Readers Not Fully Prepared For A Catastrophe
No surprise that readers aren’t fully prepared for a catastrophe, I know I’m not prepared at all — unless you count a rechargeable LED flashlight. Here are the results from the poll last week:
Q: How prepared are you for a major catastrophe?
- Not prepared at all 19 [41.3%]
- Mildly prepared 13 [28.26%]
- Somewhat prepared 12 [26.09%]
- Very prepared 1 [2.17%]
- Other: 1 [2.17%] (yes, I do have a zombie survival plan)
Our federal government has an informative site you might find helpful:
Ready.gov has a variety of publications for download covering various topics about planning and preparation for disasters and emergencies.
Check it out.
– Steve Patterson
The challenge with “being prepared” is that you really can’t prepare completely for every potential crisis or disaster, that’s why we’ve moved to a society, instead of every man for himself. How you plan for fire is significantly different from how you would plan for an earthquake, a blizzard, a tornado, a drought, a flood or civil unrest. And unless you enjoy emergency rations as a regular part of your diet, you’ll either have way too many (no disaster) or not nearly enough (disaster). My sister and brother-in-law really bought into the Y2K hype, to the extent that they’re still eating some of their stockpiled rations, a decade later, and they rarely use the well they drilled, “just in case” . . . .
The challenge with “being prepared” is that you really can’t prepare completely for every potential crisis or disaster, that’s why we’ve moved to a society, instead of every man for himself. How you plan for fire is significantly different from how you would plan for an earthquake, a blizzard, a tornado, a drought, a flood or civil unrest. And unless you enjoy emergency rations as a regular part of your diet, you’ll either have way too many (no disaster) or not nearly enough (disaster). My sister and brother-in-law really bought into the Y2K hype, to the extent that they’re still eating some of their stockpiled rations, a decade later, and they rarely use the well they drilled, “just in case” . . . .
It is hard to prepare for a disaster. But human nature being what it is, people complain when they are out of power and don’t understand why they aren’t the first to be restored when their whole neighborhood or region is out as well. We have personally found it easier and practical to be ready to go 3 days alone. By then the services are usually up, and if not, well there are a lot bigger problems. We also have a detail map of the region as well as batteries and the like under our basement steps….just in case. Besides, how many know how to exit the city without going over or under a bridge?
It is hard to prepare for a disaster. But human nature being what it is, people complain when they are out of power and don’t understand why they aren’t the first to be restored when their whole neighborhood or region is out as well. We have personally found it easier and practical to be ready to go 3 days alone. By then the services are usually up, and if not, well there are a lot bigger problems. We also have a detail map of the region as well as batteries and the like under our basement steps….just in case. Besides, how many know how to exit the city without going over or under a bridge?