Get Ready For The Big One

[momopi]

I cannot say for certain if a motorcycle or scooter will be useful, but consider the road traffic for Katrina and Rita with all the cars that ran out of gas piling on the road.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...ta-anxiety-leads-to-hellish-fatal-6521994.php

"In the Houston area, the muddled flight from the city killed almost as many people as Rita did. an estimated 2.5 million people hit the road ahead of the storm?s arrival, creating some of the most insane gridlock in U.S. history. More than 100 evacuees died in the exodus. Drivers waited in traffic for 20-plus hours, and heat stroke impaired or killed dozens. Fights broke out on the highway. A bus carrying nursing home evacuees caught fire, and 24 died."

And that's only 2.5 million people from Houston area.  In the Greater LA region we have 18.3 million residents.

A motorcycle or scooter will allow you to get out of Dodge easier in such scenario, assuming that you hit the road early enough to avoid the road rage.  By getting out early and fast enough you can get to a safer area far enough away that still have hotels with vacancy.  You may be able to push your scooter into the hotel room to avoid looters as well.

 

[iacrenter]

The problem will be worse than Katrina or Rita. If California is lucky we might get a few seconds notice from an early warning system. By the time people hit the highways, there may not be safe infrastructure left to drive on. Paris better buy one of these to drive up through the orchards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAmz-Evlmxk

 

[daedalus]

I'm putting all my eggs in the "stay home" basket.  I also came to the conclusion long ago that there's no way I'm getting very far with my family.  I have everything I need to ride it out for a while at home....food, water, weapons, generator, tools, etc.  I've done some work to strengthen the foundation, but there's more I should get done soon.

 

[Paris167]

I'm putting all my eggs in the "stay home" basket.  I also came to the conclusion long ago that there's no way I'm getting very far with my family.  I have everything I need to ride it out for a while at home....food, water, weapons, generator, tools, etc.  I've done some work to strengthen the foundation, but there's more I should get done soon.

Good plan daedalus. Care to share some tips you've accumulated on riding out the storm?  Esp with that much road destruction it is true that staying close where your surroundings are familiar is the best strategy. How big is your food/water stash - 72 hour supply or more? Costco also sells these water storage units that look pretty good because you know the water pipe lines will go.

 

[eyephone]

I'm putting all my eggs in the "stay home" basket.  I also came to the conclusion long ago that there's no way I'm getting very far with my family.  I have everything I need to ride it out for a while at home....food, water, weapons, generator, tools, etc.  I've done some work to strengthen the foundation, but there's more I should get done soon.

Good plan daedalus. Care to share some tips you've accumulated on riding out the storm?  Esp with that much road destruction it is true that staying close where your surroundings are familiar is the best strategy. How big is your food/water stash - 72 hour supply or more? Costco also sells these water storage units that look pretty good because you know the water pipe lines will go.

Paris aren't you on call if the big one hits?

 

[Paris167]

I'm putting all my eggs in the "stay home" basket.  I also came to the conclusion long ago that there's no way I'm getting very far with my family.  I have everything I need to ride it out for a while at home....food, water, weapons, generator, tools, etc.  I've done some work to strengthen the foundation, but there's more I should get done soon.

Good plan daedalus. Care to share some tips you've accumulated on riding out the storm?  Esp with that much road destruction it is true that staying close where your surroundings are familiar is the best strategy. How big is your food/water stash - 72 hour supply or more? Costco also sells these water storage units that look pretty good because you know the water pipe lines will go.

Paris aren't you on call if the big one hits?

If I'm at the hospital then definitely but if there is no hospital standing who knows...and at the end of the day my family survival and well being takes priority always (esp that of my children)

 

[abosch00]

I too would love to know what people have stashed at their home for emergency.

What kind of generator, how many days of emergency food/water your have.

I've been looking at Costco kits and they have so many.

 

[Ready2Downsize]

We have no formal kit and no generator and I don't plan on getting one.

We have a camp stove and lantern with propane to use them, enough for a couple weeks.

We have at least several months worth of food if you only count canned goods (no jars and nothing frozen) with a can opener. Only a couple weeks worth is in the garage. I rotate the food and water into the pantry as I use up what I have and buy new stuff to put in the garage.

We have lots of old clothes, blankets and two sleeping bags that we used to use when backpacking in snow so I know they are warm enough for Tustin.

