Recommendation: Buy more of what you already eat on the day-day, week-in/week-out basis -- eat one, buy two to replace it, eat two, buy four. . . Campbell's Chunky soups and Ramen noodles are good survival food, but you can do better and have more variety.

Those were my primary choices as I actually love eating them. A lot of the other stuff I eat requires cooking in an oven also, whereas I can make ramen over any kind of heat source that will boil water. And I can eat the Chunky soup cold if need be, since it's pre-cooked.

Once I have a decent enough supply of the soups, ramen and water, I'm going to start working on other items to go with them.

Dinty Moore Beef Stew.

If it doesn't have a thumbprint, don't eat it.

Words to live by . . . .

Yes you should know better. I strongly disagree with both of you. Are you going to lock this thread also, now that someone disagrees with you?

I find this forum to be increasingly useless as time goes on. Off to greener pastures.

Now kids. Play nice. We can all disagree as to whether the poor response to Katrina was the result of mistakes and poor planning or a racial/political/class conspiracy. The point I think Martin (and the head of FEMA) is trying to make is that the person primarily responsible for taking care of you is you. Especially in the short run, where the authorities may be overwhelmed until reinfocements arive.

FEMA is working from the top down with programs shuch as the National Incident Management System, which provides a standardized system that allows different agencies and jurisdictions to coordinate responses to a wide range of incidents.

We as interested practitioners of preparednass can be working from the bottom up, starting with being prepared ourselves, then graduating to helping our neighbors prepare. Its obvious from this thread that some localities are better prepared than others, just like during Katrina. So there is still a lot of work to do. More in some places than others.

I found the article refreshing. The dude-in-charge puts it to his folks to be an example. That is great. I liken it to the fire fighters urging everyone to have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers just like they do. I also like the view being taken here stating we need to work from the bottom up. It really boils down to what I learned in the military: If it is your responsibility, take care if it. This works all the way up and down the chain of command. If people understand what they are responsible for things will go more smoothly. Yes, interaction/intervention is required if there is a deficiency somewhere. The interaction does not need to be adversarial, just honest,level-headed and professional.

There are many reasons why people do not prepare. A short list of the most common reasons:
- Risk perspective (People think its not going to happen)
- "unrealistic optimism" ("it won't happen to me")
- (lack) of trust (not trusting government)
- Personal experience ("nothing happened last time")
- Attachment to the community
- Personal responsibilities
- Denial behavior (people unable to handle psychological, avoid the subject all together)
- Not knowing what to prepare for.

Actual preparedness education has very little effect. This makes it very hard for any organisation to change human behavior. So i agree with the guy on what the ideal world would be. But how?

This isn't a very developed thought - but the preparedness on this site didn't spring from no where. Most of us had an Aha! moment after a storm, fire or accident. Some of us picked it up in the military, or in training for specialized jobs (EMT, firefighter, oil field worker) where from the first day we got it. Granted a fair number of us were raised in a preparedness environment, which if everyone still came from such a place the situation might be different. Many folks though have their scariest preparedness moments behind the wheel along I-405 every morning - where's my coffee, calling the office on my cell phone, better turn up the heat or AC some more. All while driving along at 45 mph 20 feet behind the next Chevy Tahoe, no concept of the everyday proximity of death and danger outside their moving door. You want to foster the Aha! moment in people who otherwise won't get it - because if they don't have a moment of clarity, when disaster strikes they will be waiting for the chow line to form on the street corner, or to pillage their neighbor's supplies.

So start with something small, and immediate - hurricane season, tornado alley for some, winter storms and floods in the North. The weather, as bad as it can get. Most people get that. If its a regular event, more people will get ready, or at least readier than they were.

This site is preparedness education in action. Encourage others to vist and consider joining. At least they may recall it as a resource.