Prepare! Preparing for the unprepared

Welcome to the 21st century! Will you survive?

Imagine a nationwide pandemic resulting in travel restrictions, quarantines, and funeral pyres. How about a Zimbabwe style economic meltdown which makes the Great Depression look like a bad day at the races? Or how about a handful of nukes going off in random cities across the U.S.?

Sounds depressing? O.K., so why bother? Only an idiot would prepare for some imaginary crisis the thought of which would be so unsettling who would want to survive?

Hurricane Katrina was not an imaginary crisis. Some people who were prepared, those that had food, water, gasoline, reliable transportation, etc. either

a) got out before the hurricane hit or
b) successfully rode out the flooding and subsequent looting.

Others waited for any outside help. Help for a scenario which had never been imagined or prepared for. And those people who waited, suffered.

We all saw the images on television. Stranded motorists lining up for fuel. No food or water. People gravely ill for lack of basic medication and sanitary facilities. Most of all we saw the local, state and federal government paralyzed and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the crisis. The individual "crazies" who prepared were at home or safely somewhere else out of harm's way.

So what can one do? I don't have a fortune to buy an underground complex in the Idaho mountains, a five year supply of canned food, an arsenal of weapons and a stash of gold coins.

And most of you don't either. Most of us work in cities and live in populated suburbs. Our homes no longer have basements, water from our own well, a tended garden, or chickens in the front yard. In our zero-lot lined communities, we are lucky to have a backyard!

However, any one of us can purchase extra food at the supermarket down the street. Water comes clean and ready to drink from the kitchen tap. What is to stop you or anyone else from storing a few gallons in reusable containers? Why not purchase a camp stove or outdoor bar-b-q grill for emergency cooking? Most of the supplies needed for the unthinkable are readily available and affordable to 90% of the population.

Your Mission: Success!

My philosophy is this: I don't believe in survival, I believe in success. Survival is cold oatmeal and water from the water heater three times a day. Success is three balanced daily meals, a comfortable and secure shelter with running lights, fresh water and heat. Make your goal the ability to successfully ride out any scenario.

Survival scenarios run the gamut from the inconvenient to the dangerous.

1) Minor inconvenience, non life threatening - Power outages, blizzards, ice storms. In most cases the above are non emergency if you have the basic standbys - food, water, alternative heat and lighting, and communications.

2) Limited or regional catastrophe - earthquake, flood, hurricane, volcano. In this case, the immediate area is affected but the majority of the nation is unaffected; i.e. Hurricane Katrina - the rest of the U.S. was available for refuge and to bring in supplies.

3) Break down with long lasting repercussions - war, insurrection, invasion, economic collapse. Although the framework (utilities, security, purchase and exchange) may be functioning in some parts of the country, the majority of the nation is affected and suffering from systemic dysfunction.

Even with all of your planning, you most likely are not going to be ready for item 3 tomorrow. However, you can get a good start today on item 1 if you start now.