of fuel, and plenty of weather appropriate clothing. Anything serious enough to get past that means I'm already screwed, but would also likely end up on a relief crew anyways.

Post by **weemadando** » 2005-09-06 11:43pm

The worst that can happen around here:

Very minor earthquakes (usually around a 4-6), and even then, usually closer to NZ or Antarctica.

Storms - with nothing between us and the Southern Ocean, we can often get some shitty weather, but nothing that destructive.

Bushfires - the only one that truly worries me. I'm a decent way into the city, but there is a shitload of vegetation around.

Zombie apocalypse - well, errr...