1. I am so woefully ill prepared for a serious emergency that I would really like to take a few days off and learn – and practice a few things like turning all the utilities on and off, purifying water, and so on. I do not have time to practice all of these things now, but I am going to design and then complete a true emergency preparedness course as soon as possible, and definitely before the next hurricane season. My textbook will be the state emergency preparedness website, which is quite good, but I will supplement it with other materials as needed. There is additional information at planitnow.org and ready.gov. All of these sites would be better, however, if they had a banner running across the top telling us to start preparing for IKE – even though current tracks suggest it might make landfall in Corpus Christi.
2. My shopping list has two levels: things I want now, and things I want next. As of this writing it is not finished. I have written pieces of my list down on paper, in other blog posts, and in other peoples’ comments sections. I must continue to aggregate these here.
2008, if possible:
Battery powered fan (these can be found at RV supplies places)
Candelabra, and many more candles than I have now. Best are tapers, and those large Mexican votives.
Digital camera
Oil lamp (I had one at one time, but it got broken)
2009:
All 2008 items not yet acquired
Batteries of all kinds
Battery charger for computer, if at all possible (there are solar chargers for boat batteries)
Candle lantern(s) made of clear glass (for reading at night with the window open; glass protects from breeze)
Extra computer battery
Extra large, extra well insulated ice chest
Learn to use antique SLR camera with ease
Refurbish first aid kit
Refurbish television
Rotate water supply
3. Many other people are as poorly prepared as I, or worse, and they are not sensible. One family said they bought $200 worth of food, put it in the refrigerator, and then threw it out after power had been out for four hours. Then they went and bought a generator. Other people think you have to start eating emergency, MRE type food right away, just because it is raining. Notice how helpless, and also how wasteful Americans are. They should read up on food and water – officials agree with ME that food in a well packed freezer can still have ice crystals in its center for about three days. Other people have many cupboards full of food, but it is all junk food, loaded with preservatives.
4. I really think it is important to learn to start living with much less electricity now, anyway. If we can find ways to get as comfortable and functional as possible, in as green a way as possible, when there is no power, then perhaps we can start doing it as a general rule. It will be better, and we will be ahead of the curve when, around 2050, this becomes required. And by the way: do not assume that when it is required, inventors will have created new machines for us to use. Look at current poorer countries and realize that THIS, not Bellamy’s dream, is our future.
5. I love Los Angeles and I am vindicated once again. It appears to be one of the five best cities in the U.S. on per capita CO2 emissions. These five are, in order: HONOLULU, LOS ANGELES, PORTLAND OR, NYC, and BOISE. The five worst are LOUISVILLE, TOLEDO, CINCINATTI, INDIANAPOLIS, and LEXINGTON KY. Note that of these, Kentucky and Ohio have two each. Note also that Indiana and Ohio are two of my very least favorite states – now I really am not required to live there. A cursory glance at the complete Brookings Institution report appears to indicate that Louisiana cities are at about the median of the 100 metropolitan areas studied. Despite all the pickup trucks, the SUVs, the hunting vehicles, the Hummers, the driving in general, the industry and the air conditioning, we are not the worst, but we can do better.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
My neighbor spent a month camping somewhere in Africa, and showed me a portable solar battery charger that could be used for iPod, phone, camera and laptop. I was thinking of getting something like that for emergencies. More about that here:
http://www.findportablesolarpower.com/
MERCI, c’est fantastique! That site led me to this:
http://findportablesolarpower.com/where-can-i-find-portable-solar-power-for-a-laptop-.htm
I thought there would be only one kind and I would just click and order, but there is actually a lot to consider – I could study this all afternoon, but need to Work. I will start studying it soon.
P.S. on ecology and global warming: It is also really important generally to stop eating factory farmed animal products. Even if you just quit the factory farmed bovine and fish it is a great help. I am NOT a vegetarian. Also, one must eschew factory farmed CHICKENS and EGGS if not other poultry. So observe:
QUIT FACTORY FARMED
fish
beef
cow’s milk products
chickens
eggs
AND YOU CAN STILL EAT THESE THINGS FROM OTHER FARMS AND LANDSCAPES. AND YOU CAN STILL EAT OTHER ANIMAL THINGS.
I am not saying this is good enough but it is a major start and the important thing is to start the shift now, now, now.
MORE FOR THE GENERAL LIST, including TODAY:
– rope
– ziploc bags
– plastic sheeting
– gas can
– binder with plastic leaves to encase documents or copies of them, reference numbers, etc.
IT IS TRUE what Joanna said in a comment to an earlier post, about keeping emergency supplies in the car. When I lived in the land of snow I had these as a matter of course … including a down sleeping bag for being stuck in a breakdown in the cold, kitty litter to make the car heavier and then also put out onto the icy road, etc. If I did this to the car as a matter of course and without much thought or stress, I can certainly do it to the house and to myself (even if the house and I are each more complex than the car).
OT and P.S., but related to the question of preparedness and the ecology: someone just told me my car was too old to be fully reliable. I am irritated. It is a 2002 vehicle with 44K miles on it, a 2.5 liter engine, and no problems. Do you see what I mean about wasteful Americans?
And oh yes – I meant to say something about indoor farming. My chives and mushrooms grew really well indoors, replenishing themselves at an amazing speed during the hurricane. My basil grew fairly quickly, too. (I had brought the potted plants in just so they wouldn’t be picked up by the wind and turned into projectiles – but I ended up eating from them.) This farming enterprise could be expanded, but must be looked into first. I am figuring that those hydroponic lettuce and tomato kits use electricity and so will not work.
Signed: a newly whelped survivalist, fervent.
Got my fingers crossed for you. Those poor people in Haiti getting hammered and they have nothing!
