srothstein wrote: ↑Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:16 pm
I was wondering if I was the only one who noticed just how precarious our food supplies are. Even in my rural area, people went crazy stocking up. Several of the stores were still basically empty on Monday because they could not get enough truckloads in to make up for the delay.
So, when the society collapses, or the truckers go on strike, how long until we see food riots in places like NYC? I think three days.
I think that most of us probably live in homes that are far better insulated and sealed from the weather than the homes that most people lived in 150 years ago. Given enough firewood and available layers of clothing, most of us might be no worse than temporarily a little uncomfortable for a time without power during an extended harsh winter. So shelter probably isn’t the primary problem for most of us.
The BIG issue is water. In my area (NRH), the store shelves are
still not yet back to fully stocked. But I have a fair amount of food stored, and you can go a lot longer without food than you can without water, and the threats to the water supply in our area were far more serious than the diminished food supply.....and
that was the biggest gap in my preps that I discovered during this recent storm. We have
some bottled water stored up at home, and I do keep a case of bottled water in the back of my SUV. I also keep a high quality water filter in my go-bag that will treat 1000s of gallons, and another one like it at home. But realistically, in my state of health I’m not going to be trekking anywhere if it doesn’t involve 4 wheels and an internal combustion engine, so I’m not going anywhere until I can ultimately
move to my place of refuge.
At my home, we are 100% dependent on city water. And our city water comes from a nearby water tower. If the city of Fort Worth can’t guarantee the safety of the water supply, then I can filter our water for only a finite amount of time, and then we’re bingo on water. If there’s no power for an extended period of time, then the city of NRH can’t pump water up into that water tower, and within days, we’re bingo on water even if my filters are good to go.
I can
extend my access to water by installing some of our own private after storage, and collecting rainwater. But even then, I do not have water independence. The only way I can guarantee a water supply for my home, is to have my own well, drilled deeply enough that water table fluctuations won’t affect us. The problem is in how to get the city of NRH to allow us to do it. (That, and having the
money to do it.)
So, as long as I’m going to live in close proximity to other people, I can prepare all I want; but I’ll never be
truly prepared until I can make my family water independent.