What happens if an ice storm knocks out the power for 3 days, 2 weeks or even a month? Would you be prepared? At the time of this writing Louisiana is yet again suffering devastating flooding that has left thousands trapped or homeless. Remember the images of Super Storm Sandy where after only 2 days people were shooting each other over a gallon of gas? Riots and civil unrest are on the rise often trapping people in their homes or worse. These events have sparked a desire in many of us to be more prepared for a disruption of ‘normal life.’ Prepping is not a one time action, but a day to day activity that gradually prepares us for difficult times. We hope to share our journey with you.
My 1st experience with prepping was short lived to say the least. Many of you may remember the Y2K scare back in ’99. Well, like many I was skeptical of the hysteria and pretty much laughed at those who were predicting planes falling from the sky and all that. Well, fear makes us behave in strange ways and often leads to bad decisions. I hate to admit it, but on New Years Eve 1999 I found myself at a Sears Hardware buying a generator and cases of candles. Yes, I had succumbed to the fear of ‘what if I’m wrong’ and rushed out for last minute supplies. Dumb move. Yes, I paid waaay too much for what I purchased including $999 for a generator that normally sold for $499! Bad decision. Just a few hours later I was kicking myself for going into panic mode, but unfortunately I learned the wrong lesson from it. I stuck the generator in the garage and forgot about it, thinking I was dumb for even buying it. I still have that generator, but now it’s part of a multi faceted readiness plan. It was many years before I actually learned the lesson I should have learned over 16 years ago; prepare. Preparing for what might happen and for what will happen; the power will go out at some point, what we don’t know is for how long. Natural disasters happen: tornadoes happen, ice storms happen, floods happen, hurricanes happen. Man made disasters happen: terrorist attacks, civil unrest, cyber attacks on the grid, etc, etc, etc. So the question becomes, will I be prepared or will I hope some Government Agency like FEMA will come to my rescue? Remember what happened after Super Storm Sandy where people were shooting each other over a gallon of gas? Seemly normal people will turn violent if they become desperate enough. Now it’s easy to say ‘it won’t happen here’ or ‘that won’t happen to me’ and I certainly hope you’re right, but I’m sure most of the people who lived through the 2009 ice storm in Kentucky never thought it would happen to them either.
Prepper 365 