What happens if an earthquake of catastrophic proportions hit your community?

Are you prepared to care for yourself and your family for days or weeks that follow that it takes for any aid to reach you?

Don’t you think it’s your responsibility to be prepared for an event of this magnitude?

Are you prepared? If, so how?

What if roads, bridges and highways are buckled and aid can’t reach you.

What if airport runways are ruined and aid can’t be brought it?

What if your home is leveled, what provisions can you obtain to keep yourself alive until help arrives?

This is what is happening to the poor victims of Haiti. How would you cope in this situation?

The intent of this thread is to think about things that we can’t even imagine.

No communication.
No electricity
No heat or air conditioning
No gas – no transportation
No stores – no food
No banking - no money
No medications or medical aid
No sewer/sanitation

What do you do?

(Even though I understand there are many survivalist on this website - this is directed to those that live in urban areas that need to make quick and smart decisions to survive short and long term)

Also, have you discussed this with your family.

Even though it is hard to comprehend, do you and your family have a plan?

If you have no way to communiciate with each other, what is the plan to reconnect or regroup?

To answer your question, as long as I wasn't injured severely in the quake I would be fine same for my family, even if my house is destroyed I have provisions and ammunition in all of my vehicles: 25 mre's, 2 gallons of water, 200rds 5.7x28mm, 300rds .40 ammo, filtration kit, led maglights and solar charger. I am very cautious and like to be prepared for anything. WHat do you keep in your car?


I have all sorts of ammo, water, food at my house as well but it is a brick house so I would have to excavate it most likely, I am sure my gun safes would be fine as well as my emergency food(kept in a old freezer that doesn't work anymore), most of my cases of bottled water I keep on my screened in porch so some of that would survive as well.

Does that sound sufficient? I believe between that and whatever survives at the station I should be fine.


Secure

[edit on 16-1-2010 by xXxtremelySecure]

Take a bottle of Whiskey, climbing on the next mountain here,. Then sitting cross-legged on that mountain with wonderful view on Zurich.

And hear myself say: "Well at least, everyone gets what he deserves."

Build a little House from wood here with my Swiss Army Knife. Steal some food from the fields, - plant some vegetable from my seed (you better buy now). I also have some cat food and a lot of rice, so...lets alive.

[edit on 16-1-2010 by cushycrux]

The following exploration is written as if I were not injured.

I am in a college town with 70,000 people when class is in. I do have many experiences where I have been faced with very severe living situations for extended periods of time, both in urban areas and in the wilderness. I also spent 5 years traveling with just a small bookbag, tarpaulin, sleeping bag and absolutely no money.

I mention all that not to brag, but to give reason to my opinion that even though I do not have a storage of food or firearm, I think I might have a chance at survival.

If in a situation like Haiti where nearly everything, buildings included, is wiped out I would immediately find a bike. I have bicycles and the means to fix them. If no bikes were available I would only use a car sparingly as fuel will be rare.

I would then take a 'survey' of my neighbor hood for damage, resources and most importantly injured people. After this I would hopefully have a car and bike at hand. I would throw a bike in the car and travel to the center of town. If I were to run in to too many obstacles I would employ the use of the bicycle.

Once in the 'center' of town I would try to touch base with anyone else and get the news. If someone else needed a bicycle I would give them mine since I have more and it would also make room for the supplies that I would be scavenging for. I have rope to tie the bike to the roof if need be.

After getting news in the 'center' of town I would then travel to certain locations in the attempt to gather supplies.

First aid will be first since people have less of it in their homes than they do food. Then I will look for water and food. Water first. After this will be fuel, diesel and then petrol.

After information and supplies are gathered I return to my neighborhood and organize. I do have experience organizing many things at a grassroots level in many places, this really is the most important part of the whole thing.

My neighborhood is close enough that nobody would really turn on each other and people in the neighborhood do have firearms even though I don't. Because of this I am not very worried about needing a firearm for myself.

My girlfriend (might as well be wife) has been working in the medical field for many years, is very bright and is training to become an RN so her motives would be to supply health care to anyone in need. I am 4 blocks away from the hospital and my GF works there, anyone seriously injured would be transported there.

While she is doing this I would be collaborating with the not-so injured people in an attempt to gather even more supplies, create at least one central location, figure out the water situation, the waste situation and shelter.

After those main points are established I would suggest an effort to expand our scope and attempt to assist others that are not necessarily a part of our neighborhood.

When it comes to scenarios such as the current one in Haiti, community organizing really is the key to survival. When faced with situations where we cannot depend on just ourselves for survival (life even) we must communicate and cooperate in a Mutual Aid driven manner in order to survive or prosper. We will not get anywhere if we are competing with each other.

It is sad to say that disasters are what it seems to take to bring this out but, it is true that the very best contemporary examples we have of successful, autonomous cooperation and organization are those which we experience in the aftermath of disasters.

The examples are numerous, take almost any disaster and examine the level of autonomous, self organization that was demonstrated in it's aftermath. The examples are profound. It is very sad indeed that only when we are stripped and left with nothing else do we reach outward to our communities, and ever so successfully, given the situation.

Why does it take a disaster though? It does not have to. What would happen if we acted in this way every day of our lives?

