Is this your wake up call?
I hope this is a wakeup call for people just thinking about prepping. This post isn't for the people here that do prep, but for those that lurk in the background or talk about prepping but don't really.
The news said that both food lion stores out by the quake are closed due to structural damage. They also showed the small private grocery that was pretty messed up inside. So if the grocery stores get closed by an earthquake and you don't have at least some food put aside, then what are you going to eat? What if roads and bridges are impassable from a quake? That means you aren't going to be driving any distance to find a grocery open.
Do you have a well or do you get your water from a municipal system? Either way, will you still have a water supply? Water mains tend to break in earthquakes, wells can cave in. This isn't like a hurricane where you can say "Oh here comes a hurricane, should hit in a couple days. I'll have to remember to fill up some water containers tomorrow to be prepared." Today could have been a case of "I have plenty of water, why is the house shaking? How come I turn on the faucet and nothing comes out? Guess I should have had a warning about the earthquake so I could fill some containers."
How about first aid supplies? If you get injured do you think the government is going to come save you when you can't call them? Or if you can, how many other emergency calls came in? Does your family\freinds have first aid supplies? Advanced first aid supplies? Knowledge on how to use those supplies?
Both nuclear plants near the quake scrammed, they did what they were supposed to and that is good. But what about the power they generated? What will replace that missing power? I would say we are lucky because we have been having very nice weather, we haven't been running the main AC, only the small one in my office. What if we were having high temps and high humidity like we did in July? I wonder if this would result in rolling brownouts. Or how about power lines down? Do you have a way to cook meals if you do have food but your utilities are cut off?
What if your home is damaged and not safe to stay in? Do you have a temporaty shelter to use? Don't count on hotels, they may be closed due to damage. If not then they will probably fill up very quickly. And again with transportation, how would you get there if roads were impassable?
And of course the dreaded security. If 911 is busy trying to help people and travel is restricted, can you protect yourself if looters show up? After Katrina the looters and gangs were traveling hundreds of miles to go loot and do what they wanted in New Orleans. It seemed like the police were not able to stop them.
Will FEMA be able to immediately respond to a disaster that happens out of the blue? How long will it take if they aren't pre-staged for the emergency? Do they have the money to respond? I think we all know how slow they can be when they prepare for a coming disaster. And they've been telling communities hit by flooding and tornadoes to **** off lately. So can you survive until they show up? Can you survive if they don't show up? (hint, plan on preparing for the latter case)
To the OP, I'm glad this got you thinking. I hope you start to follow thru. I also hope it gets others to start moving. The more prepared people we have, the fewer needy we will have, the less potential looters we will have, the safer and more civil society will stay during a disaster.
