Could You Last Three Days?

Red sky at night...

Blizzards, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods.  What's next, a rain of frogs?  No such luck:  that would be a good thing as in "when life gives you frogs, eat froglegs."  What's next is tornado season.  Here it is mid-March and we've already seen thunderstorms in Cincinnati and reports of tornados elsewhere such as Florida.  And the same El Nino system that brough us the heavy snow this winter promises to pump more moisture and energy into our thunderstorms this spring and summer, spawning more twisters.  By the way, floods kill the most people and damage the 2nd most property relative to other natural disasters.

I like this little tale...

The Big Flood

It had been raining for days and days, and a terrible flood had come over the land. The waters rose so high that one man was forced to climb onto the roof of his house.

As the waters rose higher and higher, a man in a rowboat appeared, and told him to get in. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the man in the rowboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters rose higher and higher, and suddenly a speedboat appeared. "Climb in!" shouted a man in the boat. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the man in the speedboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters continued to rise. A helicopter appeared and over the loudspeaker, the pilot announced he would lower a rope to the man on the roof. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the helicopter went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters rose higher and higher, and eventually they rose so high that the man on the roof was washed away, and alas, the poor man drowned.

Upon arriving in heaven, the man marched straight over to God. "Heavenly Father," he said, "I had faith in you, I prayed to you to save me, and yet you did nothing. Why?" God gave him a puzzled look, and replied "I sent you two boats and a helicopter, what more did you expect?"

If you don't want to be that sap waiting to be rescued, or standing in line for water & food or hoping they let you live in one of their prison camps trailer parks then you'd better be ready before disaster strikes.  Ya know, when the government allowed people to put money into 401(k) and IRA plans for retirement, I interpreted that as saying "Social Security will run out, you're on your own."  Well now they are explicitly saying "You may need to survive on your own after an emergency. This means having your own food, water, and other supplies in sufficient quantity to last for at least three days."  Can it be any clearer?  Preparedness is not just a shopping list.  It's an action plan and a midset as well, but at the very least get your 3-day disaster kit ready!  If you want some decent guidelines from the mainstream authorities, check Ready.gov, FEMA.gov, and Cincinnatiredcross.org.  If you don't trust The Man then visit American Preppers Network and similar grass-roots self-reliance forums.  You don't have to subscribe to anybody's religion, politics or conspiracy theories in order to learn.  Even the Mormons have a lot of good info, especially about food storage.

In addition to all that good info, I want to throw in three pointers.  First, the middle of a disaster is no time to learn a new skill.  Learn and practice your CPR & first aid ahead of time.  Read the preparation instructions on any unfamiliar foods, read the manuals on all your equipment (camping gear, tools, radios, GPS, etc.) and actually practice using it.  Second, take personal limitations into account.  If you can only use one hand then don't pack a can opener (or any other tool) that requires two hands.  Think about medications, mobility issues, strength and stamina.  An evacuation kit that you can't carry is an anchor! If you wear glasses, put your old or extra pair in your kit.  It could save your life!  Third, include something to keep your spirits up.  Crayons and paper can pass the time well.  A deck of cards or  five dice can keep multiple people amused in a number of different games.  Inspiring reading material such as The Hobbit or The Bible can keep you from succumbing to despair.  Remember, this is something to tell the grandkids about!