What's your disaster plans?

[JusticeZero]

Are there any natural disasters that your area is prone to? What sort of preparations have you made if it happens? After such a disaster hits, di you have any plans on what you will do next?

In this case, a 'disaster' is defined by a condition of emergency services being fully overloaded by a single incident, with the result that emergency services are both needed and unavailable.

Myself, i'm in an earthquake-prone area, about 60 miles away from an active faultline due to break loose in a substantial earthquake any year now.

Alternately, I am also prepared in case of a sudden gasoline supply interruption, as I have studied that in college and am moderately knowledgeable about how such a disaster might play out.

I have some water, some canned food, blankets, and a first aid kit where I can find it; the kit is modified by things like swapping the band-aids out for an emergency blanket, metal splint, mask, clotting agent - basically I removed the usefulness for small household owwies in favor of critical injury support. I have a small bottle of bleach (for purifying water), but I haven't worked out how to safely transport/store it at subzero temps. This whole kit is probably not near perfectly planned really, but I have it.

Training: CERT (community emergency response - triage, long term injury care, intros to light urban SAR, basic team organization, post-trauma psych care), CPR/1st/AED.

I've been contemplating signing up to volunteer for the local SAR, but I don't know if the fact that I really -can't- leave work after 1 hour before the day starts is going to be a major problem. (I work as a substitute teacher; if i'm at work, I *am* plan B, and there is no plan C.)

Even though there's no local CERT team, I still feel that a disaster in my vicinity would activate me in that regard, so i'd be going out, recruiting some backup, and checking the neighbors' apartments and houses until someone else showed up to help.

Disasters seem like a situation where combat skills might be somewhat useful; in an absence of rapidly available law enforcement, some risk of looters and similar may develop. I'm not a weapon guy, but wandering and helping out in a disaster area full of stressed out people in the process of realizing that there are no police at the moment before aid arrives seems as though it might justify carrying one of the more innocuous ones, particularly if it has substantial non-combat utility. A staff, cane (walking sticks both if nothing else), flashlight, knife, pry bar, hammer, or sling all seem like they could be handy to have on hand as tools with added weapon utility. Large swords, kama, nunchaku, bows, and the like - which are primarily a weapon with minimal obvious non-combat utility - not so much.

Entertaining skills such as the ability to play a guitar or some such are useful; I am told that during Katrina, people would home in on music and other entertainment as centers of civilization and communication. I can play our instruments, already a crowd-pleaser for the oddity value, and I can learn or come up with a few songs in english. I can even organize tournaments of Big City (a significantly more tactical TicTacToe variant: 5x5 grid, win by getting 5 in a row OR getting the other player to put 4 in a row) if that would help, since it would get people's minds off things. Disasters aren't all madness and adventure, there's a lot of sitting around with no electronic entertainment around involved.

I have some ideas on basic sanitation/survival/awareness lessons that I can mix in between the songs to help spread some self sufficiency skills between people.

[bushido_man96]

We are prone to tornadoes in my area. So, most houses have basements.

I don't have a kit put together like you do, but it is a good idea, and I will discuss this with my wife.

I have been through CPR training, but I don't retain it well. When I go to academy, though, I'll get a review, which will be good.

[Rateh]

As part of my religion we are supposed to have a 1 year supply of food and water.

I live with 6 other family members, I believe we have 12 1-year supply kits, but it might be 10.

[Montana]

No natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados or earthquakes here, but winters can be a real pain. The past 2 years we've had OVER 6 FEET of snow which can cause a lot of problems getting around, especially when you live 15 miles out of town in the woods.

As for how I've prepared, my wife and I have 2 4x4 vehicles (truck and SUV), 1 AWD SUV, and a neighbor with a Catapiller plow. Last winter, I never missed one day of work because of weather.

We keep the pantry well stocked in the winter with at least 2-3 weeks of food and we have an excellent well tapped into an underground river. If need be, I could boil snow for water easily.

If power goes out, which happened several times last winter, we have a generator which won't power the whole house, but will power the well, a few lights and the pellet stove for heat. I have 30 bags of pellets on hand which would last 2 months or more. For cooking food I have a gas BBQ with 2 tanks of propane and a camping cook stove with plenty of Coleman fuel. I also have 2 camp laterns powered by the same fuel. I have tents, sleeping bags and just about anything else needed to survive in the woods.

Worse comes to worse, because I live in the woods, there are game birds, LOTS of deer and 1 moose around my property or close by. If it really got severe, I have 3 horses that I can use for transportation...or food if needed. (God forbid!) I'm well armed with a 30-06, Chinese SKS, shotgun, .357 Mag, .44 Mag, 9mm, and several .22's and plenty of ammo for each.

I have 5 acres total and plenty of trees on it. If I needed to, I can cut down trees and we can move into the 3 stall garage, which is totally insulated and keep warm with the wood store. I have about 2 cords of wood cut and stacked now.

[DWx]

Being about as far inland as you can get in England, near no major rivers and in a country where the only extreme weather condition we tend to get is flash flooding, don't really have a need for a disaster plan in the same way you guys do. Though I think its an excellent idea that you guys do have things thought out if the worst should happen.

Biggest problem we have is getting stuck out on the roads during winter when it gets icey because its all country lanes and hills around us. My parents are also both diabetics so getting stuck out on the road for hours is not really the best situation for them. We keep stuff like blankets, extra food, and walking shoes in the car when we hit winter.

Other major thing that could happen is a power cut (but a serious one hasn't happen since I was a baby). In any case, we have a generator and our stove is also a wood burner anyway and we have a ton of coal and wood around which'll last a couple of months. Because my mum seems to have a compulsion to buy far more than we actually eat each week, I'd wager that we had enough food to last at least a month.

[tallgeese]

Most of my stuff is geared towards being gone awhile at work in the event of an incident like this and, sadly, relates mostly to keeping ammo on hand.

I keep spare ammo for my handgun, back up piece, rifle and shotgun in the trunk. The rifle and handgun ammo is stacked in mags already plus some spare boxes. They're packed in a little go bag in case of an active shooter situation.

I used to keep a handful of power bars in the back as well, but I think they got eaten while stuck late one day and have yet to get restocked. I keep a couple of space blankets in the back as well along with first aid stuff.

It's enough to keep me in the fight awhile in case things go bad.

As for home, I keep an ammo can stocked each for my other rifles and handguns. I keep mags stacked for a couple of these weapons as well. Any major event here will keep me in place, so the wife and kids are under orders to proceed downstate to our family's place where the population is thinner and everything is more easily sustainable.

It is something that everyone should think about. And given some of the places you guys live, probably more than the rest of us on a basic survival level.