Hurricane Preparedness ( and general "bad times" links )

various FR links & stories | 10-23-05 | the heavy equipment guy

[djf]

The Army survival manual is interesting. I'm up to the part where it talks about letting the maggots clean out the wounds.

I wonder what Paris Hilton or Rosie would have to say about that?

LOL!!!

[backhoe]

Advice Request - Home Standby Electric Generator

[backhoe]

Online FEMA courses that have lots of good information:

http://www.training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/crslist.asp

[backhoe]

IN LIGHT OF MY OCCASIONAL POSTS ON DISASTER PREPAREDNESS, I thought that some people might be interested in this, which I found via the magic of Amazon recommendations: Apocalypse Chow: How to Eat Well When the Power Goes Out. Recipes for improvised meals using improvised heat sources! Plus, they're offering it bundled with The Storm Gourmet: A Guide to Creating Extraordinary Meals Without Electricity. Both look pretty useful. And they combine two InstaPundit interests -- cooking, and disaster preparedness. Now if they could just work in nanotechnology!

UPDATE: A reader suggests this book for your blackout-entertainment library. But I say: Why wait until the power fails? . . .

[backhoe]

THOUGHTS ON DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND communications. Don't forget the cheap CB radio, either.

[backhoe]

Here is a thread I put together last year right after 9/11. It contains information on a 72 hour kit, the kit has everything in it that one person would need for 72 hours. One can grab it and run. There is also information there about home food storage, using and storing food all the time.

Emergency Preparedness (year's supply of food, 72 hour kit)

190 posted on 09/04/2002 12:52 PM EDT by Utah Girl

(+) THE ART OF THE CACHE (+) [Free Republic]

 

Here's another good link for free online military training manuals about survival, NBC etc. Click on "Enter library" and then select "field manuals". Military manuals online

 

SwiftPublishing (telephone 1-800-644-1057)sells several security/survival publications written by Joel Skousen.

Bio/Chem Preparations: Overview

Nuclear Survival Preparation: Overview

Florida's Latest News: ANTHRAX FACT SHEET -- From the Centers for Disease Control

Simplified Antibiotic recommendations for prevention of Anthrax/ Biological Warfare bugs

"Also keep in mind that doxycycline or cyproflaxin antibiotics are pretty effective against most of the germs used in bio warfare."

Both can be found/ordered here.

Shelter In Place: Make Your Kits

Very readable article about Bioweapons and Anthrax

Unclassified 10/31: CIA Chemical, Biological, Radiological Incident Handbook

Advice on Chemical/Biological/Nuclear Attacks

Israeli pets to wear gas masks if Iraq attacks

Survival Supplies and Other Links

Be advised "Nuclear War Survival Skills" has been updated & revised ( 1999 ) and is the "one" book to get if you get no others...

TimeBomb2000 is an awesome Forum for sensible individual preparation and overall news gathering: Over a million detailed threads archived (4 locations) describing every practical self-reliant tip possible.

[backhoe]

A little Bad Moon A-risin’ bump^

[backhoe]

HOW TO SAFELY INSTALL an emergency generator.

UPDATE: Some additional disaster survival tips here.

[backhoe]

FROM POPULAR MECHANICS: A look at the ten worst disasters of the 20th Century.

Plus, advice on disaster preparedness and survival.

[backhoe]

"In Case of Emergency" - ICE campaign--This great idea started in the UK - The idea of entering the acronym "ICE" — "In Case of Emergency" — beside the numbers of people one wants to identify as next of kin in one's cell phone contact list was first suggested in 2004 by Bob Brotchie of the East Anglian Ambulance service. In April 2005, a National "ICE" Awareness Campaign was launched in the U.K. by mobile phone service provider Vodafone with the endorsement of Falklands War hero Simon Weston, and the movement reached critical mass in the wake of the July 7, 2005 terrorist bombings in London. The idea is now beginning to catch on in other countries, including the U.S.A. (as reported in the Washington Post).

[backhoe]

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS UPDATE: Popular Mechanics' big disaster-survival feature is now up on the Web.

[backhoe]

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS UPDATE: I mentioned this earlier, but with hurricane season underway people always start thinking about disaster preparedness again -- even when they live out of hurricane zones. Anyway, the Popular Mechanics guide to disaster preparedness is now online for your perusal.

