Could be worse

It looks like Florida missed the worse of the storm. A little jog to the east made all the difference. Of course, if you sitting in a house with a huge oak poking through the roof, it's bad enough. Haiti, on the other hand, had it much much worse than initially thought. The death toll keeps on rising there. As I write this the storm is on its way to Georgia. It could just as easily kink to the west so they aren't out of the woods. Besides, the storm surge and rain are going to be bad enough.

Were people wrong to bug out? Heck no. Those who successfully rode it out were just lucky. Is it a good idea to trust your life to blind luck? Not for me.

I had hoped we'd get a good soaking in New England to break the drought. That does not appear to be in the cards. It should be interesting to see what happens to the storm from this point on.

There are lessons to be learned. Once again, basic supplies like bottled water flew off the grocery shelves. With a little planning people could have safely stored tap water for almost no cost. Add a good water filter and you'd be in great shape.

Hurricanes are slow moving disasters. Thanks to modern technology we see them coming from miles away. If you can't successfully deal with a hurricane without panic, how will you survive other disasters? Many of life's trials come without warning. You have to deal with them using the resources at hand.

Here's something to think about. Imagine that instead of a hurricane you have to deal with a massive earthquake. There is no chance to bug out. You don't have any warning so no emergency shopping trips to Publix. The earthquake hits, your stuff is messed up and there's no way to drive out of the area because roads and bridges have been destroyed.

As a thought exercise, imagine having to live for months on end with just the resources you have on hand. To make it interesting, assume 50% to 95% of your supplies were destroyed in the disaster. For an added level of realism, imagine sustaining a debilitating injury at the same time. Do you feel confident about your situation?

-Sixbears