3 Post Disaster Tips For Harvey & Beyond

This week, we’re seeing the consequence of the media and weather reporters hyping up storms for the last few years for ratings.

They’ve lost all credibility and there’s really no reason to have thought that Harvey would be different than the last 20 “disasters” they said were going to happen.

Like many of you, I’ve been in contact with relatives and friends and doing what I can to help them.  My brother has been flying rescue missions for a few days…and probably will be for a few more.

Yesterday afternoon, I found out that we have almost 3,000 customers on the Texas Gulf Coast and I sent them all our disaster water purification ebook in case it looks like they’re going to run out of potable water.  It’s not much…but it was something I could do that could help them and/or the people around them.

It’s truly bizarre and heartbreaking to be talking to people on Facebook while they’re giving me updates on their house and belongings being flooded.

Yesterday morning, I was going through the chapter in the “Urban Survival Guide” on Lessons From Katrina and there’s 3 big takeaways I want to share with you:

1. If you retreat to your attic, take a hammer or axe with you so you can bust through the roof if the water keeps rising.

2. One of the biggest reasons for ER visits after power outages in recent years has been CO poisoning due to running generators in houses to power game consols & TVs to keep kids occupied.  If you’ve got a generator, run it outside and keep it locked up.  If possible, only run it during the day and run on batteries at night.  If you must run it through the night, plug SOMETHING in that will sound an alarm if it goes off.

After Katrina, one thief stole more than 140 generators in the middle of the night before getting caught.  He’d wait until he was sure the occupants were sleeping.  Then he’d steal a lawnmower, start it and pit by put it beside the generator to mimic the sound of the generator, and then steal the generator to resell.

3.  The person with the best attitude who adapts the fastest will ride out disasters the best.  It isn’t necessarily the person with the best tactical skills or the most head knowledge who survives best, but the person who can embrace the suck, eat things they’re not used to, accept a little bit of uncomfortableness, and keep on trucking with a positive attitude.

Hurricane Harvey should be a reminder to all of us of the value of being prepared.  We don’t have hurricanes where we live, but we do have the threat of wildfires, chemical accidents, blizzards and other smaller scale disasters that could be incredibly disruptive.

So we take rational, prudent steps to be ready.

No matter where you live, you have smaller scale disasters that it would be wise to prepare for.

And, in the process of preparing for these smaller scale disasters that are more common, you’ll be making yourself more ready for large scale disasters like economic collapse, ISIS infrastructure attacks, or whatever N. Korea decides to throw our way.

Whether you’ve got everything squared away and just need a gut-check or if you’re still trying what you REALLY need to do to get prepared, I want to encourage you to check out the Survive In Place Urban Survival Course.  Today, you can get it free when you sign up for the Journal of Tactics and Preparedness >HERE<

Or, you can order it on Amazon >HERE<

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4 Comments

  • William

    Reply Reply September 6, 2017

    As in the story of the child who cried “wolf” …. becoming jaded to an event can create havoc when the SHTF is for real.

    Learning to study a developing situation and making your own
    decisions is an important part of becoming prepared….you may have days to get ready or not….but training yourself to make decisions can save your life.

  • Florida Smith

    Reply Reply August 30, 2017

    I’m in Florida and a few of us that are small low budget prepares have gotten some contracter garbage bags and packed supply’s that are long term storage in them and heat sealed them made them water proof to be able to come home to some supplies if ever had to evacuate and get flooded out

    • Ox

      Reply Reply August 30, 2017

      Good stuff. We do the same thing, but we make sure that the contractor bags aren’t directly in contact with anything that we want to eat. Some plastic bags off-gas more than others, and all break down over time (especially if they’re stored somewhere hot), but contractor bags do a much better job than ordinary trash bags.

  • Larry Douglas

    Reply Reply August 30, 2017

    Most portable generators are not intended to be left running unattended, so should not be left running unless someone is awake and able to respond to a problem. Ours is connected to the home electrical box via a UL approved transfer system, and the portable cord is kept nearby but not plugged in. The generator only needs to be operated to prepare meals and to heat water for basic washing, so the propane (I won’t use a gasoline powered generator – gasoline spoils and is IMHO more dangerous) lasts quite a long time.

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