Meanwhile, you can find some previous InstaPundit posts on the topic here, here, here, here, and here. And here's a column I wrote on the subject last year. And a huge disaster preparedness list. And here's a guide to emergency preparedness from Consumer Reports.

Also, here's an item from Wired on the topic. One piece of advice: People tend to focus on buying stuff, stockpiling food, etc. That's good -- you won't be able to run down to Wal-Mart when you really need emergency supplies -- but you should also focus on having a plan, and acquiring some skills, for when things go wrong. A full pantry and some radios and flashlights (and guns, and cash, and bottled water) is very important, but it's what we lawyers call a necessary but not sufficient element of disaster planning. More on that here.

UPDATE: A lot of the stuff on the big list above is out of stock. Try this hurricane preparedness list or this emergency survival kit gear list. Plus, some basic disaster survival items. And Col. Douglas Mortimer emails that no home should be without one of these. Well, duh.

[backhoe]

To: All

Note: September is National Preparedness Month.

#

http://www.christianemergencynetwork.org/images/stories/pdf/cen_checklist.pdf

“Recommended 1 Person 72-hour Survival Kit Contents”

84 posted on 09/03/2007 3:42:50 AM EDT by Cindy

Note: September is National Preparedness Month.

#

http://www.christianemergencynetwork.org/images/stories/pdf/cen_checklist.pdf

“Recommended 1 Person 72-hour Survival Kit Contents”

[backhoe]

If you can afford one

( Mine was $20+ years ago, now over $70...)...this is a far, far better tool than hatchet or machete'--

The Original WOODMAN'S PAL Machete

The Woodman's Pal machete can perform the tasks of many tools including machetes, axes, bow saws, pruning knives and even chain saws.
www.woodmanspal.com/ - 11k - Cached - Similar pages

The Original WOODMAN'S PAL Machete Testimonials

I just wanted to send a note telling you how pleased I am with the quality of the Woodsman's Pal. The Woodsman's Pal takes all the work I throw at it. ...
www.woodmanspal.com/testimonials.html - 24k - Cached - Similar pages

[backhoe]

http://www.hortworld.com/Windresistant.htm

 

 

Wind resistant trees

Native trees, particularly those with wide spreading branches, low centers of gravity, strong deep penetrating root systems, and small leaf size seem to hold up better in tropical storms
especially if they are found growing in mixed groves of trees.
Lone growing solitary specimens have less wind resistance than massed trees

Recommended wind resistant trees	Properties	Trees not recommended to resist wind storms	Reasons
Foxtail Palm	Wind Resistance	Queen Palm	Blows Over - shallow roots
Solitaire Palm	Wind Resistance	Schefflera	Brittle Wood
Cabbage (Sable) Palm	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Laurel Oak	Brittle Wood
Gumbo Limbo	Wind Resistance	Water Oak	Brittle Wood
Paurotis Palm	Tolerates Flooding	Chinese Elm	Brittle Wood
Coconut Palm	Wind Resistance (remove coconuts)/Tolerates Flooding	Camphor Tree	Brittle Wood
Pitch Apple	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Golden Rain Tree	Brittle Wood
Dahoon	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Silk Floss Tree	Brittle Wood
Yaupon Holly	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Ear Leaf Acacia	Brittle Wood
Screw Pine	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Tabebuia (yellow or pink)	Brittle Wood/Blows Over - shallow roots
Paradise Tree	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Norfolk Pine	Brittle Wood/Blows Over - shallow roots
Tibouchina	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Eucalyptus	Brittle Wood
Cassia	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Silk Oak	Brittle Wood
Geiger Tree	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Sea Hibiscus	Brittle Wood
Bottlebrush	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Avocado	Brittle Wood
Mexican Poinciana	Wind Resistance	Chinaberry	Brittle Wood
Live Oak	If given room for roots to grow, Do not plant in moist soils	Seaside Mahoe	Blows Over - shallow roots
Sand Oak	Wind Resistance	Banyan/Ficus	Blows Over - shallow roots
Myrtle and Turkey Oak	Wind Resistance	Australian Pine	Blows Over - shallow roots
Red Oak	Wind Resistance	Citrus Trees	Damaged by standing water
Slash and Long Leaf Pine	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Royal Poinciana	Brittle Wood
Bald or Pine Cypress	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Shooting Star (Clerodendron)	Brittle Wood/Blows Over - shallow roots
Red and Silver Maple	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Carrotwood	Brittle Wood
Crepe Myrtle	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Chinese Tallow (Popcorn) Tree	Brittle Wood
Pigeon Plum	Wind Resistance	Washingtonia Palm	Blows Over
Fiddlewood	Wind Resistance	Mahogany	Brittle Wood
Ironwood	Wind Resistance	Black Olive	Brittle Wood/Blows Over - shallow roots
Sea Grape	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Live Oak	Blows over if not given adequate room to spread and if planted in moist soils
Weeping Podocarpus	Wind Resistance	Sand Pine	Poor Wind Resistance
Winged Elm	Wind Resistance	Sweetgum	Poor Wind Resistance
Magnolia	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding	Carolina laurelcherry	Poor Wind Resistance
Tulip Tree	Wind Resistance	Hong Kong Orchid Tree	Poor Wind Resistance/Brittle Wood
American Holly	Wind Resistance
Sycamore	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding
Buttonwood	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding
Red Cedar	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding
Royal Palm	Wind Resistance/Tolerates Flooding

