While we prepare for SHTF and TEOTWAWKI, more mundane disasters are what we are likely to face. Something like this: "Ammonia gas leak from a tanker truck in Oklahoma sickens dozens and forces evacuations." This was a small incident that only forced hundreds of residents to evacuate in the small town of Weatherford, Oklahoma. At the other extreme, you might have heard of the Bhopal disaster where "over 500,000 people in the vicinity of the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India were exposed to the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate, in what is considered the world's worst industrial disaster." Over 2,200 people died in that incident (although some estimates place the death toll much higher at around 8,000).
Basic preparations work very well in these circumstances: go-bags, bug-out bags or portable 72-hour kits; emergency communication plans between family members; and cash reserves to pay for temporary lodging and/or food; etc.
Amen.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget the ever-present threat of giant wildfires. One of the reasons I hated living California. The indiscriminate road blockades really helped with evacuating those who hadn't taken the car that day or getting utility workers in to keep the water flowing to fire-fighters.
"Life after Doomsday : A Survivalist Guide to Nuclear War and Other Major Disasters" by Bruce D. Clayton started with a section addressing the many different disasters one might face. If you get a chance to go through it, it is worth the read.
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