Local folks know that we had major storm here on Monday night. The storm moved in at about 11:30, lasted only 15 minutes or so, and left downed trees and power outages all over Hampshire and Franklin County. The power remains out in a lot of places and some schools are still closed. I had to pick up some canning supplies in Wal-Mart yesterday and heard and saw things that made me want to scream. Some people just don’t learn.
First, the place was packed with people buying flashlights, batteries, lanterns and camp stoves. I just don’t get it. What if they had not been able to get out to buy that stuff or didn’t have the cash or found the shelves empty? I just don’t understand how you live in the Northeast and not have storm supplies. Every place has its vulnerabilities. Why not be ready to deal with them? But honestly, it was the conversations were what really got to me.
There was so much anger. “I’m going to lose the stuff in my freezer if they don’t get the power on”.” I don’ t know what they’re doing out there. Leaning on their shovels?” “What do they think I’m suppose to about work if the schools are closed?”
Who is this “they” I keep hearing about and what exactly would you like “them” to do if there is a two hundred-year-old maple tree lying in the road? Leaning on their shovels? I know some of these linemen and they often go 24 hour shifts in the midst of a crisis. Here’s my point. Don’t count on “they” to worry about your freezer or your childcare or whether or not you have batteries for your flashlight. “They” will have the big picture to worry about. The small picture is your problem. Only in past 30 years have we been aculturated to believe that we are supposed to be cared for by government every time something goes wrong. Things are changing and we all better get used to being responsible for our own safety and well-being.
All of this brings us right back to Gulf disaster. I think the reality is finally sinking in. No magic. No miracle. Just throwing things at the problem until the relief well can be drilled. In the meantime, I keep hearing that people want TPTB to do something. Who and what?
May 28, 2010 at 7:17 am
Hear hear, Sister!
This past winter, the kids were out of school for about 10 days because of extreme cold, wind, drifting, accumulation etc. And people were angry, really truly angry that they couldn’t send their kids to school, because after all, it IS the school’s responsibility to take care of their offspring, right?
And ditto Hurricane Ike experience.
Besides, who in the world doesn’t own a flashlight???
May 28, 2010 at 8:34 am
I’m at the point where I just shake my head and say a quiet “good bye” in my head to these people. If a true crisis happens, these people aren’t going to make it.
We did not get ANY damage from that storm, so it was interesting hearing about all the damage. Every time one of those wonderful old trees goes down, it makes me weep a little. You are right though, “they” do the best they can in a crisis, it’s not like anyone can control the weather (yet).
May 28, 2010 at 10:29 am
This is off topic, but has anyone tried to access Jim Kunstler’s website this morning? I’m getting some generic “register this website” page in German. Makes you wonder….
May 28, 2010 at 11:56 am
Ditto!, shakes head wanders off muttering
May 28, 2010 at 6:54 pm
I have to admit, I am ALMOST one of those people. Of course I have a flashlight (dynamo, plus radio and lantern, too!) I have candles and matches and a a camping stove (I know, use outdoors!). I have a diesel generator and stored biodiesel to run it on! BUT the generator isnt hooked up to anything, im not sure i have propane for the camp stove, and how the hell am I going to find my matches in the dark?
May 29, 2010 at 5:14 am
Kathy,
And this is the problem, isn’t it?
WE HAVE BEEN SOCIALIZED!!!
Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about “Peak Oil.” And I am so glad I am one of those who are mostly prepared. What comes our way will be chaos, at it’s best and total breakdown of society, at worst.
But as to the others who think the government will take care of them, those who only live for the moment, all you have to do is look at Katrina.
There, the government was totally impotent! What I see is that, when the SHTF, it will be those enslaved to “The government will take care of me” mindset, who will be the real danger.
Recently I posted a list of items that I’ve been diligently working at procuring. In that list I showed that I accumulated a good supply of weapons and a sizable accumulation of ammunition. This is a must!
It is the sleep-walkers who you will need to protect yourself from when they are awakened to the shock of the next real calamity – realizing that they are on their own. And when they find out that those of us who have been prudent are well prepared and have most of our needs accounted for, they will be attempting to relieve their crisis by taking from us, what we have worked so hard at protecting ourselves from.
