patrick.net

Those people have access to water and food. Many have to leave their homes to get it, and some markets are empty because people went wild buying up everything, but it's been 6 days. They'll get food in there quick enough. Who doesn't have enough food to last 6 days? If your home is wiped out like many of those people, then it doesn't matter how much food you have. If it's not, you have enough food left in your fridge/freezer to last you a week or two. Dry pasta, some canned goods. Unless you're a bachelor, you've got food. Perhaps you won't have the exact mean you were "feeling like" for the day, but you'll have food.

If you end up in a situation where you're house is the only one with power, food and water, and you aren't sharing you're going to find it forcefully taken from you. Someone will light the whole place on fire because you're an a-hole and some other wacko will spazz and light your house on fire. Or the house beside yours, where you can't see him doing it until you're dealing with 50' flames leaping across to your house. Simple as that. Do you have enough water stored up to put out a gas fire? Probably not.

If people don't have food/water/power after a week, they'll leave the devastated area. If you're the only one left in a deserted town, while everyone else rebuilds elsewhere with fresh food, clothing and water who's the idiot then?

Vancouver had it's entire water supply destroyed for 2 weeks. It took 2 days to get enough bottled water into the city to satisfy everyones needs. Things get done and fast. Otherwise people evacuate. The only people not evacuating are the ones with $0 in their bank accounts who can't even afford a bus to get out of the city, like the ones left in new orleans.

People in Japan aren't behaving like New Orleans for a reason. They're educated and decently well off. The people stuck in New Orleans just waited for the government to give them water, food, money and housing. That's all we saw on TV. There was no one sitting in their house with a generator with 3 months of food saying "I'm waiting this one out" No,they LEFT.

Cesium-137 has a half life of 30 years and a crapload of this stuff is now entering the atmosphere in a steady, ongoing, out-of-control meltdown burn happening in several different locations. The airstream will ensure this never-ending radiation will make it's way to the US. Remember, the half life is THIRTY years. This is not going to dissipate before it gets to the US.

Good luck everyone. Next step is for the masses to realize how bad it's about to get, and then there will be a run of food and water. Food and water supplies will soon be contaminated. Give it a few days.

It is coming.

M8R-0dxnlo says

This is not going to dissipate before it gets to the US.

Look on the bright side . . . free cat scans and x-rays!

I've been thinking about buying 30-days worth of MRE's from the PX at Fort Sam Houston. They will special order them for private buyers.

Aren't those MREs constipatory? Win-win. You'll only need to buy 1-days worth of TP.

terriDeaner says

Aren’t those MREs constipatory? Win-win. You’ll only need to buy 1-days worth of TP.

There is TP with each MRE. :-) In the old days, C Rat's had cigarettes.

It's a good idea to have an e-kit (wow, ellie agrees with rayray). Mormons do the six month thing, but I think it's reasonable to have a couple of weeks to a month worth of rations if possible. It's not always possible - and something that's overlooked it that having no power might mean not having the means to cook the food. And a friend of mine thought she had everything covered until she tried to open a can of food when the power went out, no manual can opener.

if there were an earthquake or other devastating event it's important to have some good clothing for the elements (winter clothes, summer light-weight stuff) plus medications for chronic conditions. I live in the land of fires and I have a fire kit by my door in case I have to leave. You'd be amazed at how little "stuff" means to you if you have to gather the family and leave on a dime. I also have two 55 gallon drums of water to ensure that the critters have something to drink in case of water break or contamination; there's been cause to drain our water tank storage twice since I moved to the back woods.

A gas generator is a good idea for winter backup if you can afford it. But most can't.
IMHO, of course.

Meh. We keep a weeks worth of food and water for earthquake preparedness. If rescue teams can't get here by then, then we are in some really deep doo-doo that a month's worth of food won't help.

My thing is that most people have a month's worth of food in their cupboards. You know, the food that is considered "staples" or those that you eat only if you have to.

I live in a rural area so it's different than you - much fewer stores, not like you can walk there if you need to. So it's different here.

jvolstad says

terriDeaner says

Aren’t those MREs constipatory? Win-win. You’ll only need to buy 1-days worth of TP.

There is TP with each MRE. In the old days, C Rat’s had cigarettes.

Better save 'em all... by 1-days worth, I really meant one whole days worth!

@ellimae
You definitely need to keep a couple of weeks around you, because of your location.

