Something to keep in mind for September. I didn’t think of that as something we’d have to deal with.
metmom, if one thinks of every single threat to our existence, the list is long. What I have done, is prepare to live without any outside assistance, including all public utilities. I can lock my front door right now and live with a good standard of living for a very long time.
I've said before, in 1998, I got up one morning and used a pad and pen to document everything that wouldn't work if no public utility worked. What is the first thing you do when you get up - you head to the bathroom - I listed everything I did in there that required public utilities to work.
If power went away, there would be no trucks to deliver food, fuel to power plants and fuel to water utilities so water would stop coming out of the faucet.
I did that all day long and in the late afternoon, decided I would wash some clothes - damn, the washer and dryer wouldn't work, either, so listed that. Then, in the days and years after that day until now, I worked out a way to replace what I would lose so that I could still live well.
When hurricanes came through my town, I got practice to use all that while power was out for days at a time.
What I am saying is, no matter what the disaster is, if I'm still alive after it happens, I won't go into meltdown/panic, because I know I can deal with it and still enjoy my life.