Are You Personally Prepared For a Natural Disaster?

Living on a boat, at the present I am as well prepared as I can be, given that I need to refresh my fuel tanks, I have just under 500 litres so to fill up need another 600 litres...

Then I need to find crew and a 'companion' to make the 480 mile jump from Cairns to Samarai Island, and also the visas and other costs to exit Australia as well as enter PNG...

 

Have you advertised on rsvp.com for the 'companion'?

PDW

 

Errr no, and do not intend to do so either...

 

Back on topic, - - - "Are you personally prepared for a natural disaster?" - - What sort of "natural" disaster are we talking about?
- Climatic type storms? - - - Well, nowadays those events should never be a surprise and we all should know how to avert or avoid significant damage or loss if 10% of our brain is functioning and one is able to listen to the warning forecasts...

- Earthquakes and similar type events? - - - Usually with very short warning leads but by keeping the usual communication channels open, sufficient time should be available to safely evacuate, and apart from property loss, life and limb should be safe...

- Global Economic Collapse? - - - Will likely be evidenced and witnessed by a sudden failure in the use/availability of credit cards (plastic), as a consequence of a "Bank Holiday" and the inability of the USA to manage the enormous (approaching 800 trillion in money creation CDO type debt that is totally naked and not spoken about) hidden debt... http://www.usdebtclock.org/ - That terrifies me and is a global catastrophe that will have no advanced warning system and sneak up quietly and absorb nearly all "liquid assets"... NO, THE SKY WELL NOT FALL DOWN, Just a whimper event that will prevent access to your "Savings", shares and other forms of monetary exchange for goods...

To cope with this type of disaster one needs to be carefully prepared and able to GROW YOUR OWN FOOD, as it will likely last many years as all faith in "fiat currencies" will be lost... This is a direct consequence of what has become "normal business practices" of blantant fraud, market manipulation, theft dishonesty in business, bribery, graft and so on... Stocking up on guns and bullets etc will only last so long, and tinned food will sustain you for an even shorter period of time... Think also on access to water and disposal of waste as "public services" will surely cease in very short order when the utility service people cease to be paid because the banks are closed and no one has faith in the usability of money...

 

Thinking of "natural disasters", my sympathies go out to those who felt the lash of that Halloween zombie of a storm as it crossed the coast near NY...

Stay bunkered down and safe until the "all clear", all of you...

Help your neighbour to tidy up after, and present all with a bit of cheer and a warm cup of hot chocolate... Best wishes...

 

So much pre warning but did not remove the trains from the underground. Many rolling stock damaged and totally flooded with salt water.

This will take weeks to get back working, The back bone of New York transport.

Its impossible to not keep politics from such a situation as Obama flexes his muscles and arranges this and that while Romney can do nothing but stand buy and give words of comfort.

 

7.5 million without utility power. Much of ConEd's power distribution is flooded underground. Two nuclear powerplants shut down. Test your generator often. Have fuel for a multi-day disaster.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-31/lower-manhattan-facing-days-without-power/4343104

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-30/superstorm-sandy-video-updates/4341978 for various reports and video...

 

The focus for my attention seems to be persistently brought back to preparing for economic disaster as those of natural causes seem to be unavoidable, and will need planning to survive those events, just like self inflicted "natural" events - - The collapse of the "western world" seems more and more likely and unavoidable and self inflicted - - - and it is to meet this challenge that I am drawn - - as it can be controlled at an individual or small community level with a similar amount of forethought and planning...

Get a place that is out of reach of wandering "zombies", who, too late realise that they have been misled and conned by their gubmint...

Prepare for total self sufficiency - an ability to grow and store surpluses of your own personal and community food needs...
- Do you need to establish 'sustainable resources' - such as energy, - drinking-water, - light, - heat/cooling... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1Z-idnIM6M&feature=endscreen&NR=1
- Do you have adequate seed material to grow and re-plant all the fruit, nuts, berries, vegetables that will grow in your region/locale...
- Do you know how to store this seed material ready for your next growing season...
- What about making bio-char / Terra-preta / fertiliser to retain productive capacity in your food-garden soil... https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...v&sa=X&ei=2wCWUMTOELGziQetnYGYCg&ved=0CCgQsAQ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta
- What about protein - poultry, http://www.poultryhub.org/most-popu...l-poultry-production-in-developing-countries/ (eggs & meat), sheep/goats, (meat, hides, fleece)...
- What about water for crop and pasture irrigation, livestock watering points, washing and toilet flushing applications... http://www.instructables.com/id/Worlds-greenest-water-pump/

You will not have spare time to keep raiding zombies away, best to be well hidden....

