I was pretty concerned about lots of you on the East coast of the USA when Sandy was coming.
I am not following American news much at the moment, but comments suggest that some people are just getting power back right about now. Some notes and comments I have read say that it took a long time to get services renewed and people were cold and hungry and pretty darn frustrated.
Do you see, friends, why I occasionally suggest that you have bug-out bags, with basics for a few days, and that you have plans and supplies?
On the dramatic scale, there could be global power-grid frying EMPs from coronal mass ejections. There could be economic crunches that destroy our infrastructure. There could be pandemics that bring us down like grass before scythes. We are probably due.
But on a smaller scale there are fires, accidents, earthquakes, local or large storms.
Things happen, friends. And sometimes things happen to you.
The last time I visited my mother in Florida, a tornado dropped down on the community she lives in. No warning. BAM! The damage field ripped through the neighborhood just two houses away.
It is pious sounding to say, “Oh, I’ll just leave it to God!”, but if you get injured or in a fix, someone has to take care of you, which takes resources from someone else. You wind up being a burden, or perhaps a distraction if not a burden. There also may be people who depend on you to help them.
I am not suggesting be a “prepper” (though it would be hard to fault you, so long as you don’t drive yourself into a total obsession). I am suggesting a little planning, a little packing, a little prudence.
And don’t just think in terms of stuff, though stuff is important. Think in terms of networking with others where you live. If you are not strangers, you are more likely going to be able to help each other, rather than… the other thing.
In the meantime, I hope some of you will chime in and let us know how the storm affected you.