When we get our backyard done, I'm going to incorporate storage into the seating somehow to have a place to store things other than an unused trash can and keep some extra stuff in the garage in case I can't get to it.

Always keep gas in my car and cash in my pocket........ just in case.

I'm confident I won't need an SUV to drive into an orchard to survive on stolen avocados from the Irvine Company.

 

[eyephone]

We have no formal kit and no generator and I don't plan on getting one.

We have a camp stove and lantern with propane to use them, enough for a couple weeks.

We have at least several months worth of food if you only count canned goods (no jars and nothing frozen) with a can opener. Only a couple weeks worth is in the garage. I rotate the food and water into the pantry as I use up what I have and buy new stuff to put in the garage.

We have lots of old clothes, blankets and two sleeping bags that we used to use when backpacking in snow so I know they are warm enough for Tustin.

When we get our backyard done, I'm going to incorporate storage into the seating somehow to have a place to store things other than an unused trash can and keep some extra stuff in the garage in case I can't get to it.

Always keep gas in my car and cash in my pocket........ just in case.

I'm confident I won't need an SUV to drive into an orchard to survive on stolen avocados from the Irvine Company.

R2D vs. Paris?
(TI survival games) 

 

[acpme]

I would go to Woodbury to live under the protection of the Governor. Woodbury has plenty of housing, can be easily sealed off from the 3 main entrances and promenade corner of the town center, plus the close proximity of the town center makes for easy scavenging runs.

 

[Happiness]

I would go to Woodbury to live under the protection of the Governor. Woodbury has plenty of housing, can be easily sealed off from the 3 main entrances and promenade corner of the town center, plus the close proximity of the town center makes for easy scavenging runs.

If you want to live under the governor's protection, check into Musik jail, conveniently located between Great Park Neighborhoods and Baker Ranch.

 

[eyephone]

I would go to Woodbury to live under the protection of the Governor. Woodbury has plenty of housing, can be easily sealed off from the 3 main entrances and promenade corner of the town center, plus the close proximity of the town center makes for easy scavenging runs.

If you want to live under the governor's protection, check into Musik jail, conveniently located between Great Park Neighborhoods and Baker Ranch.

Good luck with that.

 

[daedalus]

We have the 1 year food supply from Costco.  Extras there if my neighbors need help.  Some items last 25 years, and some only last 3, so all boxes are marked with dates.  As I stated in the other thread, I was torn on where to store it.  I'm banking on the house still standing, which is the biggest risk to my disaster plans, and moreso why I added extra bracing under the house.  The food is elevated in case a water pipe breaks.  There are 4 barrels of water under the house, with pumps and purifiers, and I know how to shut off the water supply and pressurize the remaining water out of the 2 water heaters and through the RO filter if needed.  A gallon a day per person means we've got 2-3 months of water about the place.  I'm not considering an apocalypse where I'm gunning down looters from my safe room, but I want to be self sufficient for at least a month, and be neighborly too where I can (except for that 1 guy who won't trim his trees; he can eat his leaves off my property if he's starving  >).  I can shut off the main breaker and run a 10/3 cable from the panel to the generator to power the fridge a few hours a day to keep it cold while we have food, and charge up batteries.  It's a 5500 watt generator, but that's overkill.  2000 watts is enough to get by, with a modern fridge and even a microwave.  The smaller 1000 watt generators will easily keep the fridge going (maybe the microwave, depending on draw) and are portable, efficient and QUIET.  Lots of gasoline in several cars.  Various pumps in the garage to transfer liquids around. 

The wife and I work 1.6 miles from home, and the daycare is 3.1 miles from home.  We can make it around on foot if needed.  If there's a tsunami we might be in trouble if we're home.  After a big earthquake I would head for the highest point in town, about 8 blocks away, and that's the best I can do if the roads are jammed.

Things I could improve:  Add vitamins as Momo suggested, stock up on TP, make a bug-out kit in case I'm forced to leave, have a more robust first aid kit.

 

[paperboyNC]

I knew people 18 years or so ago that prepared for Y2k by:

- Moving in the middle of nowhere in a tight-knit community
- Burying years supplies of canned goods, etc.
- Stock piling guns to project the only access road to their community
- Farming to produce their own food
- Solar power / generators with stock piled fuel for power
- Wells and pumps for water
- Septic tanks for sewage
- Satellites for communication

They prepared for going 100% off grid, but it was all for naught.