Betrock Information Systems - www.hortworld.com - www.betrock.com - www.plantfinder.com

 

[backhoe]

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS UPDATE: Reader Jim Hogue emails: "Do you have any recommendations for flashlights in a survival kit?"

Well, personally I'm a big fan of the mag-lites. I carry both a mini and a full-size 4-cell in the car, and I keep a few of the big ones around the house. They're tough, they give great, adjustable light, and they make a pretty good improvised billy club just in case.

On the other hand, you have to keep the batteries up. As it happens, I was just looking at this zombie-attack preparation guide (what is it with the zombies all the time?) and it features this batteryless flashlight. That looks kind of cool; I don't think it's as good a flashlight as the maglites, but you don't need batteries, which also saves on weight. A lot depends on what you think you'll need it for, and for how long. Or you could always carry this survival tool -- pocket knife, magnesium firestarter, and flashlight all in one. BoingBoing liked it! And if you want versatility, here's a flashlight that uses AA, C, or D batteries, which is pretty versatile. I bought one a while back -- it's not bad, but doesn't seem especially sturdy.

I have to say that my cheap Timex Ironman watch makes a good emergency flashlight, too. It's not terribly bright, but it's enough to find your way around in the dark without bumping into things. I was in the grocery store -- in the meat section, about a half-mile from the windows at the front -- when the power went out a while back. The place was pitch-dark and it took about 20-30 seconds for the emergency lights to come on. As soon as things went black a woman started screaming -- I guess she had claustrophobia issues -- and I pushed the light button on my watch. This calmed her immediately, strangely enough. Then a few people opened up cellphones and it was a brief impromptu light show.

The watch is nice, though, because you've always got it. (As with cameras, guns, and many other things, the one you've got with you is always more important than the one you've left in a drawer at home). It's actually stopped me from buying a more expensive watch, as you can't get the "indiglo" feature on the fancy watches.

[backhoe]

A good place to look for 72 hour survival kits is www.emergencyessentials.com

[backhoe]

http://www.instapundit.com/

MY EARLIER SURVIVAL-KIT POST caused reader Fred Weldon to recommend including toilet paper, which may be in short supply: "After all, if you're gonna eat, you're gonna excrete." Good advice. I do keep a roll in my kits, and also in each car. And Target sells purse- or backpack-convenient mini-rolls, from Charmin. Those also fit nicely in a glove compartment.

Reader Michael Fisher, meanwhile, suggests this kit, and wonders why I didn't mention a gun. Well, I figure most Insta-Readers have their own preferences in that department already.

[backhoe]

 

ANOTHER BIG Disaster-Preparedness List. Lots of interesting stuff here. There's more (a lot more) to disaster preparedness than just buying things, but it's true that anything you're going to want to buy needs to be bought before the disaster. Still, you need to acquire skills and knowledge, not just stuff, in advance of a tornado, hurricane, earthquake, or whatever. (Here's a roundup of some books on that subject). And for less cataclysmic disasters, this book is good.

[backhoe]

OMAHA RESIDENTS FACE UP TO A WEEK WITHOUT POWER:

They probably can't read it, but here's a blackout survival guide. And here are some home generator safety guidelines.

Or you could get one of these, though at this new, higher price (it was 180 bucks when I linked it before) I don't think it's much of a deal. Heck, for that price you can get what looks like a pretty decent little inverter generator, with 1800 watts of clean power.

http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/