1.5 million households and businesses in the DC metro region are without power today - another 100-degree heat index day. For a couple of my friends in northern Virginia, no power = no water (because they are on a well).

Preparedness is a vogue topic of discussion around here today.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-t...ry.html?hpid=z1


Blessed not to have lost power, I've been loaning coolers and radios to less fortunate friends. And my Gransfors Bruks 31" American Felling Axe cleared a road at midnight.

Hard enough to persuade people to be prepared for seasonal storms and a few days without power. Good luck persuading others not already into preparedness into buying into a one-year TEOTWAWKI prepping plan.

Maybe start smaller with family and friends and use a Cat 5 hurricane scenario as something to plan for.

If long term independence from utilities etc. is a goal (which it seems to be given a one year time frame) you need to start by assessing the practicality based on your location. If you live in or near a major metropolitan area, I foresee nearly insurmountable challenges in terms of storing "enough" for a year, in part because you may literally need to store what you need as opposed to ways to get what you need.

On the other hand if you live, or are willing to move somewhere a bit less civilized (which really means citified), the challenges can become more manageable. As recently as the 70's there were places in the USA without electric service and people who lived with greatly reduced dependence on the infrastructure we have grown accustomed to. Of course if we are really looking at a year with out our typical infrastructure I think even the most rural, independent area is going to come up short on a few things and have to find alternatives, most of which (like animal power) have been set aside in favor of more convenient solutions.

So I guess the short version goes, I don't see a practical reason to try to store supplies past a month or two. After that you are better off thinking in terms of means legally acquiring what you need with the assumption it won't be available for purchase.

- Eric

As Mdinana mentioned, my friend Melissa and I talked about and others echoed, “baby steps.”

My goal was a month and I am close to reaching it. Now I’m thinking, extend that to two months and put a plan together to implement that.

In bouncing ideas off each other, Melissa did point out the benefit of this house as it has the most storage space. Buy just a little extra at a time and rotate the stock. This property is centrally located not only geographically but socially making it an attractive option. This gives me a chance to lead by doing.

Melissa also went further into her property down south, one of the three locations first mentioned. It is already off the grid and the huntress has talked about the deer in the area. The real disadvantage is, that house of hers is tiny.

For clarification I mentioned a year because in the discussion with Lisa, a year would be the worst case scenario.

Jeanette Isabelle

I'm in Central Virginia and we not only had a lot of damage but, sadly, at least two deaths in the immediate area. According to the Governor, it was the largest power outage ever in Virginia for a non-hurricane.

Storms like this really do help you focus on the little things: flashlights, batteries, radios, water... Spaghettios. ;-)

We feel incredibly blessed to have power and utilities today when hundreds of thousands in the state do not in 100+ F temperatures.

kind of a repeat, but a small battery powered fan (tent fan) that can be adapted to a 12v auto battery can make sleeping in 90+ weather possible...

if they weren't so expensive as an antique, would have one of the Sterling engine fans that are driven off kerosine lantern

That is excellent, Jeanette! You got to that level of preparedness pretty quickly - great work.

I like the idea of extending your goal a month at a time. Not as daunting and it puts you in a position in a more routine disaster situation to be able to use your stocks to help a few or more friends and family for a shorter period of time.

This weekend I've been posting on Facebook some of my favorite preparedness gear that came in handy Friday night. Also posted a link to Survivalmom's new book.

Am hoping some peops I don't ordinarily talk to about this stuff will now be sufficiently motivated to be more prepared for the next power outage.

We are all more prepared if our friends, neighbors and family are.



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Ditto. I have battery-powered tent fans and fans that clip to my camp chair that would be very nice if I'd lost a/c. They are not terribly expensive. Amazon carries a bunch.