Physically preparing ourselves for a disaster is only part of the equation. We MUST take the necessary precautions against those who would do us harm, wanting to take what we’ve build – independence and self sufficiency.
This is hard speak, for sure! But I would rather my loved ones survive then have some thug take from me and my family…
TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELVES! It will be those same angry, thoughtless individuals, who will be coming for you when the SHTF!
May 29, 2010 at 9:22 am
I’ll confess, I never know which side of the coin I’ll fall on when these moments happen – irritation or entertained.I live in northern Ohio (snowbelt) and every single year it’s the same. Sudden moments of panic for my neighbors as “Gasp! White Death Falls From The Sky!” Every time, it’s like watching clown cars – I swear, they seem to wait UNTIL a nice solid skim of ice is on the road to suddenly realize they have no: milk, toilet paper, batteries, FOOD, ect – and I’m left standing by a window sipping a mug of tea as they ping-pong down the city streets.
I can understand not having SOME things – generators are hard items in town (although I’ll confess I have a few) and not everyone can put huge amounts of extras aside… but it DOES seem building a small basic pantry, making sure over the warmer months that you have some extra blankets and gear might be something folks thing of.
Thus far? Not so much. And it always comes back to a shrieking “THEY” are supposed to be protecting/providing for folks instead. Like you, I’m not really sure who “THEY” are – but since they never HAVE knocked on doors in my neighborhood like a providently providing fairy… I kinda wish more people around me would figure out that weather… happens. As does life.
May 29, 2010 at 9:44 am
Kathy, I have you to thank for getting my act together. I read about your book in the NYT (a couple of years ago) and, although I am not an impetuous person, I ordered a copy. After reading it, I started getting my supplies in order. (My dh already had started an emergency box [after the anthrax deaths and 9-11]which has grown over the last few years.) We may not be prepared for everything, but we certainly could easily outlast a few months without power.
Our business, which is heavily dependent on the internet is another story. But that’s where our savings (which we made sure we can get to)come in.
So, really, Kathy, you should be proud of yourself, you have made a difference! And I thank you for educating me!
May 29, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Did folks see this morning’s New York Times column on disaster planning for pets? Try not to look at the sad photo from Katrina.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/disaster-planning-for-pets/
June 1, 2010 at 11:40 am
We’ve been prepping for emergencies since we moved into our country home about 2 months ago. We thought we were pretty prepared. We have a new generator that we tested and knew how to use. We have some water stored in case we need it before the generator gets started or ??? goes wrong with our ability to get water from the well. We have flashlights, batteries, food and oil lamps.
Shortly after returning from our holiday weekend, storms continued and our power went out. We were in the middle of laundry and hadn’t had dinner yet. I went to the gas station to fill the gas cans (dh just emptied them Friday mowing before we left—should keep those full) and he got the generator started. When I returned, he was in the garage with the generator off. Apparently it was leaking gas all over the place! It didn’t do that on our test runs. We couldn’t find the manual for it anywhere. While going to the pole barn to look for the manual, the golden retriever followed me, got stung by a bee and decided to relieve the pain by rolling in the mud. She was totally mud covered and we couldn’t hose her off without electricity.
The electric company was supposed to have the power on in about 4 hours. We didn’t know if we wanted to count on that and needed to figure out a plan B, since our generator wasn’t working. The neighbor came over to see if he could help with the generator and I headed to the store 30 minutes away in case we needed to get a new one (with plans to return the other one since it’s quite new). By the time I got to the store, the power was back on at home and they had figured out what the problem was with the generator, so I didn’t buy a new one.
Our main concerns for having the generator were food in the freezer/fridge, though we could get dry ice for that and being able to shower and prepare for work in the morning. We both have professional jobs and can’t go in looking like a mess. We were fine with food-I have about 1 month’s worth–still working on it. I could have made pancakes on the grill for dinner without opening the fridge. Looks like we need to come up with some more back-up plans. It was frustrating though to spend all that money on the generator and then the first time we needed it, it didn’t work!