OK, I think we're all pretty well shocked by the New Orleans response (or lack of it).
Sit down and put on your seatbelts, because you won't like what I have to say in this post.
First of all, I'm a firefighter, I'm trained in disaster response, and we've had two declared Federal Disasters (floods) in my protection district in the last year.
I'm currenty NOT in New Orleans or anywhere else because - like thousands of others, I've not gotten through the maze of paperwork and authorizations needed. As those without the authorizations have learned, you'll be turned back at checkpoints without them. As it turns out, the firefighters who HAVE made it to New Orleans and the evacualtion points have been HANDING OUT BROCHURES. Many have simply turned around and come home. See the forums at www.firehouse.com for some real sorry stories. The frustration level among responders is VERY high.

So, back to the subject of this post. I've been in contact with people in Mississippi and Alabama. All your 72 hour planning is wrong. A lack of an evacuation order does not mean you're safe. Towns six miles inland are flooded and NO help has arrived at all - and no help will arrive.

The billions and billions spent on equipment for homeland security are exactly like folks on this list spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on high end equipment, guns, knives, tents, stoves and so forth - without ever testing it out until it's needed. As it turns out, like in a small scale situation you might be in, as well as a large scale situation, the best survival resource is brains, not stuff.
The fact that the NIMS (national incident managment system) wasn't even implemented - or that the NIMS organizational structure wasn't worked out ahead of time is the most shameful thing of all. Here we have a nation of emergencyh response agencies, all able to interoperate on some level, and all it needed was to establish a NIMS tree...

Which leads me to the 96 hours. You're on your own for 96 hours, not 72. Maybe more. New Orleans was a SMALL city - only the 24th largest in the USA. (see list: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0763098.html). Places like Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Ind. are larger cities.

Now consider if you are in the 250 mile radius of one of the top 20 largest cities - which are:

New York, N.Y.
Los Angeles, Calif.
Chicago, Ill.
Houston, Tex.
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, Ariz.
San Diego, Calif
San Antonio, Tex
Dallas, Tex.
San Jose, Calif.
Detroit, Mich.
Indianapolis, Ind.
Jacksonville, Fla.
San Francisco, Calif.
Columbus, Ohio
Austin, Tex.
Memphis, Tenn.
Baltimore, Md.
Fort Worth, Tex.
Charlotte, N.C.

Now consider this little tidbit - the NYC Subway system carries 4.8 million people a DAY - that's over TWICE the number of people who evacuated New Orleans.

The Chicago Transit Authority carries about 3 million riders a day - a million more than the New Orleans evacuated population.

The fact is, that if something hits these places, there's NOTHING THAT THE FEDERAL AUTHORITIES CAN DO FOR AT LEAST 5 DAYS. Even then, they seem so mired in paperwork and nonsense that it's time to just ignore them and develop localized plans of action that render you autonomous for 5 full days - which means that you don't really NEED anything from anyone else, so you can participate in helping others who need help. Obviously, thing 1 is water - and plenty of it. Assume that any standing water you find is contaminated to the point of lethality. Assume also that without advanced water PURIFICATION (not filtration - PURIFICATION) you can't fix the problem. Chemical contamination is a very, very dangerous thing. That means lugging water. That means transportation. That means wheels of some sort - a wagon, a shopping cart, a wheelbarrow, a luggage cart - something you can roll along, with nice big wheels (a bike trailer for a baby is a GREAT option, because you can't carry 15 gallons of water for long - and you'll need 15 gallons of water for your family to make it 96 hours. Forget sanitation water, you'll be dirty. Keep your butt clean (baby wipes are very helpful) and worry about your hands, but don't waste water on bathing. Don't bring food that needs dishes - if you can't eat it from the container with only a fork, or better yet, just eat it right out of the container, you're wasting your time and energy. Winter is coming, keeping WARM for 5 days is a BIG PROBLEM. Think about it - would you rather sit in the dark, warm, or sit in a well-lit place thanks to your LED lantern with 4 "D" batteries - and freezing your butt off. I'll take dark and warm.

Re-think what it means to loose your home and everything in it. 500,000 people in New Orleans left last week and all they have is gone. All of it. What does that mean to you? What do you want to have? Where is it? How fast can you get to it? How far can you walk with it?

This is serious stuff, because, as I suspect will happen, the folks in Saudi Arabia are watching the news closely, and they see that the USA does not really have much in the way of Homeland Security, as we've learned in the last week. Imagine what a mess if NY, Chicago and SFO all got hit with a bio-weapon or nuke the same day. Just imagine.

Now imagine you need to "go" - where do you go, there's no fuel, major roads are closed or just gone...
What's your plan? I'll be honest, I've tossed out some items from my kit that I thought would be "handy" and replaced it with a Mossberg 500 Cruiser and 100 rounds of ammo. I've also re-packed everything to fit in a radio flyer "wagonbarrow" (which they don't make anymore) with some room for my 2 year old daughter.

Here's a good alternative to the wagon barrrow:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/s...mp;amp;R=208007

It's not quite "long term survival" (what good would a basement bunker be in New Orleans?) but I think that the days of the 72-hour kit are over.

