Appendix 3 - Practicing For a Disaster
Disaster is coming. There is no question about it.
However, there are many questions about the disaster(s).
When will it come?
What will it be?
How long will recovery take?
Is full recovery even possible?
What other hardships will be brought about by the disaster?
And blah, blah, blah. The only element of any given disaster that we can know in advance is that disaster is coming. While you can’t be specifically prepared for a specific future disaster, you can be generally prepared for whatever comes.
For most of my readers it is a given that the first thing one must do to be prepared is to become a Christian. That prepares you for eternity. It also gives you a bright future that only Christians can hold onto in times of trouble and darkness. The second thing to do is follow the instructions in Psalm 37 – the entire chapter. In other words, just work daily to get it right with God, and He will direct your path and care for you in whatever disaster may cross your path at any given moment.
However, there are also a number of hands on things you can do today in order to better prepare for a disaster of any kind, and to increase the likelihood of safety and comfort for you and your family.
You can start preparing for a disaster by ‘practicing for disaster’. I am not talking about anything big or major. Just start small.
When a disaster occurs, your routine is disrupted. Why not disrupt your routine yourself?
Here’s a good way to begin. Let’s say you go to the grocery store once a week for major grocery shopping and then 2 or 3 more times a week to pick up perishables, or stuff you forgot on your major shopping day, or just something your tummy tells you that must have. A way to disrupt your routine is to take an extra day, or even two days, that you don’t go to the store on days that you normally would. Then you have to come up with a way to do without the things you would buy on those days. In many disasters you would not be able to go the store. You would have to make do with what you have. Even if you have faith that the government will step in and provide what you need, they won’t get the help you need to you in record time. In fact, you might be dead of starvation or exposure to the elements by the time the government even acknowledges there has been a disaster and that people are in need. Just a little practicing with ‘making do with what is on hand’ can provide you with invaluable experience in a real disaster.
I think one of the best ways to prepare for a disaster is to practice doing without temporarily and making do before you have to. It can even be fun. And, keep in mind that you can step back into your routine any time, so that takes the stress out of the situation.
Then, there are things you can consider doing at home even though you don’t have to at the moment. Try heating water on the stove for cooking and bathing. Or, heat water on the gas grill if you are pretending you don’t have electricity. Or purchase a one or two burner camp stove just ‘in case’. Then practice using it. If you are in a hot climate, it is nice to just cook outside sometimes to keep from heating up the house.
I actually once heard a lady telling anyone who would listen that she literally scalded her head trying to wash her hair during a time when the electricity was out for two weeks. She just boiled the water and then dumped it on her head. Thankfully, the emergency room at the hospital was open, so she got treatment for the burn immediately. I know this is a silly sounding question, but have you ever had to heat water for bathing and hair washing? Nothing makes you feel more normal than getting a shower and clean clothes. Learning to do that with as little water as possible now might be very important to you later. (And this is not a ‘conserve water’ article – it is all about learning things now that will help you later.)
If you are attempting to cook on an open fire or even on a small camp stove I highly recommend starting with something straight of a can like chili, spaghetti, beef stew, or anything that would make a meal just by heating it up. That is probably exactly what you would do if you were stuck at home a few days without utilities. You would do the easiest things possible while you waited for ‘normal to return’. That would give you more time to worry and gripe about how things are going. Seriously, if you see something as a short term change of routine make it easy on yourself.
If you have to leave your home for a disaster, there may be some pretty difficult days ahead. The government may try to get you to go to a shelter. Yuk! There will be tons of people you don’t know. Most of them will be whiney-hineys. Some of them will probably be perverts, thieves, ax murderers, and escaped convicts. There will definitely be a lot of people with ideas on what is and is not acceptable behavior that are totally different than your own idea of acceptable. Think now about how you would handle that situation. You may not want to actually ‘practice’ this one, but you do need to think it over in advance.
To me and my family, the first thing to consider is how NOT to get stuck in the governments idea of a helpful place – like a FEMA compound. You want to think in advance about your options. If fuel for your vehicle is available and roads are open, then you have the option to drive out of the area, or at least to an area that is less impacted. That means a car trip with as much of your stuff that you will need as possible stuffed in the car along with all the people who live with you. If you have given some thought to such a trip, then you will be a step ahead of the rest. You might just beat the traffic jam caused by those who are thinking about driving away, but taking longer to get their stuff in the car.
