Preparing for and Surviving Natural Disasters

[rationtin440]

well LogDay, here in Massachusetts we have a socialist governor and most of our republican and democrat law-makers are to the left of him. When I was in the national guard, we were issued live ammunition every time we were activated for natural disasters or other emergencies (one reason I did not stay in). Massachusetts is a very socialist state and folks make their storm preps VERY quietly.

[jfko6]

Update: Large amount of flooding on the Rockaway Peninsula. Spilled over the boardwalk onto the street at high speed. Streets under deluge of water and some damage to homes. Boardwalk damaged in some places.

Queens and Brooklyn have many trees down and lots of forest debris near parks.

The brunt of the storm has past. No power outage at my present location in Queens.

Prior, police went door to door telling people to evacuate and advising people that LIPA was shutting power ( I don't know yet if this actually happened -- contentious issue). Elevators were turned off yesterday afternoon.

Got small cut during this time.

Lesson: Medical kit that was available was lacking of needed items. KEEP MEDICAL KIT STOCKED.

News: Bridges still closed to the Rockaway Peninsula due to flooding.

[housil]

We had the whole day TV coverage even here at German TV about Irene:



They joked here around saying when hurricane Irene hit New Yorks Wall Street it lost and became just a "Tropical Storm"

[biscuits brown]

Standard & Poor downgraded it.

[Bypah]

I have lived plenty of hurricanes back when I lived in Puerto Rico and let me tell you preparedness is the key!!!!

About the MA governor, I don't think is "socialism", plain and simple is trying to control hoarding.People start buying all they can find and then try to resell it and scalp people. My sister lives in MA and was telling me of people selling cheap flashlights $5-10 a piece w/o batteries. Other supplies like water and batteries where asking over $10 a gal. of H2O and the batteries close to $20.
Do you think is fair and right to profit in times of emergencies??????
Thank God she was ready for it a lesson we learn from living in the Caribbean.
Is fair that everyone has something even the dumbass partiers.Sadly but that how it goes.
That's the problem of living in big metropolitan areas.people don't prepare for emergencies and that's when trouble happens.

One of the best advices is when you go to buy groceries allways buy extra and save it. That includes baterries, flashlights and other necesities.Keep a closet or a place in your pantry for the extra stuff.Also remember to use it and rotate it to keep it fresh.

To all of you in the east, BE SAFE AND GOD BLESS!!!!!

[biscuits brown]

I tend to agree with Bypah.

There has to be a balance between the state and the individual. Good minds have been discussing this point since the dawn of civilisation.
The individual + the state = Civilisation. The point is the balance between the two inputs.

I thing hoarding is counterproductive and destructive to the human spirit of co-operation, not competition, which it encourages.

In a mass survival or disaster situation, CO-OPERATION is king, or we are back in the jungle. Mass violence is guaranteed, and the whole nightmarish "survivalist" outlook ( I mean in the negative, violent sense) becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Some controls over hoarding is therefore right and proper, indeed it is the duty of the state to give some level of protection to its citizens, no matter what their current economic position is.

Strictly enforced price controls to prevent profiteering is also required.

In the UK in the last 2 wars, hoarding was heavily punished, and strict price controls introduced, and I dont think Churchill or Lloyd George were too communist, when I last read about them.

In the UK currently, it is still the theoretical civil defence rule that people should if possible have 2 weeks food, plus supplimentary items including batteries, etc. to hand. This was from the last edition of "Protect And Survive" the CD booklet from the early 80s.
There was a rationiong system planned to provide people with the 14 days food supply, but it was muddled. http://subbrit.org.uk/rsg/features/sfs/file_14.htm
My solution to this is that everybody on the electoral role be issued with 14 days supply of tinned and preserved food every 2 years in a sealed unit. Each household would pay a flat fee. If unused, it is returned to be re- distributed. Then the issue of stockpiling would be removed.

