About “Before It Hits The Fan”

One day, I was thinking about what I would do in an emergency situation where I had to take care of my family for an extended period of time without modern amenities, such as power, running water, and so on.  We live in Houston, TX, and have had the wonderful experience of being here during hurricanes Rita and Ike, both of which knocked out the electricity for up to a few weeks in certain areas.  You probably saw the evacuation of Houston from Rita on the news during which Interstate 45 looked like a parking lot.  Gasoline was no where to be found.  Most neighborhoods were very sparsely populated with the few who remained behind.

After Rita, I decided I would be more prepared for the next one, and I was.  I purchased a big plastic tub, and filled it with useful things for that situation like candles, flashlights, batteries, etc., along with various containers for water.  This minimal level of preparation helped quite a bit when Ike hit.  And it was obvious who had made any effort to prepare, and who had not.

So as I was considering how one would go about trying to manage and care for their family, and ensure their safety during an extended emergency, my thoughts went to the hurricanes and how much of a difference even the smallest level of preparation made.  Then it occurred to me that the size of the emergency I was imagining was actually quite limited.  What if there wasn’t any hope of getting power back for an indefinite period of time?  What would that do to food supplies in the grocery stores?  What if gasoline became unavailable, like during Rita?  And because there was no power, there would be practically no communication either.  The more I thought about it, and the more modern conveniences I took away in my mock scenario, the more it became obvious that no amount of reaction would be sufficient to guarantee my family’s survival.  It occurred to me that the only way to be able to provide the highest probability of survival is to already be prepared!

Naturally, as described this becomes the most extreme of circumstances within which a person would find themselves.  But the point is that there are varying degrees of emergencies and disasters.  In all cases, it makes sense to be prepared, and your preparation will be its own reward the next time you are faced with a crisis.

I am by no means an expert in survival techniques or crisis preparedness, which is exactly why I started this site.  I want to learn what I need to know and do what I need to do in order to be as prepared as possible.  Ultimately I hope to have an online community that will communicate and share ideas and information on the skills of preparation.

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you become a participating member!