If you are blessed with extended family somewhere out of the area, their home is a possible first place to go. Talk it over with them in advance. It could be that they might be the ones running from a disaster and will be coming to your home first.
Camping out is a short term option. That is only if you can’t stay in your own home, and just need a place to stay until the flood waters go down, or the radiation levels drop, or the chemical spill dissipates, or something like that. There could even be a time when the number of friends and relatives so overwhelm a host family that some people must camp in the front yard. We used to live near a family who had a yearly reunion in their yard. They were educated people who lived in a nice home in a nice neighborhood. But, every summer their acreage looked like a refugee camp. Family came from all over and just set up tents in the yard. They set them up right in the front yard too. People were all over the place for close to a week. (The neighborhood smelled different that week because all the men were cooking ribs on the grill every day. I guess they had a cooking contest or something.) Then, they all went home. Now, no one wants to camp in their aunt’s front yard, but sometimes it might work out to be the best solution to a bad situation. It can be a safe place that can be set up to be relatively comfortable.
That brings us to the next thing you can do now in order to prepare for the future. You can learn to camp out. I know, if you don’t already know how to camp out you just don’t want to camp out. Honestly, I would have probably never learned to camp out if my parents hadn’t dragged me camping as a kid. I tried to be cheerful about it, but I really preferred sleeping in my own bed even when I was little. I don’t care for camp fire smoke in my eyes. I don’t care to roast the side of my body next to the fire, and freeze the side of my body away from the fire. I still don’t like marshmallows or hotdogs on a stick. The first thing I had to learn about camping was to be a good sport about doing something as a family that didn’t really cost a lot of money, and that most of the family enjoyed. In a disaster, being a good sport instead of a complainer will make you one of the most popular people around.
When camping out, people sometimes sleep in their cars, but they often buy a tent. You need things like sleeping bags or blankets to keep warm. Camping out is a good way to get acquainted with ways of providing food and shelter outside the four walls of your home. If you are a beginner camper, start small. Day trips are good – especially if you limit yourself to just taking things that you have on hand in the way of food and shelter. If it were a real disaster, then you would not be able to run out to the sporting goods store and the grocery store before you left home. Venture into spending the night in the great outdoors after a couple of successful day trips.
I also don’t care to fish. I learned to fish because dad thought it was everyone’s duty to fish for food for supper. I also learned to clean fish and even fry fish. Thankfully, my mom did most of the cooking when we were camping. I started camp cooking when I got married. Just remember the rule – the first person to complain about your cooking has to cook the next meal. The second rule is practice makes everything better. It is really all about learning to get and keep consistent heat under your skillet if you have to cook on a camp fire. If you are blessed with a camp stove, then you will be as good a cook as you are in your own kitchen.
Most people need a cup of coffee or tea to get their day going. We have already covered boiling coffee but you will need something to boil it in. One of your stew pots or sauce pans or will work just fine. However, I suggest an enamel camp coffee pot. You can use it to heat water for other things. It is a really useful item when you are camping out, or just dealing with a few days without electricity and cooking on your gas grill burner or propane camp stove. Starbucks will not be in your vocabulary during a real disaster. You just have to make do with what you have. If you need that morning cup of coffee, then you will learn to drink the boiled coffee in about two days. My parents used to drink it by the gallon when we were camping. It didn’t hurt them. They were odd to begin with, so you can’t blame it on the coffee. .
Prepare your pets for disaster. Make at least part of their diet something that you eat yourself, and would likely have on hand during a disaster. If you have a problem with feeding your dog or cat table scraps, then read the label on the pet food. I think ‘meat by products’ means guts and bones. I don’t think some left over mashed potatoes and gravy is going to hurt my dog. My cat is a little more difficult to feed. The point is that no matter what brand of pet food you use, it likely will not be readily available during a disaster. You may not be able to get it for days, or even months. If you pet eats at least partially what you eat, then you are going to get your pets through the crisis better than changing their diets in the middle of changing everything else in their routine.
Another thing to consider is what needs you consider the most important, and even any phobias that you have.