So, my operative principles are:
Mobility & Autonomy for 5 full days.

I agree totally! I am a member of an Emergency Team here in Oklahoma. 9 or 10 of our members are scheduled to head to NO sometime next week. I don't have the vacation time or I'd be among them.

I understand eveyones frustration with the red tape, but we do have to consider that if there were no red tape...someone would gripe at the end when the bill comes that there was no oversight...so we reap what we sow.

I have always planned on carrying a weapon, regardless of the weight factor...my life..my family safety vs, a few pounds..easy choice there. I have a Rem 870 pump...not as compact as your choice, but paid for and barrel can easily be cut off.

I also like the plan of using the wagon. I mean, I work in Tulsa, not a major or very large city, but I see traffic in the afternoon...then I imagine that there's some sort of emergency in the middle of that...and yeah, I can picture myself walking home, can also see it the other way with people leaving..good idea.

I like your thinking, keep your head down in NO.

I agree that 3 days is not long enough and that's why I've gone with a 2 week supply. I know that 2 weeks is somewhat arbitrary and many who frequent this site may not think that is nearly long enough, but so be it.

I am preparing for an earthquake ( the most likely major disaster to occur in my area.) I am assuming that my house will be an inaccessible pile of wood and brick. But staying put is absolutely my number one goal. With that in mind, I store my supplies and gear away from my house in my 19' travel trailer. It is self-contained with propane fridge, furnace, lights, shower, and toilet. (Of course, in mid-winter the plumbing wont be working.)

If I need to bug out then I can hook up my truck in 15 minutes and simply haul the whole thing down the interstate either east, west, north, or south. Or I can transfer my gear to my truck bed and head out sans trailer. I'll get about 275 miles away on one tank hauling the trailer, or about 400 miles away without it. If the roads are impassible then out come the ATV's, which I keep gassed up. I can get 80 miles on one tank, and I can carry gas cans strapped on the racks to increase my range, along with enough gear to survive, albeit uncomfortably.

But again, shelter in place is my primary goal. And unless I am seriously injured and helpless I will not be going to a public shelter.

Regards, Vince

Great post.

I too am more worried about an earthquake than a hurricane. I found an old cooperative extension pamphlet on earthquakes and thought I would look up more information and found this web page from Memphis. (only 100 miles away at most.) Memphis earthquake information
I noticed at the very bottom it recommended at least a 10 day supply of food and water.

Hi Guys, My first post on a GREAT site....In response..we are rancher/horse people...my other car is a horse...most of the people around us, too....let me just say that I've spent a life outdoors as well as "back of beyond " and there ARE certain things you can't carry enough of....following the N.O. thing on the web has convinced me beyond any doubt that others WILL try to take yer little red wagon away from you, too......I'm x-military, x-law enforcemant and have been a seasonal / volunteer firefighter...good people do BAD things in BAD circumstances....the best road out is OFFROAD,The best profile is LOW PROFILE,I could write TEN books on what to take...it's never the right gear nor never enough. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> [color:"blue"] [/color]

For those of you wondering about the mention of NIMS in the previous post, it's an emergency command system based on the Incident Command System (ICS). ICS was designed for responding to wildfires, but it can be used for basically any emergency.

The basic concepts behind most of these systems is the same: A single person in charge, clear lines of command, no more than 7 subordinates at any level, well-defined responsibilities, and clear goals. You can find an overview of ICS at Making Light, written by an EMT.

These systems are worth reading and thinking about. Not only are they interesting on their own merits, but they're potential sources of good ideas for small group and community survival in an emergency.

Some people weathered this storm very well by working together. They established groups, made plans, and divided responsibilities. You need to be prepared for individual survival, but only a well-organized group can keep watch (or help elderly neighbors).

Sorry, the NIMS thing is so ingrained in my thought process that I forget that it's not part of common speech.

I have to admit that this opened my eyes, too.

My wife puts up with the preparedness stuff, but I wish that she would understand the urgency of needing to implement a plan for these types of things. Having only a short time to grab your things would be a problem. What documents to take...what is "irreplaceable"...etc. (Any help in how to educate the wife would be appreciated.) I'm not sure that, today, I'd even be able to quickly evacuate due to these issues.

Great post. Eye opening.

I totally agree the best road out is off road! The highways from any major city are likely to be over packed! Since flooding is not likely where I live, I only see a few circumstances that I would need to evacuate. I plan to do a better plan on evacuating, and prepack as much as possible for that eventuality. Also with the idea that staying home may be an option in some situations. The plan should include the necessities for a week or so, minimum in my eyes. NO proves that a good blaster is a must as well!!
Soon, I am going to start to study some maps, go to different roads and find out how they are, how long it takes to get from point A to B and find sources of water along those routes. If I need to ditch my vehicle, I want to be able to walk as far as possible with essentials. A weeks worth of water is not an option in a backpack.
Bottom line, Katrina is a valuable lesson, we have some work to do! The government, well they have LOTS of work to do!! CHeers!