GRACIAS!!! I now think it will make landfall in Corpus Christi. Haiti, I know, it’s awful. (And here I am trying to figure out how to scale down a first world life, la de da, and yet maintain its key features.)
Yes, I like L.A. too, although I do not know it well.
Do you have a gas stove or a camp stove? Very important if there is no electricity.
We have two refrigerators: one is for staples like rice, flour, pet food and so on which deteriorate and attract bugs in the tropics. We have lots of stored canned food. We give it away once a year to the food bank and replenish our supplies.
Since our electricity is free this costs us nothing. (Our electricity is solar generated but hooked to the grid so it goes out if the grid goes out.) We have a generator which is still in its box but which we might need some day.
We have two battery operated lamps, a hand-cranked radio, etc. etc. We could take care of ourselves for a couple of weeks anyway. We don’t have much water stored, but we get so much rain that all we would have to do is dig a hole in the ground, line it with a tarp, and collect the water.
I have to get a new pair of sturdy shoes, since I wore my old ones out hiking.
Be prepared, as the Scouts say.
Now I’ve ordered this fan: good price, I think.
On oil lamps: you can get 4 for $40 at Hector’s Hardware:
http://www.hectorshardware.biz/shop/product.asp?dept_id=110106&sku=660612&
I have not yet done this because I just bought a battery lamp, already an improvement, and they do not really fit my decor. Many wonderful oil lamps are available here:
http://www.oillampman.com/
You can make them, too, although I’d rather have one with a chimney. Still, read this post and comments, it is fun:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Glass-Bottle-Oil-Lamp/
Finally: don’t buy flashlights that take batteries, buy shakeup flashlights. Then you don’t have to buy batteries or contribute to the chaotic proliferation of battery acid.
OK, this is all the shopping for today. On my list is a digital camera but I see why I hate them: all the ones I have ever met ARE in fact like the old Instamatics, digital version. There ARE GOOD digital cameras as well. Here is a low end good one, about right for me, so you can see what I mean (I want a digital SLR … hmmm, maybe I can get a used one):
Far too expensive to just buy, must be saved up for, planned for, and so on. So I am not going to buy a $150-$200 one I don’t want and call it a necessity for emergencies, I am going to wait. In the meantime I will learn, learn, how to use the antique SLR I had passed down to me, and which I like.
More on shopping list: for this storm I am NOT acquiring a second ice chest and second thermos bottle, but it is my intention to acquire these later. I am also holding off on the candelabra, since I already acquired the battery powered lantern and one new light source per storm is enough. I did find a good one that I want for general purposes.
I might also unearth that holder of pillar candles for fireplaces I have. I could put it in the fireplace again, or set it up in a tiled place on the kitchen counter; it could turn out to be an interesting lighting option if one were without power a long time.
Hattie – your latest comment just came through!
My regular stove is gas – so is the hot water heater.
So I don’t worry about those things, although I really should get a camp stove for camping, and also in case the gas lines are cut.
I should keep more canned food and things around but I do not like grocery shopping here so I tend to eat through it after hurricane season.
Can one have solar electricity and not be hooked to the grid?
That is a GREAT idea on collecting water. I hadn’t thought of it. Brilliant. I think I might get a big sugar kettle or something like that, with a lid, and use it for this purpose. The lid would be so that it didn’t breed mosquitoes (with West Nile virus) – would that work???
The camp stove is a good investment.
Tarps, yes.
and a radio – was that on your list? We have a hand crank AND a battery powered.
So, if this is a prolonged emergency how do you plan on surviving, especially in a city? Do you really think that people who are under-prepared are just going to sit at home and die? Or do you think they will try to take what they can by force? How are you going to protect yourself from riots, looters, and/or escaped prisoners (they will get out if things collapse)?
For example, if the power has been out for a while and everything is looted, the next step is riots in any area with a high population density. So if your house is burned down can you and your family survive. Can you defend yourself on foot (with no help from police – they will protecting their own families) and make it somewhere safer? Or is your only choice to hide and hope?
I’m happy to live in a state where it is neccessary to learn how to defend yourself, ALASKA! (and not from people, see we have bears, wolves, moose, etc.)
RG – I’ve got a hand crank one, and the one I am bringing home from the office is battery powered!
The reason I don’t have a camp stove is that I don’t know which to buy. I realize I should want a WhisperLite one, but these never light reliably for me, I am an impatient dork. I like the ones with canisters, which is awful, and also impractical since you have to get the right canisters. An old style Coleman stove would be good except that I rarely do that kind of car camping. (Maybe it would help me start.) European CampingGaz ones are cheap and work, but they are too big for backpacking. Do you have any ideas on what camping stove one should prefer???
Meg – well, I live in a small city. Louisiana doesn’t actually have any cities I would call big. And people are pretty neighborly here, including across class lines. And I know a lot of people. And I’m not really well heeled enough to be a good target for looting. Escaped prisoners, well .. most of these aren’t too different from the rest of the poor. In a truly apocalyptic scenario – well, I’m not armed, but virtually everyone else is, including many friends of mine. But realistically speaking, by the time things deteriorated to the state you describe, I’d either be gone or else we would have formed some sort of survivalist self defense commune.
I’ve never been to Alaska but I’d love to see it. My grandparents and all were from rural Montana and Idaho, and in a true disaster scenario I think I’d just have to rise to the occasion and show true grit in their style. My grandmother was scandalized that we couldn’t shoot crows in the yard (you weren’t supposed to shoot inside city limits, only in the county).
General P.S. on post content – my comments on Ohio – I should be nice because it did produce my original Presidential choice, Dennis Kucinich.
cous cous!
So you can drink water with bleach in it? Huh.
Human – yes, bleach is chlorine! Just a little bleach … RG – cous cous is on my shelf!