Most people fail to acknowledge that disasters happen everyday for a variety of reasons and do not prepare for what is actually an eventuality.
I am not talking end of world stuff here but fires, floods, mud slides, earthquakes, regional society breakdowns occur everyday in the United States and elsewhere.
To be unprepared for that eventuality just doesn’t make sense.
For those who feel they are prepared because the read something and put a kit together and call it a day, well, you have not thought this thing through.
Great you got started but are you analyzing your level of preparedness and improving?
Most don’t.
What happens if the disaster lasts more than 72 hours or your supplies have exceeded the expiration date? Well, you are back to square one and in danger of becoming a zombie, either reliant on the government who is ill prepared to deal with your unique requirements or you will become a looter and a possible casualty of someone who is more prepared and willing to defend their life or the lives of their loved ones.
Be responsible for your life and lay in stores for your unique needs. No one knows better than you what those are.
If you aren’t willing to acknowledge that life happens and prepare for a regional disaster then shame on you and don’t come running to the rest of us, as if we thought to lay in stores to bail you out. We didn’t.
When you shop by two or three of a thing you use regularly and set in a rotation. Place the items you just bought in the back of similar items and use them in order.
A just in time delivery system goes out the door when disaster happens and I have seen all too many times and been involved in them far to often.
When the electricity was unavailable in our neighborhood for the four days, I had plenty of candles, flashlights, batteries, food, water, etc.
I also have plenty of medical supplies.
My neighbors had nothing but what was in their fridge. No lights, no candles, no coal or extra propane and they lost their food.
Thing is when they tried to buy more at typical store there was no electricity and no way for the merchants to fulfill an order.
Think ahead. Life is going to happen.
Think tornadoes in Oklahoma.
Think floods in Oklahoma or even in Calfornia.
Think earthquakes. We just had a 7.2 in southern California and I hope there is little loss of life but there will be loss of life to infrastructure not being able to deploy with no electricity.
I have even been in snowstorms and found myself well prepared, at least for my needs and mentality. Sleeping bags and tarps can make a disaster seem like camping if you think it through.
The nice thing about most canned and sealed food is that its health life goes far beyond its sell-by date. (Cans should be checked for corrosion and swelling periodically.) Unused batteries will last much longer than their sell-by date if kept in a freezer.