I think having most of that stuff in your car is far more useful. You're far more likely to drive off the road, get lost on a back road (like the Yahoo CEO did), finding yourself soaked somewhere, finding yourself trapped in traffic and thirsty (non emergency use) or finding yourself helping someone in need after an accident with medical, clothing or water.

RayAmerica says

We began stocking up on essential items a couple of months ago (dried beans, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, etc.). Just make sure that you store your items in a cool, dry place and that you rotate your stock in order to keep your supply fresh. The typical supermarket needs to be restocked several times per week. In the event of a big emergency, the store shelves will be empty within a matter of hours.

You will die without fresh water within 3 days and without food after 30-50 days. You can drink radiator water by straining it through a t-shirt then boiling it by using a pair of jumper cables, attaching the cables to a battery on one end and to a wire brillow pad on the other end. The brillow pad will heat to the point where you can place wood or hay on top of it to start a fire.

In case any of you need survival lessons I will be too busy robbing my neighbors at gunpoint for their food/water...it just sounds much easier.

elliemae says

My thing is that most people have a month’s worth of food in their cupboards. You know, the food that is considered “staples” or those that you eat only if you have to.
I live in a rural area so it’s different than you - much fewer stores, not like you can walk there if you need to. So it’s different here.

Food wont be the problem, you will die after 3 days if you go without water....but it takes 30 days to die from starvation. Ohhh, and dont think about eating the plants around you....about 75% of them are poisonous to humans.

Loading my rifles right now.

@Clarence 13X

I agree. I wasn't hit hard fortuntely, but I always keep 12-15 litres of water in bottles on hand at my place.

@Elliemae

"My thing is that most people have a month’s worth of food in their cupboards. You know, the food that is considered “staples” or those that you eat only if you have to."

Houses are quite a bit smaller here, but it is possible to keep rice, etc.

I don't think rice is terribly edible if you have no way to cook it. How many people have enough fuel to cook for a month? I know I've probably got a small can of white gas around somewhere for my backpacking stove. Shelf life of the fuel? Can't cook lots of things without CLEAN water so you have to budget the fuel needed to boil thoroughly.

Vicente says

I don’t think rice is terribly edible if you have no way to cook it. How many people have enough fuel to cook for a month? I know I’ve probably got a small can of white gas around somewhere for my backpacking stove. Shelf life of the fuel? Can’t cook lots of things without CLEAN water so you have to budget the fuel needed to boil thoroughly.
“Eagles are dandified vultures” - Teddy Roosevelt

Yes, the best way to go is to store foods that don't require preparation beyond adding some water, maybe. I know people get tired of nutritional bars and such if you are forced to eat them for every meal for 30 days. But you can store canned sardines, trout, tuna, etc. to get some good protein and a little variety. Also Spaghettios don't require any cooking before eating. Also you can store beef, chicken, turkey, jerky. Freeze dried veggies are OK too.

I keep extra supplies in the trunk of my car. You never know if you'll actually be home when "the big one" or another such disaster strikes. Also I like to go to some fairly isolated places sometimes where help would be far away. Therefore I keep enough water and granola bars to keep me going for at least 5 days in my trunk. I also have a first aid kit, compass, maps, rope, bungie cords, and flashlights (that don't require batteries). I carry a good pocket knife on me at all times. I also have a shovel and leather gloves in the trunk. I keep a flare in there too. Also I carry a filled butane ligher on me at all times, and I'm not a smoker. I carry an extra blanket and a piece of cloth that can be used to make a makeshift shelter. The only thing I don't have in there is enough of my prescription meds to last me 5 days. I would have to make it home somehow to find that. Keeping prescription meds in the car is kind of useless because the heat and the cold destroy them. I used to keep a 5 days supply in my briefcase. I should probably get in the habbit of doing that again since those of us who work away from home spend so much time at work. You could be at work when disaster hits too.

Also, I keep the tank filled above half full, just in case.

Also having an emergency supply of prescription meds is difficult because insurance will only let you order refills only up to a week (max) before you are scheduled to run out. I've ordered early for several months in order to keep a supply on hand that would last me a few weeks. Also I get 100 days worth of meds at a time. So, depending on when "the big one" would hit, I could have up to 130 days supply all the way down to only about 30 days.

Oh, and you have to be sure to use up medication from the oldest to the newest so that you don't run into issues with expiring medications.

@EVERYONE

You should not eat if you have not had water in 2 days as you will become backed up. Hold out as long as you can on food until you get to a source of water.