Did I miss something? She is wondering about the pre-storm planning but she is the one waiting to buy gas. <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Adam

Idiots!!!!


ONE DAY CLOSER

You have that one right.......... No more taking care of ones self, just depend on others to take care of you.

Hey everyone, I just got power back on here in south Florida. Thanks to some fine line crews from Detroit. It is amazing to me how unprepared some people can be, If you are able to work then storing 3 days of supplies certainly costs less than that new ipod. The elderly and the truly disabled is were the goverment relief focus should be directed. There is virtually no excuse why able bodied people of all economic backgrounds cant have pre purchased 6 gallons of water- $8.00, Bread 3 loafs -$6.00 , Peanut butter 2 jars- $5.00. Yea it's not a big mac with fries but you are not hungry or thirsty!
Hopefully this will be a wake up call to people every where at least be self sufficent for 3 days, its not that expensive.

What? No credit to Warren Zevon??

You know... maybe (maybe) one of the reasons people don't prepare is that it seems too difficult.

(Yeah, I know... but hear me out...)


We've all seen the Lists from various sources about the recommend stuff you should have for various emergencies. And I've seen the response first hand.... "Uh. That's a lot of stuff. I'll never get all that. And hey, if it's my time to go...". The list is too intimidating.

Really, it comes down to four things. Water, Food, Cash, Gas.

That's it. Have those four things, and you're good. It's the 80/20 rule... I think those four things cover 80%. Sure, things can happen those don't cover, and there are lots of extras in the 20% that you might wish you'd had, but just those four items can make a huge difference.

And as you point out, we're not talking about extensive underground 10 year food supplies. Just bread and peanut butter will keep you from being hungry for over a week. $20 or less of food and water will get you through the tough few days after most hurricanes. And fill your freakin' car. Get some extra cash. Not much, just some.

Eh. Who am I kidding. Before the storm, it's procrastination and denial. After the storm it's learned helplessness and the desire to transfer blame from oneself to society.

Still, maybe The Authorities should skip the huge lists, and have a cartoon character deliver the same message over and over and over... "Water, Food, Cash, Gas. The Cool Kids have theirs. Do you?". :-)

sorry, don't know who wrote it or performed it besides LR, the memory just came to me when I read that story

I'm aware of that, but these people don't live in a vacuum, surely they watch tv or listen to the radio. Wilma was one of the slowest hurricanes in history to get to Florida, they had a tremendous amount of time to prepare, and many didn't. Like many have stated, you don't need a warehouse full of supplies, just some extra water, bread, gasoline and money could have eased much hardship.

I think you find that historically, that people like this have been around. It's just that now, we have all kinds of civilizationy bits to keep the alive past the age of 12.

I also think you hit the problem on the head. THE LIST is a lot of stuff, it probably scares most people.

Maybe what’s needed is a version of Arizona’s so-called “Stupid Motorist Law.” Anytime flooding occurs – generally during monsoon season – a driver can be fined up to $2000 (to defray rescue costs) if he/she ignores barricades or posted warnings, resulting in rescue from said flooded street, intersection, wash etc.

I see some similarities here.