"Think outside your box!" - Event Date: October 13 2006

maybe I am not taking this seriously enough, but my preps are food, water, defense, and meds. It is mostly stuff we use anyway. I'm actually saving money by buying most things in bulk. I have not let this consume my life as it appears others have. I am not prepared to fight a battalion of Marines trying to take my preps, nor am I prepared to leave my home and take my family into the wilderness to hide from everyone. I can lock my doors, protect my home from criminals, even large mobs of criminals, and survive for a while with no electric power and no supplies, assuming no-one in my family becomes sick. I will help my friends and neighbors as best I can.

I think the govt will maintain minimum supply lines, and at worst sporadic essential services, but you will be on your own as they have said repeatedly.

It also may not happen, or may not happen for years. I think people need to keep a grip on life and not go off the deep end, until the deep end presents itself.

If it does happen, this is what i think will be the likely sitrep:

Hospitals will be swamped within 3 -4 days. In that time frame stores may run out of many supplies, and when the deaths start to pile up with in a week, the govt will declare that panic is worse than the flu. Like what happens in a natural disaster people will be asked to stay home unless travel is absolutely necessary, the national guard may be mobilized, marshal law might be declared in affected areas and radio and TV will announce who and what jobs are considered essential. Essential worker ID cards will be given out either by companies or authorities to allow those that need to travel, get to work. looters will be shot on sight, and most people will stay home rationing what food they have. Food stores will stay open with sporadic supplies. Quarantines will be enforced in selected areas to try to stop the spread. Initial areas might be supplied by air drops or convoys. If it is highly lethal, at the second week in an affected area, many people will be dead, and the food shortage will not be as severe. if it is not highly lethal, the disruptions will be less. Eventually, life will go on for those that survive.

personally I don't think neighbors will turn on each other. I believe in the triumph of humanity over adversity. War is a perfect example of this. the people in east Berlin did not turn on each other. the people in Croatia did not turn on each other. the people in the Nazi death camps did not turn on each other. the Irish didn't turn on each other during the potato famine. these groups of people faced very harsh conditions including famine, yet they did not turn on each other. Yes there will be criminals, there always are. they generally tend to be stupid and will probably succumb to disease first. they will be the ones out stealing TVs, getting sick and dying.

just my opinion
    

Mach, I agree with you to a point.  However, your examples of community are not entirely valid:

 

"the people in east Berlin did not turn on each other."  The reason being is that the US airlifted in food and supplies, remember the Berlin Airlift?

 

" the people in Croatia did not turn on each other".  This was a regional political crisis, not a worldwide pandemic.  They certainly did turn on each other -- they created death camps, rape camps and "etnically cleansed" whole towns of their people.

 

"the Irish didn't turn on each other during the potato famine".  This was a regional famine and a large portion of the poplutation left the country to seek food and shelter.  Which lends credence to most of our concerns about wandering bands pillaging the countryside.

 

" the people in the Nazi death camps did not turn on each other".  Please.  Those people had all they could do to keep from getting gassed, shot, raped and experimented on by the Nazis.  Do you know what a Capo was?

 

You can believe what you want about your neighbors.  I believe that good fences make good neighbors.  I also, believe that I will never let down my guard to a starving man, no matter who it is.

 

I agree with mach and Wierd-one.  I fully anticipate that my neighbors in my suburban neighborhood will work together to help each other and to survive. 

Although I feel I am one of the best prepared in the neighborhood we all have different strengths, skills , items, equipment, etc.  I realize that I do not have every skill or every piece of equipment that may be valuable in a disaster but some one in my neighborhood does.

I also realize that it will be virtually impossible to completely avoid exposure to a severe pandemic because it will be circulating for years.  Realizing that there is a chance that I will be exposed I know that I might need help.  What will you do if despite your best efforts you somehow catch the pandemic flu and your whole family is too sick to get out of bed.  Without someone to help you, you will all die.  But a caring neighbor could provide simple nursing care that would keep you alive.

If you are one of the people that plans on locking all the doors and not helping others in need during the pandemic do you think anyone would be anxious to help you when you need help?

I anticipate there will be people I know that need my help and will die with out it.  If I help them there is a chance I will be exposed.  If I am exposed there is a chance I will get sick.  If I get sick there is a chance I will die.  I would rather take that chance than have to live the rest of my life knowing I could have saved someone else's life and didn't.

Unless this pandemic is much worse than the 1918 one, I think that for most people despite their preps, working together will provide the best chance of survival.

general wrote:  Do you have enough food for your caring neighbors?

I have some to share and would certainly share with any of my friends or family members that needed food.  I expect many of my neighbors have more food stored than I do.   Many of them are LDS (Mormon) and believe in having a years worth of food storage.

general wrote:  Do you have enough food for your caring neighbors?

Our plan is to stay put as long as possible.  We live in the suberbs and if the looting got that bad, the roads would be jammed with other people trying to get out too.  I think that staying put is the best course of action, until you fear for your life in spite of efforts to protect yourself.  Even if we had to leave, we have bug out backpacks filled and would hope to make it to a neighbor's house or a nearby relative.  I think that driving out of town would be impossible and we're not so fit anymore that we could walk that far loaded down with our packs.  I'm hoping that if it gets that bad, our neighborhood would block itself off with cars and form it's own milita.  I'm for staying in place.

4A&M I thought we talked about trip wires and tangle foot.  Whether you use tin cans, or light sticks you have to be awake to hear / see the alarm.  Cans will be good if you think the "alarm" will scare them off.  It may just make them charge in. 

Wolfgang, we did talk about that.... and I bought 7 glow stick trip wire kits online, militarty surplus.  Four are for my Dad, so he'll have two at each of his possible location and we'll have three left for us.  I'll be making up other kits too, though, noise kits, so I am reading this all voraciously.

Wolfgang, thanks for the instructions.

Steve, thanks so much for that additional info.  By the way, I do like grits -even though my yankee DH says they're really for paving roads!! (He eats rice with sugar, too, instead of gravy or butter!  Aaaargh....

I guess I have been in this house too long!! ha

4abbie&maddie, hey there!  Thank God I wasn't the only one not to get it! ha ha.  Hope you have a great weekend. 

Hardee, har-har.  No, I'm in pretty good shape for a 35 year old, but not belly-button model kinda shape!!  ha, ha!!  You're a trip, that sure made me smile!!! 

Harbor Freight  - is this the one you have?  I'm thinking of ordering one.

4abbie&maddie wrote: Harbor Freight  - is this the one you have?  I'm thinking of ordering one.

Anharra,

Since it will only come on when motion activates it I don't see a problem.  The one I have has a off switch, so if you don't want it to come on just turn it off.  You should also be able to select a sensitivity setting.   It is very similar to what I have in the feed room of my horse shed.