Thursday, November 01, 2012

Dumpster Diving

I see that New York residents are dumpster diving, trying to get something to eat.

Preparedness is paramount when dealing with a natural disaster.  Keep things that won't spoil.  Dried beans, canned meat.  Ganola, cereal, canned milk, bottled water.  Coffee for sure,  A Coleman stove and lantern.

When the wind quits blowing, you might not have any help for three days.  Be ready for those three days.

7 comments:

Jester said...

That just makes me laugh and shake my head. First off I don't understand having a few day's of food in any situation for unforeseen circumstances.
Secondly, they had DAYS advance warning of this. This was not a random tornado dropping down on their heads. No excuses.

Anonymous said...

Next thing you know they will be shouting "Where is George Bust." I see where the mayor of New York says it all the fault of global warming. And to think this was a Cat 1 storm. I will still say a prayer for the people impacted as I know its no fun doing with out lights, heat, food, and water. Been there, done that.

Rivrdog said...

In these Oregon parts, when the weather goes gunnysack, it's usually at least a week. I can run my generator 1/3 time for 10 days without siphoning any fuel, run my pickup 850 miles and my SHTF diesel military truck 500 on my SHTF fuel supply. I can eat stored food for 3 months, cook that food until it runs out and even heat a room with propane for a few weeks. Preparation just takes time, that's all.

Gaffer said...

The three day (72 hour) advice is a figure pulled out of the air. We try to keep a minimum of several weeks worth of food and supplies on hand for those times Nature goes poestal.

Tom in KY said...

Not sure where "three days" first originated (it goes WAY back) but today it is not just the common advice, it is also the planning figure for most levels of government and for many non-government relief agencies. Local and state Emergency Management Agencies plan on Federal assistance arriving in three days, meanwhile FEMA expects that they are doing OK if they do arrive in three days. And, generally speaking, in a small "major disaster" you really can expect some help to arrive within three days. The problems come when the disaster isn't small or isn't "major" -- by small I mean covering a small area. If the disaster covers a large area you can expect all the help to show up wherever the TV cameras are, but if you neighborhood isn't on the 6 o'clock news don't hold your breath waiting for help. Sorry but there simply aren't enough relief workers to cover hundreds of square miles all at the same time. Even if the disaster is in a small enough area, it may not be "major" enough to rate a federal disaster declaration - or it may take time for the state to collect enough information to prove that the disaster reall is "major". Without a federal disaster declaration you won't see any federal assistance and most states have very little help to offer, so you have to count on non-government relief organizations like Red Cross, Salvation Army, and various church groups. None of those organizations have unlimited resources. If the organization has a local presence, you can expect their help almost immediately, but that help may be pretty limited until they can bring in national resources. If your community doesn't have a local presence of any of the disaster relief organizations you may be on your own until they hear about your problem.

Rivrdog said...

We've yet to see the kind of disaster your actually need to prepare for, and that is the breakdown of social order of a bad enough nature to make leaving your house for groceries, fuel, etc a bad idea.

We probably WILL see that level of disaster in this country, and pride plus PeeCee prevents it from being immediately solved. The immediate solution to a civil disorder is the immediate imposition of lawful order by overwhelming force, but, as we saw in the "Occupy Wall Street" riots in several cities, the La Raza riots in the Southwest, etc, it's never politically popular enough to crack down and end the situation, so idiocy such as the pandering to rioters we saw in Portland, OR and new York City happens instead.

You simply have to be able to hunker down and outlast the idiocy from both the rioters AND the City hall crowd that won't end them. In Portland's case, Old Man Winter ended the OWS idiocy as the rioters slowly froze in their squalid tent city.

Force of civilian arms won't end riots, it may save your family and property, but it never changes the overall situation, which is best handled by hunkering down, while being prepared to use your own force should it become necessary to save life.

Anonymous said...

72 hour of being on your own is a joke. Best plan for 2 weeks or more of no help, longer if FEMA is involved.