How to Survive with NO warning?

I need your help. I live in central Florida. Who knows what can happen in my neck of the woods with methane gasses, volcanos, giant tsunamis, toxic rain/hurricane, and toxic air?

How should I prepare for a sudden emergency like those I mentioned?

If there was a big methane explosion, what do you do? Maybe carry one those foil tents forest firefighters pack?

How about a tsunami - Hope for a strong enough building to withstand the force of the water?

The one I am most interested in is toxic air. Winds shift all the time. Would you realize the air was toxic. If you do, how can you protect yourself from it? If the gov't calls for an evac, would you trust it and go? How can you know if the air is bad - buy a canary maybe.

I will tell you frankly why I ask. I lost part of a lung a few years ago. It has affected my life little. BUT, I can't run very far or very fast and I can't sustain a high level of physical activity. I sleep with an oxygen concentrator. Chemicals in the air send me into coughing fits. Thanks in advance for reading. Looking forward to the answers.

I think for anyone living in the coastal region effected by the oil spill at this point should have a BOB prepared and ready to go at a moments notice. I would also look into getting some sort of air filtration device for you and your loved ones. Don't count on your loved ones to be prepared, just get prepared and include them in your preparations whether they want you to or not. I would also consider getting some bottled water and some MRE's possibly as a precaution as well. Just do your best to be generally prepared for the most possible or likely situation and you should be just fine.

A BOB is a bug out bag, prepacked with essentials, and ready to grab and go much the way you keep your car and house keys near the front door.
You pack it with medications, food, water, clothing, necessities and such.
You make it as complete as possible while still being able to carry it. You keep it handy - front door closet would be perfect.

Pack one ASAP so you can grab it and go in a moment's notice.

Edit to add: here is an ATS topic discussing the contents of BOBs.
ATS thread

[edit on 26/6/2010 by SeenMyShare]

You have got it tough pal i have to say but all that worrying would reek havoc on your mind. if you had your back against the wall you would sell all of you assets and move away or to a family members if you was super concerned. If that's not an option you have got some doubt in you. Say if any of this happens best i can say is have a few essentials around you and a car and then just relax until the outcome. Most of the time planning goes out of the window when something major happens so bare that in mind and don't get worked up. safe

Thanks for the advice.

SpaDe_

I think my car would be a good place. I keep oxygen in there incase I need it. Also, I like to camp, so I have a few things. Never hurts to be ready.

SeenMyShare

I checked out the link. Thank you. Seems like you are getting ready to hide in the woods from whatever, but if the air quality goes, you'll have to filter. Will it be enough to affect the ways cars run.
If they suddenly call an emergency evac, it's just going to be gridlock. Even with hurricanes, it gets crazy - and people have lots of warning with those.

I live on the East coast of Florida, and have been concerned of this of late as well. We had fires here a few years back, and the air quality at the time was so affected, I have asthma, so somewhat like you I have to be careful of such factors. Keep in touch, if we ever have to leave the state, we could buddy up.

Be prepared first off have extra tanks.
Do not go with the FEMA evacuation, leave well before FEMA has to do it for you.
Lastly if all air is so toxic that we all have to walk around with rebreathers, it is simply not worth it. I think at that point the earth will take care of it's mistake and kill all living things on it's soil.
Hope that helped.

What Id like to know in light of recent Oil related events.

How would you be able to make fresh water contaminated with Oil drinkable?
...Without a filter.

Anyone know? Since I think that may be one of the likely situations that may happen.

reply to post by Esrom Escutcheon Esquire


I would settle said water and pour off the oil I could then pour out the water.
Then filter through cloth of some sort, t shirt maybe then distill the water as oil would have a different boiling point than water it should work.
I have to admit I never really considered purifying oil laden water. I will look into it though.

Originally posted by g146541


reply to post by Esrom Escutcheon Esquire

 

I would settle said water and pour off the oil I could then pour out the water.

I think it would be difficult to "pour off" the oil. I would float paper...like from a brown bag--- to pick up the oil from the surface. Then filter through a cotton cloth. Then distill.

reply to post by Alethea


Yeah, skim or dab off may be a better idea.
I would have figured it out eventually when the water tasted funny!

To the OP..

In case of immediate impending disaster, evacuation is a moot point. The highways will simply gridlock and then you have other people to worry about being hazardous to your health on top of whatever they say is coming.

