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Can you protect your family in a disaster? (photo by Laffy4k)
(I should have posted this right after Sandy hit, but I didn’t even think about it (shaking head). I wrote this about surviving a natural disaster and the government’s role in helping you (or not). If you’re responsible for a family, it’s worth a read. I have more stuff planned soon – I’ve been writing.)
If there’s a natural disaster or terrorist attack, can you protect your family?
If you’re cut off from the outside world with no power, food or help, can you survive? This has been on my mind ever since I read “The Road,” and seeing one natural disaster after another around the world. It should also be on your mind because protecting your family is job #1.
While I’ve been thinking about what my family would do when a natural disaster hits and no one comes to your aid (as we saw with Katrina), I really haven’t done much about it. I mean, I’ve done the little things: we have enough water for days, batteries, some food, but have dragged my ass on the important stuff.
One thing I did do was pick up Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life, by Neil Strauss. Neil realized that he couldn’t take care of himself without the help of modern conveniences and wanted to make sure he’d be a survivor if our whole system collapsed, as many think it will at some point. The book chronicles his three-year journey as he goes from snobby city boy to taking courses in wilderness survival, joining FEMA and learning how to kill and skin a goat. He also became an EMT, learned how to shoot a gun, studied Krav Maga, and actually got citizenship in another country in case our borders are ever locked down. And that’s not cheap.
Now, did Neil go way overboard? Absolutely – he was writing a book. But his story is a great wake-up call to all of us who depend on the system as much as we do. The biggest thing I took from the book is that in a natural disaster, the government isn’t there to save you — they come in to control the situation, clean up the mess and then rebuild.
Let me repeat that: the government isn’t there to save you.
By the time they decide who’s running things, who talks to the media and who is in charge of movie night, things go from bad to worse. That’s the way the system is set-up. They also teach the first responders to take care of their own families first and make sure they are safe before venturing out to help others. Which makes sense.
That means you’re on your own.
I’m not saying all this to scare you, but to alert you. No one has to turn into a survivalist freak, but you have to rise to the occasion when the shit hits the fan. Will your family be warm, fed and safe? Or panicking and looking to your neighbors for help?
Make sure you have enough food, water and medical supplies to take care of the ones you love. There are many places you can go to get these things, Costco has great emergency food kits, and you should look at getting a generator if you live in an area that loses power a lot.
You should also have a plan. Neil also has some good stuff on his website, including his answers to the top 10 emergency and disaster preparedness myths.
So, make your emergency plan and don’t be the guy who looks to his neighbors when disaster hits.
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath: Can You Protect Your Family? is a post from: Shake Your Foundation Follow me on Twitter