[TheVillageChicken]

I spent 21 days without power after Katrina. It would take too many words to tell the tale, but in short, people who are motivated go getters and problem solvers end up taking care of those who aren't.

[rubicon]

another of the Y2K scares foisted on the American people.
Its one thing to be pro-active and be prepared its quite another with the 24/7 nonsense being played out across television land with so called pundits coming out of the woodwork

We are becoming a nation of reactionaries.

[SantaClaus]

Actually, I guess the first question is: are you going to adapt in place or become a refugee to an unaffected place? Obviously, if you stay in place you need either enough land to provide your own food or you need to provide a product or service in tall demand so that you can barter for your food. Either way you need to be able to fortify and defend yourself: police will only stick around for so long once the pay checks stop (and as money becomes more and more worthless). Before the dollar tanks I'd get a well dug, install rainwater collection and solar panels.

But most likely I'd head for civilization: trade everything I have for a tall stanced 4x4 jeep, two sets of tires (one highway, one aggressive off-road), multiple gas tanks, etc. and head for South America.

[Bavarian]

The Electromagnetic Pulse is generated by an atomic bomb. By detonating a large nuke over the US, all electrical systems would go out. Commercial aircraft would fall from the skies, Cars would collide as their electrical systems ground to a halt. Water pumps would stop. A few have prepared and tested but most everyone else will be toast.

The people who advertise to us to buy emergency food supplies are not kooks, they know what is likely to happen. But anyone who stores food better keep it quiet and maybe arm themselves.

Can't say much more.

[Bavarian]

Originally Posted by SantaClaus

Actually, I guess the first question is: are you going to adapt in place or become a refugee to an unaffected place? Obviously, if you stay in place you need either enough land to provide your own food or you need to provide a product or service in tall demand so that you can barter for your food. Either way you need to be able to fortify and defend yourself: police will only stick around for so long once the pay checks stop (and as money becomes more and more worthless). Before the dollar tanks I'd get a well dug, install rainwater collection and solar panels.

But most likely I'd head for civilization: trade everything I have for a tall stanced 4x4 jeep, two sets of tires (one highway, one aggressive off-road), multiple gas tanks, etc. and head for South America.

Might be good to diversify your currency now so that if dollar tanks you may still have Euros, CHF, NOK, or YUAN?
Will the deed compliance people look away as we plant our gardens? Will there be any water here? it is already scarce. How are you going to get fuel for your 4X4 when electric pumps down not to mention refineries?

[SantaClaus]

A hand pump and a hose dropped into a filling station's holding tank would be one way. Plus the interstates would be littered with abandoned vehicles with fried computers and full tanks. Oh man, how'd I get sucked into this thread!? Been watching too much rEvolution and Walking Dead!

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by SantaClaus

A hand pump and a hose dropped into a filling station's holding tank would be one way. Plus the interstates would be littered with abandoned vehicles with fried computers and full tanks. Oh man, how'd I get sucked into this thread!? Been watching too much rEvolution and Walking Dead!

I hear you. We, ourselves, have been watching too many "Doomsday Preppers".........I can't even imagine preparing an underground bunker to "exist in". Some of them are absolutely NUTS..........while some do have sensible, commonplace ideas for survival.

It does not hurt to have cash on hand (should the banks not be able to dole out your funds / and the credit cards no longer work due to lack of electricity, etc. Cash is King. It will be needed.

Definitely WATER as no one can live without water.
Especially in Florida. Ditto for basic non perishable food supplies.
Camp stoves to cook on.

Those young families (now back to the land or else practicing urban homesteading) with chickens for eggs, etc. and goats for milk, etc. will survive better than we will. Eggs and feta cheese will help one to survive. Put up veggies, ditto, from a home garden, which by the way I do not think is allowed in THE VILLAGES. Or, is it????? Are veggie gardens allowed in backyard?

Stockpiling gasoline in a hot climate does not sound like a good idea. The electric cars won't be able to "charge".........so those out west on ranches with horses, etc. would probably do better.

We'd all have to hope we are within walking or cycling distance of some "supplies".........if there are any available as the long haul truckers will eventually not be able to cross the country with the deliveries we take for granted. Anyone who has done a road trip east to west, has great respect for those long haul truckers, but without gasoline our supermarkets will slowly become empty, plus the clerks will not be able to run the cash registers.

Not a good scenario to contemplate.........no matter how one looks at it.

But in Florida, my number one priority would be gallons of water, rather than standing out in the baking intense sun for government doled out water supplies (as they did during Hurricane Andrew; that picture remains in my mind.......of the long lines, the hordes of people baking out in the sun , waiting for their water rations).

If a major catastrophe, as originally discussed, never happens...........the water and food will still come in handy during a hurricane or tornado.....

Being an eternal optimist is wonderful in many situations, however, it does not pay to have "ones head in the sand" with the condition the world is in at the moment. Even natural disasters such as earthquakes, could put one in
jeopardy.