 

[momopi]

I knew people 18 years or so ago that prepared for Y2k by:

- Moving in the middle of nowhere in a tight-knit community
- Burying years supplies of canned goods, etc.
- Stock piling guns to project the only access road to their community
- Farming to produce their own food
- Solar power / generators with stock piled fuel for power
- Wells and pumps for water
- Septic tanks for sewage
- Satellites for communication

They prepared for going 100% off grid, but it was all for naught.

The idea of retreats have been around far longer.  During Eisenhower administration in late 1950's, the FCDA (Federal Civil Defense Admin, later Office of Civil Defense) distributed survival literature to suburban residents, including backyard fallout shelters.  The assumption was that urban cities wouldn't survive a nuclear exchange anyway, so there was no point in trying to save them.  Rural areas were usually not targets so they were less of a concern.

Urban cities:  nuclear targets and dead anyway  (though later Kennedy administration built public shelters)
Suburban areas:  instruct residents to dig fallout shelters and stockpile canned foods
Rural areas:  typically not nuclear targets.  Government literature was on self sufficiency, canning, etc.

By 1960's and 70's you had numerous authors and personalities advocating rural retreats for safety.  Don Stevens, Harry Browne, Robert Kephart, James McKeever, Mel Tappan, etc.  Others like the famous Jeff Cooper, Dean Ing, and Jerry Pournelle were also part of the movement.

The Y2K thing was just another rinse and repeat.  Moving forward by another decade, you have the Alex Jones fans with their bug-out bags, AR-15's and plans to run to the mountains when SHTF.  In my opinion, these yahoos will likely eat a poisoned mushroom or starve to death after 2 weeks.

 

[momopi]

Things I could improve:  Add vitamins as Momo suggested, stock up on TP, make a bug-out kit in case I'm forced to leave, have a more robust first aid kit.

I put toilet paper rolls in ziplock bags and store them inside buckets, along with emergency bucket toilet lids and box of kitchen garbage bags.  In case of emergency, I just put the kitchen garbage bag in the bucket and use as emergency toilet.  The bags can be disposed daily (or more frequently) to big trash cans outside.  I have yet to have one of these glad or Costco bags leak so I think they are good to go.

I'd suggest rotating the toilet paper out with new rolls every 5 years or so.  For emergency first aid kits, check adventure medical kits on Amazon and ar500 site for their compact IFAK.  Their products tend to be light and easy to carry in backpacks or side pouches.  For home storage I also buy cheap bottles of Isopropyl Alcohol and Hydrogen Peroxide.

 

[panda]

Interesting.

Although the quakes are very small with a magnitude at around a 2, notice how frequent these small quakes are taking place. A 2.9 magnitude quake recently hit Santa Monica just 5 days ago.

Source:http://earthquaketrack.com/r/southern-california/recent

Southern California has had: (M1.5 or greater)

3 earthquakes today
28 earthquakes in the past 7 days
330 earthquakes in the past month
2,365 earthquakes in the past year

 

[momopi]

Just paid for EQ insurance to State Farms.  On average about $25/property, 15% deductible.  Tried to get the premium down to reasonable level to insure against catastrophic events.

Be aware that earthquake damage rarely exceeds the 15% deductible, but those that lost their homes in the 1994 Northridge quake prolly wished they had any EQ coverage.

 

[acpme]

Wow, momo you've really thought it out. Shouldn't you be using your waste to fertilize new seeds though?

 

[momopi]

Wow, momo you've really thought it out. Shouldn't you be using your waste to fertilize new seeds though?

I use kitchen vegetable/fruit scraps.  By law you're not allowed to recycle toilet/sewage waste.  There have been many lawsuits from off-grid folks fighting against their city for mandatory sewage hook-ups.

You can install grey water recycling for bathroom sinks, washing machines, and bathtubs, but not toilets and kitchen sink (*).  The grey water can be used for irrigation so long as the pipe is covered and the water does not come in direct contact with people or edible parts of fruits and vegetables.  i.e. you can use it to water a fruit tree, but not spray on lettuce.

(*)  Kitchen sink and dish waster comes in contact with raw meat and fish, so they discourage recycling the water from there.


For those who might be interested, there's a free workshop coming up in Carson on July 11:http://greywateraction.org/http://greywateraction.org/event/free-greywater-workshop-carson/

Consider how infrequent we get rain here, recycling grey water might make more sense than rain water collection.  But if you have water softener system that use salt, then you should probably not recycle the water and kill your trees.