In the Midst of Tornadoes

My timing has been impeccable these past few months. We have been bouncing between Atlanta and Miami and for some reason, each time we are in Atlanta, we end up in the middle of big storms which include thunder, lightening, and the possibility of tornadoes. Such is the case this evening. Here's how we are prepping:

• I did a bit of research online about how to prepare for a tornado a couple of months back when it became apparent that we were staying in a tornado-prone area. Since tornadoes are quite rare where we live, it only makes sense to find out what the local dangers are and how to prepare for them.


• I've been glued to the TV news for the past couple of hours. As soon as the tornado warnings start picking up, it is time to be in constant contact with a source of news. The local TV station news has been running continual updates on tornado development for the past few hours. The news is actually telling people in specific areas when they need to seek shelter (they literally say "if you are in ___ area head to shelter immediately!").


• We checked out our shelter area. Fortunately we are staying in a solid house with a very good basement. Should the news tell us that tornadoes are imminent in our area, we will head to the basement. There is already a bedroom there with a couple of mattresses, pillows, and blankets which will be useful if we end up directly in the middle of a tornado (you want to cover yourself to keep from being injured by falling/flying debris). If we had been in a vehicle or mobile home, we would have already sought shelter at community emergency shelters which have been set up.


• I don't have my BOB with me! This is unfortunate and unsettling. There is a mini kitchen in the basement which has food and snacks in it which is a good thing. Since it is night time and we are ready for bed, we have placed our clothes, shoes, and personal items (wallet, car keys, cell phones, etc) right next to the bed and ready to put on in a moment's notice. If the tornado situation doesn't clear up by the time we want to sleep, we will move ourselves to the basement bedroom.


• We made sure our cell phones were charged up whether they needed to be charged or not. Cell phones will be needed to call for help if necessary and will be the only way to connect with online news if the power goes out.


• Can you believe that this household doesn't have a NOAA weather radio? I can't either. You would think that if you live in the middle of tornado central, you would have one of these radios because if a tornado comes during the night when you are asleep, the radio will sound an alert that will wake you up and provide vital information. I'm getting a radio for the house tomorrow.


• A battery-operated/hand-crank radio is a very important way to keep up with the latest weather news when/if the power goes out.


• House insurance is of the utmost importance (especially when you see the pictures on the news of what has happened to houses in the path of the storm that are now smashed into tiny pieces).


• The after affects of a tornado are like other disasters. There is usually an extended power outage, there are lots of trees down (necessitating removal and/or at least a way to cover the hole in the roof where the tree fell), your vehicle may or may not be drivable (put it in the garage instead of leaving it outside for added protection), and businesses usually are closed (this is why you need gas in your gas tank, cash in your hand, and food and water to hold you over for a few days).


• On the news, besides providing very specific location information for tornadoes that are touching down now (fortunately a ways north and west of us), they are reporting that fire departments/911 systems are now being overwhelmed in certain areas, a hospital has been severely damaged, and pictures from earlier tornadoes in Alabama this afternoon are showing wide-spread damage to homes, cars, and businesses.

Unlike earthquakes which are more common where we live and which are also highly unpredictable, tornadoes can be tracked and warnings can be issued. Even though it appears there is a great deal of control and predictability around tornadoes, however, the danger of such an event can not be overstated.

Link Round-Up: The 'Can This Get Any More Depressing?' Edition

It's been a busy couple of weeks but posting should pick up again soon. To leave you with something to read (and something to inspire you to prepare for when TEOTWAWKI if you haven't done so already, consider these items:

• Dollar Hits 15 Year Low Against Euro


• US Healthcare vs The Rest of the World


• Pay Your Taxes? These 10 Companies Didn't


• Voting and Other Meaningless Gestures in a Corporate Owned Economy


• New Bill is a Direct Threat to HAM Radio


• Cheer Up! It Could Be Worse!

25 Things to ALWAYS Carry With You (The Revised List)

Way back in 2008 I posted this list of stuff that I always carried with me. Since it's been a while, I figured I would update the list so here it is...