I have a real phobia about being trapped somewhere without my glasses or my Bible. I have Bibles stashed everywhere. I only have one Thompson Chain Reference which I would hope to have with me if at all possible. However, I have cheap Bibles in quite a few places. Reading glasses are everywhere. I practically buy them by the case, and stash them in various places – cars, trucks, tool boxes, glove compartments, overnight bags, suitcases, and in kitchen supplies. If you have something you think you can’t do without, try to have more than one, and keep them in places where they would be easy to grab. I need my own pillow, too; but I do acknowledge that I might not have that if we ever have to leave the house in a hurry. I need an asthma inhaler about once a year for what is always an undetermined reason. I have those stashed here and there also. Nothing is worse than not being able to breathe!
I know you have probably already set up things like a first aid kit, a grab and go bag, and prescription medicine – or at least a way to fill the prescription and things like that. What I want to do with this book is to encourage you to just think about things that would make an interrupted life more comfortable and familiar. I definitely don’t usually care for change. I certainly don’t like change for the sake of change unless is something very minor like adding extra pepper to my French fries first instead of adding the salt first. Some kind of disaster that throws you out of your routine definitely will not be pleasant. But, in the midst of the change and uncertainty, any little thing that you are able to do that is somewhat in the realm of normal will be a comfort to you and your family. I can’t imagine that anyone would ever be ready to give up their home and live in a tent. But, if they are already comfortable with camping, living in a tent a little longer than a camping trip will be more easily done than for someone who has never spent a night in a tent. Building a camp fire when evacuated from your home will be more easily done if you already know how to do it. The middle of a disaster and emotional trauma is not a good time to learn anything. Learning to cook and eat what you cook on a camp stove or campfire will be easier during a time when it is your idea to do it.
Then there is self defense. Get a gun. Learn to shoot. Do it now. Don’t wait until you need a gun to get one. Get a common gun that has ammo readily available. I shoot guns. My family has had generations of hunters and hand gun enthusiasts. There has never been an accidental shooting. No one has ever had to shoot an intruder. Years ago my husband and I had a business in a dangerous neighborhood. We had some threatening customers. I was afraid to be there by myself, but occasionally I had to be there by myself. I started carrying a gun into the business in the morning and carrying it out in the evening. I made no attempt to conceal the gun as I went in and out of the business. I wanted people to know I had a gun. I also got a dog that was somewhat frightening to many people and took her to work with me every day. We just made it clear that we had means of self-defense. I honestly believe that that was a strong deterrent to the thugs and hoodlums in the area. I never had to use a weapon, but I made it clear that I had one to use.
If I had a choice in a disaster in choosing two helpful people to go through it with me, I would chose my husband Jerry and my mom. Jerry and mom are both really good at seeing what needs to be done, seeing what supplies are available to get it done, and coming up with a way to get something accomplished that works. It may not be the text-book case of how to do something, but they will wind up with something that is workable and helpful. That is the type attitude that everyone should have during a displacement disaster or a disaster where normal services and good are unavailable. It takes a willing attitude. Everyone needs to find something to do and do it as best they can for their own good. Forget that kindergarten attitude that is afraid of doing more than your share. Where my husband works he and the people in his department do the clean-up chores each day without any set pattern. They just do what they see that needs to be done when they have time. The other department micro-manages everything. They have lists of who takes out the trash when, who sweeps the floor, who does this, and who does that. They fuss continually and their work area is always a mess. They keep going to Jerry and asking why his work area stays so clean. They want his method of delegating jobs to co-workers and his method of making sure everyone does what they are supposed to do. He keeps telling them the same thing. ‘It don’t matter.’ (Jerry’s grammar ain’t that good.) ‘Just do what needs to be done and let the slackers face themselves at the end of the day. If you do the best you can do, then you have had a good day.’
The lesson here is simple. Anytime, disaster or normal day, just do what needs to be done if you are able. Forget what anyone does or doesn’t do. Forget whose turn it is to do a job. Just do what you can do yourself.
In a disaster, there are no textbook cases of how to handle the situations that arise. You just have to do the best you can do. You cannot sit around and wait on the cavalry to arrive. Furthermore, being able to do some things that help you to better cope with the situation puts you more in charge of the situation than just sitting around waiting to be rescued by the government. Government rescue is dubious at best. I read one story about a well known disaster relief organization assisting those displaced by Hurricane Sandy (Oct. 2012). The people needed clothes, blankets, and food. They got a small cup of coffee and a donut.
