Thread: Disaster Preparedness

Hello All,

Due to recent events my wife and I have decided to get serious about creating and maintaining a disaster preparedness kit, car kit, and individual go-bags.

I found ===>this site<=== and it looks good for starters but I was wondering if you all have better books, sites, or other advice for this type of information.

Thank you,
--Shoki

Cool site.
what radio are you looking at?
I remember art bell used to say the bejin (spelling ? ) was hands down the best for hand crank , charge a cell , flashlight, shortwave and weather station all in one gizmo. made in South africa.

but all the same i never bought one and i am also interested in what others have to say

good thread.

I think what you need depends on where you live and the potential threats. I'm currently in Tokyo where most foreigners have left because of sensationalist news reporting. Despite countless reassurances from nuclear authorities the press just keep going over the same things - radiation. I may be wrong but, as I understand it, in this area there's more radiation coming out of a common household brick than contamination from the breached reactors.
But to be sure, if if if if if, and if if if if if, then maybe there will be a problem. The problem here is that the infrastructure is slowing down. Food supplies are running short, trains aren't running, phones are not always working, the earth is still shaking. You can't buy any kind of sanitary products. I'm lucky because I got home and was prepared for such a disaster. Many people have been stuck in stations and huddled around the place for days while the trains were out.

right now in most places in china all the salt has been bought up due to concerns of ocean radiation . I mean its all GONE folks have bought lifetime supplies of salt!!

now that's being prepared for a disaster.

blows me away..

The "SAS Survival Handbook" is supposed to be the best all around preparedness/survival manual. I have one and looked through it a bit. It tells you how to survive in all kinds of situations like being lost at sea or out in the woods. It even discusses how to survive a nuclear attack among other disasters. Its the only one I have read but reviews on amazon.com kept pointing out that it was the one to have.

I have become increasingly aware of the need of some form of preparation. I like what one website said regarding this issue. They pointed out that it would be very difficult to store a year's worth of food, water, etc that you may never need. They suggested that a family simply purchase (all at once or gradually) extra food and other necessary items in the "staple" category to last about 1-3 months. For example, if you eat canned beef stew once a week, buy 4-12 extra cans and rotate out the older dated cans as you eat making sure you replace what you remove. This way you have a supply of food you already eat cutting down on stress, discomfort and possible stomach problems from consuming MRE's or other emergency rations.

Of course you need to assemble emergency supplies as well such as emergency radio, flashlights, batteries, extra toiletries, etc. As an added precaution I plan to assemble basic supply of camping equipment in case we lost our home (even then, we may lose all the supplies along with it...oh well, you can only do so much).

That's my 2 cents (and then some)

It is nearly the same time, one week later, that the M9.0 earthquake shook us. And looking back, it is really hard knowing what one should or should not be trying to buy. Right now we are trying not to be part of the problem with regard to the buying/hoarding. Although my wife is less concerned about that, I am more so. Even though we were prepared enough to have at least 2 weeks worth of everything already, it is a concern that people are going so hog wild. Last Saturday, I saw people at the larger stores buying TP by the cart load. Literally 200~300 rolls.

Now, one week later our home city has yet to experience a blackout, scheduled or not. We have solar panels on our roof (2.95 kwh worth) and the monitor panel for the house power consumption/production really helps a person monitor power consumption. It has been a really great investment. And we have tried never to go over what the panels are producing even before the disaster.

On Wednesday, by 7am there was a line up of 100 cars or more at a nearby gas station, that had a sign saying it had already sold out of gas and diesel. Thursday, the line was half that, and this morning there were only 10 cars. The 'panic' looks like it is wearing off, to some extent.

But, the possibility of a worst case scenario at the Fukushima nuclear plant sure makes one anxious if you continuously think about it (which many of these panic buyers are doing as they sit in front of the tv all day long and are pumped full of dread). Of course it is scary. Is it too late to start preparing? I don't know.

I have noticed that geiger counters are sold out even at overseas web shops. Many saying the Japan events have prompted the surge in spending. Iodide pills also have gone and Japan is considering importing batteries, because they are gone too.

When/if the crisis here settles I will sure be thinking ahead. Although in Canada, my parents have always tried to keep a several month supply of food (for as long as I can remember), I think they even had a one year supply at one point. And now I know why. Not only that but a supply of many of the things that are mentioned in the link of OP linked to will be on the list. Although we were more prepared than most I would have liked to be more so in the event of another calamity.

We live in Los Angeles County and on the San Andreas Fault. I lived through the 6.6 1971 San Fernando earthquake and the 6.7 1994 Northridge earthquake.

These quakes created a lot of damage. I thought these were quite large, but I see by comparison to the recent Japanese quake that they were rather mild.

I wanted to get the basics as soon as I could and bought a pre-made kit. The idea is to have something then fill it in later.

I bought some basics from Amazon and now am looking for more expert and useful items.

These are the books I am looking at:

• When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes
• Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family
• Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition
• Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Your Family Safe in a Crisis

Here are some sites I have looked at:

• Emergency Go Bag
• Building a personal emergency bag
• Go Bag 2008
• and the original 72Hours.org Go-Bag

curious if you all have better info. I am going to put a straight, barber's hone and a nice DE and some blades in my go-bag.

It's a good starting point but I am sure there are a lot of best practices to be learned.

Thank you,
--Shoki

Originally Posted by Shoki

curious if you all have better info. I am going to put a straight, barber's hone and a nice DE and some blades in my go-bag.

Thank you,
--Shoki

Actually, when images of blown reactors started coming in, there were three level 6 quakes in one night, and I got some warnings from relatives in the embassy I was packing with the intention of fleeing. I looked around the house and thought what should I put in my bag. I had some room, room enough for a barber hone and straight. And perhaps strop and brush? Maybe even some soap? But the only things I packed were the old keys, wallet, phone. And pocket knife, torch and hankie.
Nothing else was important.
That was what I thought was important, and that decision was made as the house was shaking.

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

Actually, when images of blown reactors started coming in, there were three level 6 quakes in one night, and I got some warnings from relatives in the embassy I was packing with the intention of fleeing. I looked around the house and thought what should I put in my bag. I had some room, room enough for a barber hone and straight. And perhaps strop and brush? Maybe even some soap? But the only things I packed were the old keys, wallet, phone. And pocket knife, torch and hankie.
Nothing else was important.
That was what I thought was important, and that decision was made as the house was shaking.

Have you left Tokyo?

Some helpful reading.

http://www.ready.gov/