Lessons from the Flood from a Prepper’s Point of View
This story is the final installment in the chronicle of the 2007 flood and is specifically about the area around my Mother’s home. The scene we saw that morning and personal stories are shown here. It is worth reading the personal experiences of the people who survived the flood.
“Never the same: Five years later, displaced residents remember the flood” and the link
http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/article_ab0cbe40-ec0b-11e1-a326-0019bb2963f4.html
Yes… One is none; two is one. We have all heard this before. The single NOAA radio I had stored on a shelf in the basement was caught in water and inoperable. We had no idea what was going on around us and that could have cost me my life.
Fear is an overwhelmingly, powerful emotion that will make rational people do irrational things. If you have a partner, watch each other’s backs. My husband later said that if something like that ever happened again, he would just tie me up to keep me safe. As preppers, we need to realize that we also need to prepare for irrational, overwhelming emotions just when we don’t need or want them—and what do we do? I never would have thought that I would react that way, so you never know…
Do not store all your preps in one area! I had a small room in the basement with shelves for all my extra food (a year’s worth), medical supplies, ammunition, etc. None of it was sealed from humidity or water. What wasn’t flooded, rusted and molded and was unusable. Two years later I was somewhat restocked and put everything in plastic pails and bins. We had a fire. The house was so tight it only partially burned but the temps got over 700 degrees throughout the house. The plastic became melted hunks and lost everything again. Now the concept is to have small stashes in several places in and out of the house in outbuildings.
Have a bug out bag! Even if you think you will never bug out and have no place to go. It needs to be within twenty feet of the front door, have copies of all your important info, and cash in small bills. Rethinksurvival has some great lists for B.O.B.s.
If the electric goes out and you are in a high humidity environment, oil your guns! You can lose them or have costly repair bills within 5 days if you forget about them.
Even electrical appliances that were not directly affected by the flood, died within a year after being exposed to the excessive humidity. Same goes for smoke damage. It may look okay, but if electronic the life just got radically shortened. Argue with your insurance company on this.
Flood insurance is fairly inexpensive, especially if you are out of the flood plain. Invest in flood insurance. Water damage caused by severe storms and even hail are covered by flood insurance and not covered at all if you do not have it.
LISTEN to survivors! You can plan and prep all you want, but the stories from survivors could be the bit of information you need to survive the disaster you are caught in. Who thought about the potential for electrocution if the power comes back on? Homes blowing up while flooded? Bridges giving way? Landslides? And sometimes survival is just plain luck. But I will continue to try to stack the odds!
Recent Comments