Short of underground bunkers with a self contained oxygen system able to supply it's own atmosphere, nothing will protect against a wave of methane gas. You have to understand it's in between the density of air and water, so it will hug the ground and suffocate all life. Rebreathers won't even work because there won't be any normal atmosphere in the mix, just solid sheets of gaseous methane. That's why you would need a system supplying it's own oxygen. The roads will be clogged with cars of those who did not make it out in time, and if your oxygen supply isn't intended to last days/months then it's a moot point.

There are honestly so many "worst case scenarios" involving oil/methane/benzene and potential health hazards as it is that I would honestly be looking into relocating as it were. No matter what you do in the gulf states, the state level economy is going to collapse so hard you won't want to be there even if you're not directly effected by this.

To the water purification issue -

Best thing to do is build a still, like the ones they use to make moonshine. Distilling water is about the best thing you can do to purify water and as long as the equipment isn't destroyed, it will function forever and never have to be replaced unlike normal filters.

Before you distill it, I'd filter it further using sand/hardwood charcoal/ type homemade SHTF filter. Just to try and get as much of it out as you can.

[edit on 26-6-2010 by PayMeh]

Praxilla
There must be hundred's of people like us in FL. I hope it doesn't get that bad, but I'm not so optimistic.

g146541
I would avoid the FEMA stuff like the plague. If I decide to run, I will do it of my own volition.

PayMeh
Thanks for the info on methane. I didn't realize it would sink in air. So it shoots up out of the ocean and then settles like a blanket on the water? That sounds very dangerous. It's colorless and odorless - right? Or does it have an odor? My O2 tanks, don't seal out the air around me. Everything will need to get out ahead of it or suffocate. Sounds horrible.

Good posts on water purification. FL gets hot enough to evaporate water. Instead of a still, you just need the water you want to purify, some plastic, and a catch basin. It may not make tons of water, but enough. Both methods require a stable location. But you might be able to distill by amplifying the heat through the back of the car window. What do you think?

reply to post by g146541


I have had to do this...water separation thing....

that is why I added a 3 foot piece of elastic surgical tubing to my bob..

if it settles in multi layers....meaning more than just oil and water...

after trial and error...or whatever means you use....after finding said layer of good water.....don't pour!!!!!
Siphon out that layer........

ETA...if available...find a small water bug...yes eww yuck omg a bug...
let i go on the bottom...it will swim towards the top stopping in the water layer...due to the chems above..

[edit on 28-6-2010 by Doc Holiday]

OP.. I feel your pain and apprehension.

My middle daughter is a transplant recipient. She will die without medications and is VERY sensitive to environmental things. The hubby and I had to make some tough decisions.. I just stay here at the house with her and basically watch her die if I cant locate meds or do whatever I have to in order to get her meds. He takes the other kids and the BOBs and goes to safety. Maybe we will meet up some time. I have prepared the house, myself ( mentally and physically) and will just cross my fingers. He has better skills and ability due to being a man..... and Im just a petite little thing... he can keep the kids safe away from the house and city. Me.. not so much. That part of the decision was a no brainer!

Tough times take tough decisions. If people arent prepared to see things in reality, they wont survive anyway.

Here's how I see it.

TODAY is what matters, after all, tomorrow is always tomorrow, and we can't live in tomorrow.

So, that said, it's important to consider what it will take to give you peace of mind, today. Will you feel better if you had 500 gallons of fresh water and a few respirators stowed away? Or, will dreadful emotions hold you captive for as long as you're in the "danger zone"?

Feeling safe, and being safe are totally different concepts, and I tend to think the former takes precedence.

just wanted to clarify one thing...
those foil tents forest firefighters pack (Milar) you asked about?
Well yes they work if a forest fire flashes over you... but if your trapped in one for a long burn your going to die, cook to death.. yes firefighters have dien in them before.... Always know the limitations of your tools... that's my best advice

reply to post by Dixie70


Dixie70
That is a hard one. I hope it doesn't get that bad where you are. If I am the only one who's at risk, I can handle it. It hasto worse when you have a child depending on you.

Unit541
No place is safe. I don't worry about things, I just try to have thought things through and have some plan. I don't like the "deer in the headlights" feeling out of left field.

DaddyBare
Not a pleasant thought there. If there was a methane explosion, it would pass quickly, right?

reply to post by zachi


Here's a youtube.com video from the History Channel regarding what would happen in a methane explosion. Let's hope that this possibility never becomes a reality.

www.youtube.com...

there never is an excuse for "no warning"... all of the people here on this forum have had time and some still do to prepare for a BO or a situation where you are required to remain where you are...

The only excuse is laziness or lack of funds...and that actually is weak, because there are millions of items a person can purchase at yard sales, auctions and a dozen or so other places..