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Friday, June 8, 2018

Preparing for High Probability Disasters



Fernando,

Have not chatted with you in awhile so after viewing your volcano info thought I would say Hey. I live in the shadow of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier in WA state. Volcano country. Of course I am more concerned about earthquake here where we are told it is only a matter of time, not if, The Big One hits. It is constantly amazing to me to see the vast majority of the population continually reminded of the potential threat of natural disaster but they shrug their shoulders and look the other way. I’ve concluded that it is just too much for the average person to grasp the threat and include responsible preparation into their lives. Just too overwhelming to cope with the thought that “it could happen to me”. It is human nature I suppose. Some people will argue with a Stop sign. Other people don’t bother to recognize a Stop sign. Many folks just believe in the back of their mind, if anything terrible should happen, help will be on the way. Those are the ones. Those are the victims. There are always survivors and there are always victims. So many people by nature just seem to find comfort in allowing themselves to nestle down into the comfort zone of “it won’t happen to me”, and if it does, rescuers will save me. To those who believe that I say, good luck.
The first video clip is mind blowing. Trying to imagine the lava spewing hour after hour, 24/7 is something I have trouble comprehending.
Cheers,
Pete
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Hello Pete, Thanks for sharing your experience. 

Indeed the power of nature is humbling. All things considered we’re less than ants in the surface of the planet. More like microbes... a relatively minor movement of land and for us it could be a disaster of biblical proportions.

You’re right about denial being a power tool.  It’s the same mentality that allows people to get by in ridiculously dangerous cities where crime is off the charts, shrugging it away with a “oh, this happens everywhere” mentality (no, it doesn’t) .  That same mentality applies to people that live in areas where they have been warned time and again that a large scale earthquake isn’t just likely, but practically unavoidable in an amazingly short period of time, yet they make no preparations for it whatsoever.

What happens if it hits? What happens if your home is destroyed?  What happens if your home is spared but the place you live in becomes a disaster area? What if you all happen to be separated when it hits? Where do you all agree to meet? Where will you go if you can’t stay home anymore? How will you get there? Do you have fuel to cover said distance? What if your car is damaged/destroyed?
These are all questions that should be answered by a comprehensive plan, covering most likely scenarios and contingencies.
FerFAL

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Exactly. Thankfully my cali fam are semi-prepared, however they're surrounded by people who aren't.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I live in SW Washington State, prime territory for the big one. I have alt power, a well with alt drawing, food, firewood, tools, fuel, alt shelter, security, neighbors in tune, transport, almost everything I can prepare for, but a local wild fire or the ground shaking could make all of those preps meaningless. So tell me, just where do you recommend we move that has no risks?????

Anonymous said...

The number of friends I have that have moved to earthquake prone areas and laugh when I suggest stockpiling a weeks worth of water staggers me. I'm not a serious prepper, but I living in coastal California without even a 3 day supply of extra water seems willfully stupid.

Dennis Wilson said...

Arizona desert regions have considerably less risk than what you describe. New Mexico is similar.