It is good to practice some things now so they won’t be so difficult and even frightening when/if you actually have to do them. Practice a few times or at least go over as a family things like:
Set up a family meeting place. Unless there is absolutely no possible way, get your family together to begin with.
2. If you must leave the area, then you should have already made some choices about where you will go and what to take with you.
3. Be realistic. Remember that your plan is just a general plan based on generalities. You will have to adapt the plan to suit the situation best.
Remember that your normal life, or your routine is pretty much up in smoke for the duration of the disaster, whatever it may be.
Your job is to set up a new normal, or a new routine as quickly as possible.
The situation will likely change, and you will have to change with it.
The more effort you have made to learn to do and be familiar with things that are normally out of your comfort zone, the better you will adjust to the new and changing situations.
Do your best to be a good sport about the situation.
No one is really responsible for most disasters. Things like fires, floods, storms, hurricanes, and the like just happen; so don’t take your frustration out on anyone.
By now you have already come to the conclusion that any sort of disaster will put you out of your comfort zone and normal routine for an indefinite amount of time. Set your mind right now that you are going to make an effort to learn to do anything that might be helpful during a disaster before the disaster actually happens. Learn how to do as much as possible during the disaster. If you wait for someone who knows how or is willing to do something, it likely will not get done.
Anything you learn in one disaster may be very useful when the next disaster comes along.
Anything you learn while practicing for a disaster will make getting through a disaster easier.
It is always good to be continually learning something new just to avoid boredom. Bible study is a great activity. Everyone needs to set some time aside for that. In addition to that many other things could be helpful in your future.
Learn how to hammer a nail into a board.
Learn how to set up a tent.
Learn how to call a duck or turkey.
Learn how to paint a picture.
Honestly, you never know what unusual skill will come in handy someday. Your skills may not be necessary to your personal survival except as a something to barter for something someone else has that you need. (I could take a paragraph here to tell you how I bartered my way into a cat which was the beginning of MidniteSun Siberians but that is covered in the chapter on barter.)
Computer skills and repair are good skills.
Gardening is a skill that requires a lot of work and time, but has obvious benefits.
Growing herbs and spices is something to learn if you have space to do it. You could be very popular on the day that you have freshly dug Echinacea root and neighbors don’t have penicillin. You would be even more popular on the day you personally need a herbal antibiotic. You could even get some certifications in naturopathy.
Or you could learn gun-smithing.
If you already have guns and like to target practice you need to learn to re-load your own ammo.
There is something that interests you outside your normal routine.
What is it? What would you be doing if you didn’t have to do anything? (sitting in front of the TV is not a good option for a lot of spare time.)
Figure out what you would like to do and make an effort to get to do it part of the time at least providing it is within the boundaries you have set by your self-definition.
If you have a family you really need to try to do something in which everyone can participate at least part of the time. For instance if you have small children bicycling fifteen hours every weekend is probably not something you want to get into right now. It might be the right time to learn to camp out.
Is it possible to raise a few chickens in your back yard? Even some very nice neighborhoods allow a few hens as pets. If you get a few nice laying hens you would have eggs most of the time. Most backyard chicken farmers put their chickens in a portable pen and move it around so the chickens can scratch and eat stuff they scratch up. This provides eggs with a yolk that is very yellow and tastes much better than most store bought eggs. If you are wondering about that, you should locate a free range source of eggs and buy them. It may only take one dozen for you to realize what a real egg is supposed to taste like. This is an interesting hobby. You can grow chickens specifically for meat as well, but that is more work. You can even get a goat and milk it if you are really farm inclined. Doing this in the city would give you an idea of if you really want to move to the country and take up farm life. A good way to check for an interest in small livestock for yourself and the family in simply visit the livestock at a good local or state fair. Hens used strictly as laying hens make odd but sweet pets. A hen that has been hand raised will eat out of your hand and loves attention. They don’t take the place of a dog or cat, but they are very sweet and interesting critters.
Another possibility in preparing for an unknown and drastic change in your future is to volunteer to help in a disaster that occurs somewhere else! I absolutely do not mean that you should go into a disaster area just to gawk at the damage. However, opportunities to help people are often available. In helping others you will see first-hand the needs of people who have had their lives severely disrupted because of a storm, a fire, a flood, or earthquake just to name a few. This will give you insight into how you might personally be better prepared if something hit you personally.