I am pretty sure that hoarding would be strictly controlled here if a war time or extreme terrorism/natural disaster scenario should occur.

Just a IMHO

[LogDayFreshHots]

Standard & Poor downgraded it.

LMAO

I agree with the opinion that price controls should be in effect to prevent people getting screwed out of critical supplied. There is always a "alpha-hotel" who doesn't care and takes profiteering to the extreme. I just think the stores should put the limits on how much someone can buy in order to prevent fighting.

Unfortunately in American we have long since gotten rid of the Civil Defense and Im sure many will agree that in a single generation we've gone from "doers" to "waiters". While listening to the radio Friday they were talking about how too many young men in America lack even basic "man skills", like changing a flat tire and that its more common for a women to know these things. Changing oil is another.

Either LIPA cut the power or the storm took care of it as the power in my Grandmothers neighborhood is out. I believe it has been since mid-afternoon Saturday.

Good luck to all, hope you and your families stay safe.

LDFH

[HungryMan]

Update: Large amount of flooding on the Rockaway Peninsula. Spilled over the boardwalk onto the street at high speed. Streets under deluge of water and some damage to homes. Boardwalk damaged in some places.

Queens and Brooklyn have many trees down and lots of forest debris near parks.

The brunt of the storm has past. No power outage at my present location in Queens.

Prior, police went door to door telling people to evacuate and advising people that LIPA was shutting power ( I don't know yet if this actually happened -- contentious issue). Elevators were turned off yesterday afternoon.

Got small cut during this time.

Lesson: Medical kit that was available was lacking of needed items. KEEP MEDICAL KIT STOCKED.

News: Bridges still closed to the Rockaway Peninsula due to flooding.

Sooo...whatya wakin' up to this morning, jfk?

Can't imagine them even threatening to switch your power off on purpose! (would be 'contentious' here also). As for asking you to evacuate...where did the 'order' for such a thing actually peter out in a radius from where you live?

Hoping/praying that this morning finds you well and that you have as good a day as possible given your circumstances.

As for the 'price gouging' topic earlier..

Would YOU pack up your (suddenly) more valuable than gold products and go in to an area...or frankly keep your store 'open' in an area...that every member of a site such as this is well aware of what goes on in there...and peddle it for what you sold it for yesterday?

Goods FLOW to an area because of demand and frankly the higher prices that mere 'peon' businesses can then charge. Lowes might have sent 500 trailers to the east coast and sold it all at their regular price...yet Lowes also (by their obvious close relationship with 1st responders) is probably also the most well protected business in any hard struck area.

All 'price gouging' does is cause a larger number of people to become more prepared in the future...not the other way around (if everything was always the same price and always available....why would you prepare for anything?). The last guy at Lowes who cleans out the entire store isn't obviously worried about 'price' nor actually even a hoarder. He's the 'wake up' call to an entire community that neither the country corner store nor Lowes should ever be a 'government guaranteed' source for stable prices or anything else.

[housil]

Can't imagine them even threatening to switch your power off on purpose!

If e.g. a tree/branch crack down into the wires an rip them apart, the cable falls on the wet ground and causes a) a short ciruit to the earth and b) a "voltage funnel" that causes every person an electric shock thrue his legs just by walking by...

[HungryMan]

"...Can't imagine them even threatening to switch your power off on purpose! (would be 'contentious' here also)...."

Yeah, I get the reasoning ...just can't imagine it happening 'here' where population densities are a fraction of the Queens burough and where the power companies/politicians refuse to do what is needed to reliably keep the juice flowing as it is.

Saying that, NYC (and the vast majority of known flood plain areas here in the U.S.) have shamefully skated by for literally centuries refusing to spend the money necessary over time to properly engineer their respective communities (choosing instead to spend available funds on failed social engineering projects instead).

Heck, a 'winter' storm flooded the subways last time around...even a 'light' Category II would have bankrupted the region more than it already is.