When - start now and as the garden grows so will your confidence, skills and understanding - Years will pass, - - learning and appreciating a sustainable and more peaceful lifestyle where there is time and opportunity to enjoy the wonders and beauty of nature... http://longerhealthylife.net/Ecology.html - http://sea-biochar.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/terra-preta-sanitation-project-in.html -
11500

 

Perhaps carry bee hives on the foredeck of the yacht. Plenty of tasty honey and when Zombies approach , you can slip into your bee suite...give that swarming hive a good WHACK with a boat hook then let the angry bees drive the Zombies back to Zombieville.

 

Hi Michael,
On or in association with my boat is an entirely different proposition, as for me, the boat is a means to an end - - get me to my remote and isolated "Tropical Pacific Island Paradise" along with tools and equipment to make life comfortable...

I will definitely have bees as they are useful in pollination and some research long ago indicated that coconut production increased by 10%, and honey is quite yummy...

My above post was as a non specific (location wise) series of points that I considered when I was sorting out what I would do or need to do, to make life as comfortable, sustainable and enjoyable as possible...

 

Probably best to behave like the ancient mariners. They would sail to offshore Islands and plant crops..like coconuts , sweet potato, casava...so that in future, if they were shipwrecked, or needed to move out, they would have a food supply on thier route.

 

Hi Michael,
Historically that was done on most of the islands of the Queensland/Australia "Great Barrier Reef" and now, the "Park-Rangers" and other nanny state enforcers are diligently removing the coconuts, and other plantings as well as the goats that kept things in order...

Now many islands are "un-visitable" as cacti has flourished making access impossible... (used to be kept in check by the goats) - The coconuts have been chopped down so nothing to drink - - Evidence of this stupidity abounds - Roll on "Global Economic Crisis" when these fools will loose their jobs and cruising yachts will gradually repopulate these islands to ensure survival following a "shipwreck"... or at least find and have a pleasant place to visit and find some fresh food...

 

Nobody with even a tiny amount of knowledge of ecology would *ever* propose or support landing goats on any island. It's utter stupidity and ecological vandalism at its worst.

Personally I'd shoot every one I could get in my sights and I happily support the rangers in their attempts to eliminate them in toto.

Sometimes the crap people come out with astounds me. Would you propose releasing pigs, rats and domestic cats as well?????

PDW

 

Did I assert so ?

IT WAS DONE - - OFFICIALLY AS POLICY - READ YOUR HISTORY.... ALL WITH JUSTIFIABLE AND GOOD REASON... - - But then you do not read history... - -

I can name 2 cases in the logbooks of Captains of his/her Majesty's Royal Naval sailing ships... - - But then you do not read history... - - And the coconuts were logical as that is the way they spread naturally - will survive about 3 months in the oceans and germinate nicely on a sandy beach - also by canoe when the islanders go on long voyages, as a source of water and food that will keep well if kept dry and out of the sun... - - But then you do not read history... - - These "natural" stands are cut down for no other reason than arrogant ill-logical reasoning - and lots of other "INTRODUCED" stuff was left to destroy any reasonable use of some islands, BY ANYONE OR ANYTHING... such as;
Prickly Pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) which were controlled on Pine Island (near Middle Percy Island) until the goats were foolishly removed, along with the light-house, - now adorning the marina at Mackay... and elsewhere, - "Sensitive Weed (Mimosa pudica), - A low, sprawling plant with pink pom-pom flowers and sharp, curved prickles, common in grassy areas around Kuranda. The leaves are touch sensitive, folding away from contact, and exposing the thorns which can inflict cuts in human skin. The thorns make mechanical removal difficult, and there will be residual seed germinate in following years." - and -
"Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala), - This shrub or small tree can grow to several metres in height, and is able to grow in drier parts of the Kuranda area. The foliage is feathery, like some wattles, and the ‘ball’ flower is also similar to a wattle, but cream and up to 12 mm across. The flat green pods grow in clusters and turn brown when ripe, when they shattter, spreading the seeds that can then be carried away by water or on machinery. Introduced as a fodder plant, this tree can form dense stands." and many others of more significant detriment...- - But then you do not use a search engine... - -

Rats are natural hitch-hikers on early sailing ships and also those of modern day cargo transport... Some critical areas have addressed the issue of introduced rats, foxes and cats at GREAT expense and difficulty (Barrow Island, WA... and the Shark Bay preserve, WA...)

People who own cats should be put down along with their cats in Australia as they are merciless killers of all native life...

Pigs have recently gone feral but so have certain tribes of "humanity" - most notorious being the 'short-hair,-dyed,-rent-a-crowd,-burn-the-bra,-lesbian,-feminist,-rabid-greenies' from a place a bit north of your island of abode, - - where the river is touted to be too thin to plough and too thick to swim in/on...