I have been rather slow to realize that I don't really have any idea what takes place after a major disaster, natural or manmade.

For those of you who have been there, what can people expect? I understand that the nature of the problem will determine certain things, but I suspect that some conditions will remain somewhat the same: trees down across roads & lines, debris collected in awkward places, movement by vehicle is curtailed, lack of food & water, lack of shelter, a percentage of people injured.

We have been advised to keep emergency supplies on hand for 3 days. That has always seemed woefully inadequate. After 3 days, does the military move in & start setting up shelters, handing out food & water & TP? I somehow suspect <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> that they aren't coming out to those of us in semi-rural areas by helicopter and delivering crates of necessities door-to-door. But just how does it work? If you can't get to a common area, you're out of luck, or what?

I feel that in my particular case, I am far better off to keep supplies on hand & hunker down, but what happens if I'm not home and can't get home after a major earthquake hits (a good possibility), due to overpasses down (I live near I-5, a major artery), or many trees & power poles across roads (highlights of the surface roads to home).

Any further info would be wonderfully welcome.

Sue