P.S. The Miami Florida couple who bought one of our Vermont homes twenty years ago had been through Hurricane Andrew with some horror stories to tell, so I know what I am talking about. The wife was so traumatized by the aftermath of Andrew (their roof blew off........no water, no airconditioning, etc.) that she never wanted to return.
They stuck it out in COLD Vermont for eight years and then moved to Charleston, South Carolina.

[SantaClaus]

I have to say, I think you are very optimistic! Most vehicles would be disabled so supply distribution would halt overnight. I think that without vehicles and communications military and police protection would disintegrate almost immediately (as they either scatter to tend to their own families or fortify in place to protect their own). The panicked public, seeing no police presence and with no assuring communications from the Feds, would loot every unprotected source of supplies within days. I think things would then normalize for a while until those supplies begin to run out, and then the strong (or well armed) would begin robbing the well-stocked. Water would not be a major concern in most parts of the country as the gravity feed tanks would continue to provide clean water for a while, long-enough to setup rainwater collection and solar distillers.

The only way to adapt in place for TVers would be to turn the golf courses into farms and setup and armed perimeter. With an eye toward keeping morale high, perhaps TV should plan a raiding party on Kindred Spirits while everyone else is distracted at Winn Dixie ;-D (Just kidding, I'm not fomenting riots!)

[Parker]

Originally Posted by SantaClaus

I have to say, I think you are very optimistic! Most vehicles would be disabled so supply distribution would halt overnight. I think that without vehicles and communications military and police protection would disintegrate almost immediately (as they either scatter to tend to their own families or fortify in place to protect their own). The panicked public, seeing no police presence and with no assuring communications from the Feds, would loot every unprotected source of supplies within days. I think things would then normalize for a while until those supplies begin to run out, and then the strong (or well armed) would begin robbing the well-stocked. Water would not be a major concern in most parts of the country as the gravity feed tanks would continue to provide clean water for a while, long-enough to setup rainwater collection and solar distillers.

The only way to adapt in place for TVers would be to turn the golf courses into farms and setup and armed perimeter. With an eye toward keeping morale high, perhaps TV should plan a raiding party on Kindred Spirits while everyone else is distracted at Winn Dixie ;-D (Just kidding, I'm not fomenting riots!)

This is a very realistic scenario, IMO. Especially the Kindred Spirits idea. After all, if bartering happens, you'd be in the proverbial catbird seat.

[SantaClaus]

Yeah, you gotta know your audience! LOL!

[DDoug]

Buy a diesel car you dont need electricity for diesel powered cars and trucks. Start them with a hand crank and a pressure relief . Cash will be useless.

[Golfingnut]

Originally Posted by rubicon

another of the Y2K scares foisted on the American people.
Its one thing to be pro-active and be prepared its quite another with the 24/7 nonsense being played out across television land with so called pundits coming out of the woodwork

We are becoming a nation of reactionaries.

My research shows the same. Now maybe 50,000 EMP bombs of enormous size placed in a perfect grid and detonated at the same time,,,,,maybe. Yes we live in a dangerous world, but it is more likely we will explode in a coalition with a thousand mile wide asteroid. Calm down, pop a cap on a cold bud lite and enjoy your last days.http://dctransitguide.com/t/Rail/Metro/MetroMap/

[Lauren Sweeny]

Let's see... We have :Yellowstone park , one giant caldera, the Canary Island fissure and resulting East coast tsunami, trapped methane gas under all or most lakes and oceans, meteors,solar flares, volcanoes, earthquakes,nukes,plagues, bacteria, viruses, weird weather,oceans rising,and all manner of other Extinction Level Events in the future. Nothing we do will save most people.
So..... Live, Laugh and enjoy what you have now ,this moment in time. Live each moment as if it were your last.......

[Golfingnut]

Originally Posted by Lauren Sweeny

Let's see... We have :Yellowstone park , one giant caldera, the Canary Island fissure and resulting East coast tsunami, trapped methane gas under all or most lakes and oceans, meteors,solar flares, volcanoes, earthquakes,nukes,plagues, bacteria, viruses, weird weather,oceans rising,and all manner of other Extinction Level Events in the future. Nothing we do will save most people.
So..... Live, Laugh and enjoy what you have now ,this moment in time. Live each moment as if it were your last.......

We all have too many worries. I put my hope in the younger generation. We are to old to make changes from the recliner anyway.

[SantaClaus]

I don't think any of us are planning to convert our closet into a Faraday cage or squirrel-away dried beans, I think it's just an interesting puzzle to contemplate. Logistically how would you get by? How do you think the general public would react? What happens when ethic comes into conflict with survival? Apparently Hollywood thinks its a recipe for creating interest, too: take 5 characters and put them into strange circumstances and see what happens. Imminent asteroid collision, a flipped ocean liner, a towering inferno, a zombie apocalypse, crashed on a super-natural island, volcano, earthquake, pandemic, crushing invasion force, etc. Now, if you'll excuse me I need to get back to searching eBay for a tube-based ham radio.