Reflections on Sandy

Ever wonder what happened to the New York Doomsday Preppers when Sandy hit? Me too. Actually I haven’t heard zip about them, nor can I find any news about them on Google, but that’s probably good. They were prepared. One thing kept going through my mind as I caught a few glimpses of the HOURS and HOURS of network news coverage of the hurricane: It didn’t look like many of those folks were prepared for a disaster. One word of advice I would give them is to start preparing right now for the next time, because there most certainly will be one.

I suppose if your house was destroyed, you could be forgiven for not having any supplies, but that’s why you have a safe place to stay and store your stuff. By “safe,” I mean a place that no hurricane, tornado, or gang of angry, hungry survivors can breach. You need a stash of food, water, money, fuel for your vehicle, and possibly even some weapons in case you need to defend yourself. And while I’m on the subject, I don’t call pointing a pistol at someone in line at the gas station so you can cut in, “defending yourself,” and I don’t think many other people would either.

I can’t be too judgmental, however, because there are holes in my safety net too. We have plenty of food, but not nearly enough water, money, or fuel put by. Since we live in the shadow of Mt. Rainier, trouble could come at any time, so it would bode well to be really prepared when disaster comes. Regardless of where you live, it will come someday. There is more than enough information out there on what you need to do. Just go to Google or Bing and type in “disaster planning.” Two of the sites you will find are http://www.ready.gov/and FEMA’s site http://www.fema.gov/. Both are excellent.  

Hey, I’m hoping when “the big one” hits, I don’t have to read about MY friends and family on the nightly news! And while you’re at it, plan to have more than you need, so you are in a position to help others when the time comes. You already know your neighbors, family, and friends will all think of you and show up on your doorstep. What will you do? Turn them away?