Wow Stink, you have to get out more often!!

Seriously, I find it humorous that so many people in the Poll believe they would be ready for such a disaster. People just don't know what they're in for if the SHTF.

I lived just outside of Houston in a rural area during Hurricane Ike. Even though we had a 7 to 10 day warning (longer if you stop to realize that the Gulf Coast is a Hurricane target), many folks did not get out and get the necessities even though they knew this monster was coming. Most of those that did, didn't get near enough.

In our area, we were 19 days without electricity. Some were without electric for longer, some were only out of power for a week.

The Government is so large, the earliest they could mobilize relief centers and get them set up was nearly a week. The first relief centers went to high population centers like certain parts of the City and then in the suburbs...the high end suburbs first. Those in the poorer sections of the County had to wait over a week for a relief center to be set up.

Can you imagine none of the convenience stores in your area having gas or groceries? With no electric, gas pumps, coolers and freezers don't work. Even those stores that had generators had no gas because no deliveries could be made. When a few did reopen after a week, the site was something to see. Lines of people standing along the highway with gas cans in their hands. Cars backed up for miles. State Troopers stationed at the gas pumps rationing out gas 10 gallons per person.

Some of these people waited 8 hours in line just for two cans of gas!

People were getting into fights at the relief centers. Most Centers gave out a case of bottled water and a bag of ice at first. Then a few had MRE's later on. You can't really imagine anyone fighting over a case of bottled water and a bag of ice until you see it happen!

The quickest relief our area received was not from Uncle Sam or the Red Cross, it was from religious organizations such as the Southern Baptist. I don't know where they got all the food and water, but in our area of the County they were quite literally life savers. They had a center opened two or three days after the storm went through.

As usual, you had many people, and not only the low income folks, hollering that the Government wasn't doing enough. Rich people get bent out of shape when they get hungry also!

We always try to keep extra food in the house. Before the storm hit, we added quite a bit to the pantry and made it okay. Since I didn't have a generator, we ate like Kings the first few days trying to eat everything in the Freezers before it went bad.

The grocery stores in the area ran out of food fast. After about a week, the larger ones like Wal-Mart and Krogers opened a few hours each day, but I'm not sure why. Can you imagine Reasors or a Wal-Mart Supercenter having bare shelves? I've seen it and it isn't a pretty sight. I remember when we were let in, about the only canned goods Wal-Mart had was Campbell's Red Beans and Rice. I thought that was funny. Even when hungry, people have their limits as to what they'll eat!

Cell phone communications was spotty as their generators can only run so long before they too need fuel. So don't think you're going to be a chatty Cathy if the lights go out.

The price of many things went through the roof. I called as far away as Dallas looking for a generator 2 days before the storm hit and couldn't find one. Afterwards, people came into the area from out of state with cheap generators and were selling them in parking lots and along the side of the road. A cheap Chinese generator that you could have bought for 300 bucks before the storm now cost you $2000.

I actually enjoyed the peace and quiet. The downside was at night you fell asleep to the drone of numerous generators of your neighbors! I actually was a little sad when the power finally did come back on. My Wife on the other hand wasn't. It was 11 p.m. at night and she was asleep. I was listening to the radio in the Living Room when it came on and she jumped up and turned on the TV! Boy, how she missed that TV!

Since that time, I've taken emergency preparedness a little more serious.

Stink, meat can be canned just like veggies. There are a number of good canning books out there now, Ball's Blue Book is one of them.

Being prepared and putting back food isn't hard nor is it expensive. For starters, just buy extra canned and dried goods (such as beans, rice, etc) each time you go to the store. Buy the stuff you eat. I always look at the "best by" date. I want something that last for at least 2 years. Remember to rotate your stock out. First in, first out.

Storage is the big thing. Probably the best thing is to turn an extra closet into a storage pantry. You may think it's a big inconvenience to store food, but trust me, it'll be an even bigger one not having food!

Water will be a huge necessity that people don't take serious enough. Without electric, there'll be no municipal or county water service. You can store a few days of water but you should also look into a water filter such as the Berkey.

I could go on. I just realized how long this post was! Sorry!

Here are some resources you need to look into when you get serious about emergency preparedness.

A few good emergency preparedness and survival blogs:

Survival Preparedness Blog

Survivalist Blog

Here's some books you can read that will open your eyes and help you get prepared. Just look 'em up on Amazon.

"When All Hell Breaks Loose" by Cody Lundin - I highly recommend this book for anyone!

"When Technology Fails" by Mathew Stein

"Putting Food By" by Ruth Hertzburg - Another "must read" book if you're serious about being prepared

Once you get the basics down, then you can start getting hardcore by storing wheat and other grains. No power? No problem. Lehmans has hand operated grain mills and other such things to help you out.

Lehmans Non Electric Catalog

Hope this helps Stink!