When writing about weather issues last week, I didn't spend a lot of time on preparedness.
My focus was stressing that things were getting worse and that they were likely to have an impact on more areas because of that. It seemed more important to note that climate change can affect harvests and available food, because we all know what to do in case of a power outage or heavy snow or wind, right?
That doesn't always mean doing it. The extra snowfall was a reminder of it, with stranded motorists and canceled activities.
Meanwhile, the East Coast is unusually warm. This might seem like a nice break for them, but if you change the patterns of plants and animals that rely on temperature cues, you can't always predict all of the results.
People can say they don't believe in global climate change, or that it may be real but they don't believe man has an impact on it, or that they think it is overblown, but that will not protect them from the effects.
Therefore, as with setting health goals, perhaps it is reasonable to walk through a head-to-toe assessment of where we stand and what we need.
Once again, the individual is important. Our needs vary, but also our resources.
In my household of three, two of us work mostly remotely, making transportation disruption less of an issue. The third does not. They were closed for one day, and open for part of the second day, but she did not go in, with her boss not being too happy about it.
Some situations are more economically precarious, with worse bosses and more need to get in. Are you able to get in? Would you be able to get home?
How often does your tank get close to empty?
We heard of many people stuck on the road for hours as traffic slowed to a crawl. I saw someone remind people of the importance of chains, but if you have chains, can you put them on? If no one else has them, will that matter? Then maybe you need to think about if there is somewhere else you can stay. What if there are pets you don't get home to? Maybe you can prearrange with a neighbor to check on them, but that neighbor needs to have a key and know where the food is.
If you have children at school or daycare, what about getting them?
We know someone who has a job she needs to get to and there is a big hill on the way, but she has a vehicle that can navigate that well. Not everyone can afford that; you have to look for solutions that will work for you.
(If you find you need a new job, this may not be the worst time to look.)
Many of these issues are things that have been written about before, but is there actually a plan in place? Does it need updating?
Once everyone is safely at home, then you need to look at power and heat.
Be careful about complacency. I live in an area where it has been very rare for us to lose power, and that is due to the infrastructure. Things can get worse.
Two of us worked for home, but if the power had gone out we would not have been able to.
Yes, we have flashlights and batteries to be able to see. Yes, we have gas heat, though there are some electrical systems involved in running it.
I would love to get solar panels, but it is not currently possible. If you have them, make sure you have whatever connections or backups you need to keep functioning when the grid goes down.
If we lose power here, I have medication that requires refrigeration that will not have it. We have family members who use breathing machines; sleep will be less restful for them.
Is that a reason to get a generator? Maybe it should be, but I feel resistance to doing so. Are there other things we can do for our specific needs?
We do have food that doesn't require cooking, but that would get old after a while. Here it is very important to remember that you cannot, say, bring a hibachi indoors and cook on that, as it is a good way of suffocating everyone. Having a carbon monoxide detector that will alert you is not a good reason to risk carbon monoxide poisoning.
(Also, our detector plugs in, though it has a battery backup.)
Does that mean we want to get a Sterno setup?
If it was going to be two weeks without power, how would you get through that? Would there be enough food to get through, even if you were sick of everything by the end?
Also, since you would be losing things in the refrigerator and freezer after two weeks without power, do you have the means for cooking the things in there first?
Do you own equipment that you are not really used to using?
Those are the types of questions you want to ask.
Do you have a battery-operated AM radio? Are the batteries still good?
Because your phones will lose their charge. Will there be a way to charge them?
And often, it will not be that bad, but I want to add one other thing.
If maybe it will just be one night, food is easy to resolve by ordering in, but are you risking someone else's life by doing so? Because, sure, if those restaurants are cooking and those drivers are delivering, they probably do need the money, but are you exploiting that need?
A people that will refrain from going some places on Sunday because we don't want even people who don't believe there is anything special about the Sabbath having to work should be able to see that there are times when you can do something but should not.
So many of the problems that we are dealing with now have to do with not caring enough about other people -- not even thinking about their needs and welfare-- that perhaps that is the first thing to address.
Previous posts:
https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2009/04/february-2009-preparing-for-winter.html
https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2010/10/october-2010-preparing-for-hard-winter.html
No comments:
Post a Comment