If it were an 8.0 and one was in an urban or dense suburban area I imagine things being a lot worse, imagine buildings and trees and other debris blocking roadways, fires from broken gas lines, etc.
Looting and crime would be insane, gangs would rule the streets. That is not just a poverty or urban thing, I think in true times of crisis even the most modest and prude middle/upper class white dude would be willing to kill another man over food for himself and his family. I'd imagine not getting very far...sure my uncles house in the mountains would be ideal but if the roadways are blocked and bridges are out forget it. I expect to stay in my half toppled over house, defending myself from a scavenging hoard of needy people. If it was my current house, I would "bug out" to the wooded area by the creek...yes it's only a few hundred feet from homes but I'd imagine more people trying to loot through my house, so I might as well step back into the grass an trees an keep an eye on things

There is no ammount of preparing one can do that will be sufficient. But, that won't stop me from trying.

I imagine most people showing up at people's doors that HAVE prepared with their hands out. They will most likely be met with some cold steel touching their forehead.

I get the point of the thread and good for you for tying to raise awareness. When "IT" hits the fan (and it WILL) people need to have some sort of back-up plan.

I have been storing and buying and preparing for a shtf scenario for a couple of years now and I gotta tell ya, it is kind of fun. It is what I spend my extra money on rather than whiskey,weed, and women. Call it a past time if you will. It is rather addicting once you get started. And, there is a certain "Load" that gets removed off my shoulders everytime I add something to my stash.

Well, I think for those of you that assume that it would be nothing but chaos, people running around killing each other, you are probably the same people that grabs for their gun whenever they hear a sound at night. When you go into an unfamiliar neighborhood are you constantly looking over your shoulder? Living in fear is certainly no way to go...

Sure looting and everything are all serious possibilities but if you go in to a situation expecting the very worse, afraid of the very worse, I can promise you that YOU will be one of the first people to pull a trigger, you will be the ones we need to defend ourselves against.

Sticking 'cold steel' to peoples heads that need help is surely no way to survive. People like that are the reason a survival or rescue effort would take so long. Hyperbolic Fear-mongering, are you scared of the world? Oh no, everyone is out to get me, must kill them all. Do you see the problem in already assuming to yourself that that is what the situation will be?

If something like this happens and you lock yourself up in your home, you will be the one killing people. With an attitude that everyone is out to get you and every man for himself, you will be sitting in your home, scared of everyone outside while they are organizing and building things and rescuing people.

Life is not about "what I have and what you dont have". Living with the mentality that everyone is inferior to you and that you are in this all alone is no way to go.

Take New Orleans for example: the vast majority of the killings that happened in the aftermath were not looters but vigilantes. The killers were the people that think that property is more important than life. A lot of the killers were also white men that either because of xenophobia or pure racism, took the disaster as an excuse to kill black people.

Someone that says that they would stick a gun to everyones head that came to their door will likely be one of the first people to pull a trigger, turning themselves in to what they said they were protecting against. Living in fear does strange things.

To complete my point I will quote my previous post.

When it comes to scenarios such as the current one in Haiti, community organizing really is the key to survival. When faced with situations where we cannot depend on just ourselves for survival (life even) we must communicate and cooperate in a Mutual Aid driven manner in order to survive or prosper. We will not get anywhere if we are competing with each other. It is sad to say that disasters are what it seems to take to bring this out but, it is true that the very best contemporary examples we have of successful, autonomous cooperation and organization are those which we experience in the aftermath of disasters. The examples are numerous, take almost any disaster and examine the level of autonomous, self organization that was demonstrated in it's aftermath. The examples are profound. It is very sad indeed that only when we are stripped and left with nothing else do we reach outward to our communities, and ever so successfully, given the situation. Why does it take a disaster though? It does not have to. What would happen if we acted in this way every day of our lives?

Lord and Savior, I honestly did not mean to target you specifically. Yes I will admit that your post did give me some inspiration for my comments but, I do not mean to attack you in any way. When I said 'you' throughout my post, I was not referring necessarily to 'you', lord and savior.

I do however, stand behind my observation that attitudes of 'everyone is my enemy' generally do not lead to positive results. I also feel that with the attitude of locking yourself up in your home you will be doing absolutely no good in helping your community through such a time of disaster.

Again LordandSavior, I am not referring directly to you in saying this, but at the same time I am.

Survival of the individual is entirely dependent on survival of the community. If the community does not survive who will do all the things that you cant or dont want to do?

Anyway, who wants to be around a hoarder that thinks they are entitled to some property more than others are entitled to life?

Life is not some rat race that we must do anything we can to finish first. Life is something to be enjoyed, shared and experienced with others.

Originally posted by xXxtremelySecure
To answer your question, as long as I wasn't injured severely in the quake I would be fine same for my family, even if my house is destroyed I have provisions and ammunition in all of my vehicles: 25 mre's, 2 gallons of water, 200rds 5.7x28mm, 300rds .40 ammo, filtration kit, led maglights and solar charger. I am very cautious and like to be prepared for anything. WHat do you keep in your car?


I have all sorts of ammo, water, food at my house as well but it is a brick house so I would have to excavate it most likely, I am sure my gun safes would be fine as well as my emergency food(kept in a old freezer that doesn't work anymore), most of my cases of bottled water I keep on my screened in porch so some of that would survive as well.

Does that sound sufficient? I believe between that and whatever survives at the station I should be fine.


Secure

[edit on 16-1-2010 by xXxtremelySecure]

My water - Kept in my wagon / BOV

I cant even imagine an 8.+ quake... the Haiti one did so much damage in just 7 seconds...

We or rather I insist on hoarding food, first aid & liquid, enough to see myself and my family for a few months... It comes from being raised in the countryside where we would regularly get snowed in and the power fail.

Oh and we have a couple of tents too stashed with the supplies... all locked and alarmed in our attic so after a quake I suppose it would suddenly be on the ground floor and within easy reach and relatively unharmed?

Excuse typos... looong nails fighting with gaps between keys!

[edit on 18-1-2010 by yzzyUK]