Let's Pretend

Let's pretend terrorist attacks or a massive EMP attack will never, ever happen. Let's also pretend that rioters or jack-booted thugs could never occupy the streets of America.  Let us just say that the economy is normal, jobs are abundant, money is flowing like the water at Niagara Falls, no one is upside down in their homes, and the stock market is continuing to climb. All in all, we will just say that life is ticking along quite normally.

It's what we all wish for, isn't it?

But stop and think... even if all is well politically and financially, we'd still face natural disasters and human mistakes that turn into disasters (which is just something we have to factor in and cannot ignore, considering as people, we're a pretty crazy lot). We'd still face hurricanes, ice storms, and snow storms that shut down highways and cities each year across our country.

As would the Japanese tsunami and the destruction of the Japanese nuclear facilities in that storm.

In fact, our "perfect world" scenario leaves out all of these types of disasters:

• Earthquakes
• Hurricanes
• Tornadoes
• Mud Slides
• Floods
• Snow Storms
• Ice Storms
• Heat Waves
• Wild Fires
• And more...

According to an Environment News Service article from January 3, 2011... 295,000 people died in 2010 as a result of natural disasters.

And according to a national survey conducted by Qorvis Communications' iQ Research and Consulting Practice, and HOPE Coalition America (the emergency preparedness and response division of Operation HOPE and partner with FEMA), more than three-quarters of respondents said that they were ill-prepared for a major disaster.

Just in the basics department, only 47% said they had a 3-day supply of water stocked up. When you go back to 2005's Hurricane Katrina or the tornadoes that ripped through the United States this past summer, would three days of supplies be anywhere near sufficient? What if you tried to get away before the disaster hit...

When the tornado came through my area this past year, the one that destroyed Tuscaloosa, Alabama and many towns and cities in its path, I had been out running errands and shopping that day. Actually, I had not listened to a weather report all day. I had stopped by the drug store to pick up a prescription before heading off to Wednesday night services at my church.

I was be-bopping along, just quite content with things and very much in my own little world.

All that changed when I stepped outside the drug store after picking up my medicine. Sure, I had noticed the storm clouds, and had double-checked to see that I had my umbrella.

In a matter of moments, I was engulfed in the rain and the fury of the wind that came marching through my area. I started the car with the full intention of hightailing it to the church (and relative safety) when sirens began sounding all around. Tuning into the local radio station told me that all hell was fixing to break loose.

My phone beeped with an email message from the church, stating that Wednesday services had been cancelled and when I frantically called my husband to find out where the storm was tracking, he told me in no uncertain terms NOT to drive home. The tornado was plowing through the path I would need to take to get there.

I panicked. I got in my car and drove the opposite direction of the storm, but that didn't help me. As I continued to talk to my husband on the phone, he told me that I was in the middle calm of the storm, and that it was all around me. I had to get somewhere safe quickly. I pointed the car in the direction of my mother-in-law's house and determined that, come burn, blister, or peel, I was going to make it.

I did. I waited out the storm's intensity in her hallway, covered in mattresses and listening to a weather radio with a flashlight in my hand. We were lucky... the tornado picked up and passed over us and veered to the north where it set down once again. We emerged to some downed power lines and tree limbs in the yard, with the roads relatively clear for travel.

But what if that thing hadn't picked up? What if I had been stuck there... or anywhere... waiting for a way to be cleared so that I could get home? What if it had been like Hurricane Katrina when it came through our area, with roads impassable and no way to get where I needed to go... not for hours, but for days?

I became complacent after Katrina. After the killer tornado this past summer I realized that preparation wasn't a measly can of tuna in the cabinet "just in case," but a mindset that made you ready for any eventuality.

Even if you're only a mere 10 miles away from home, as I was, if you're stuck with no way to get back there, you might as well be 1,000 miles away from relative safety.

I will never be caught in my vehicle again without an Evac Pack backpack. It's the ultimate evacuation and survival kit, bar none. Natural disasters are deadly, strike suddenly with unexpected force and at all times of the year, and most often catch you unaware. Even if you survive the initial rampage of the storm (whatever type storm you encounter), the aftermath can become just as deadly if you haven't made provisions beforehand.

The Evac Pack backpack is an easy-to-carry bag filled with the essential food and supplies you need to survive in any kind of short-term survival situation. This backpack contains 44 servings of food, enough for one person for two weeks or two people for one week. It includes a first-aid kit, a portable stove, eating utensils, leather gloves, 4-in-1 flashlight, waste bag, water-proof matches, and 2 Mylar sleeping bags (among other items). It doesn't matter if you're stuck between two trees on a damaged highway or stranded in the middle of a snowstorm under a snowdrift in your car, you have the provisions you need to survive a short-term emergency.

And now there is one in every vehicle in our yard.

However, there are situations where you have to bug-out for longer periods of time. The people in many of the communities of Tuscaloosa stood before homes completely destroyed, the ground wiped clean of any hint that they had ever lived there. For these folks, an Evac Pack rolling duffle stored in their vehicles would have been a life-saver. The rolling duffle includes all the supplies of the backpack and then some, including:

• Emergency ponchos
• Hygiene Kit
• NIOSH N95 Dust Masks
• Hand and Body Warmers
• Sewing Kit
• Nylon Rope
• Duct Tape
• Water purification tablets
• And more...

Having survived Hurricane Katrina, having lived through the tornadoes that rampaged through our area this past summer, and realizing that disasters are just that because they come unexpectedly and with deadly force, I will never be in a situation where I have to wonder if I can make it through the next hours or days with no help from any quarter. I refuse to be a part of the 77% of the population that is ill-prepared for disaster.

The world we live in is far from perfect. And no amount of wishing or striving can make it perfect or safe all of the time. However, a little planning can get us all prepared for those moments when reality takes a veer into the unimaginable. Click here to learn more about Evac Pack backpacks and duffles.

Sincerely,

Hanne Moon
Editor, Off the Grid News