1. Smart phone with internet and GPS service.


2. $200 in cash.


3. $2 in quarters.


4. A concealable firearm/concealed carry permit (personal choice here, some may choose not to carry).


5. Pocket knife


6. ID of some sort (like a driver's license and/or passport; I often carry both)


7. Condom (for the usual purpose; can be used to carry water in an emergency if it is the unlubed kind)


8. OB tampon (for women, although it is reported to work well for bullet wounds too).


9. Thumb drive with all of my back-up files on it.


10. A debit card attached to a bank account with $2000 +/- in it (I don't use credit cards. Also, I don't want this card attached to my main bank account so I have this separate bank account and debit card for emergency purposes).


11. Laminated list of numbers for people I can count on in an emergency (kept in my wallet in case my cell phone dies).


12. Laminated list of medical info (kept in my wallet and includes allergies, medications, doctor's name, brief health history, etc).


13. Small, flat flashlight found at Walmart for around $2 (hangs on my key chain).


14. Lighter (I don't smoke but this has been useful on many occasions).


15. Pen (Pilot Precise v7 to be exact), paper (Moleskein), and business cards.


16. Aspirin (the kind that comes two to a foil pack which makes them easy to carry).


17. Digital camera (most people use their cell phones for picture taking these days but I often need to take highly detailed photos so I still carry a small digital camera).


18. Floss (Glide in the small flat dispenser; great for its usual purpose but can also be used for a multitude of other things as well).


19. Necessary medication (I don't take medication however this is an excellent reminder for those who do--you may be stranded overnight away from home so if you rely on certain medication, make sure you always carry extra).


20. Spare house key (cheaper than breaking a window if you forget your key and safer than leaving a key under a rock in your front yard).


21. Rubber band and safety pin (these take up very little space and have been useful many times over the years).


22. Bottle of water and food (it is often my habit to carry a bottle of water and Cliff bar in my briefcase/bag if I plan to be gone for the day...I'm not a fan of vending machines or fast food if I am hungry or thirsty).


23. Mirror (I found a tiny, round mirror that I stuck onto the side of my floss dispenser which can be used for signalling in an emergency).


24. Whistle (I have a small, tubular whistle hanging on my keychain along with the flashlight...great for use in an emergency for signalling).


25. Sunglasses (apart from its usual use on a sunny day, can be used to observe others unobtrusively).

For a look at what other people carry with them, click here.

An Answer to a Reader's Question and More Info

First, a question from a reader... MP recently wrote in asking the question "I've tried to stock what we eat and eat what we stock. I'm wondering...in a "bad" situation, when we are actually dependent and eating our stockpile, should we plan for less than 3 meals a day per person?" The short answer, it depends. For localized disasters, assuming you have a six month to one year stockpile of food, you will probably be able to continue on as usual. Even the stores in the places worst hit by Katrina were restocked within six months. For catastrophic disasters that would impact the entire country or worse, the world, then definitely cutting back on the quantity of food that you eat each day would be prudent as supply chains would most likely be disrupted for more than a year. The good news is that, based on obesity statistics, the average American can easily skip a meal or two each day and be none the worse for wear. In fact, in this were to happen and people really did have to live on one or two simple meals a day they would probably be better off physically than they are now--calorie restrictive diets not only curb the obesity problem but also help with problems such as diabetes and high cholesterol, and do, in fact, make you live longer. On a side note, should a major disaster strike, you obviously want to have a good stockpile of food in place at your home, but also, immediately afterwards, it would be a good idea to go out and forage anything else edible that you can find (fish, animals, road kill, wild fruit and vegies, etc...I draw the line at looting but depending on the situation and your abilities this may go by the wayside) since in a lengthy shut down of the food supply chain, every morsel of food that you can get your hands on will be important to your survival. And More Info...

• Speaking of food, I was working away last night with the TV on in the background as usual. Many times the shows that are on are just background noise although I may look up if something interesting is happening on CNN or someone presents something unique on Antiques Roadshow. Last night, however, a show called Extreme Couponing came on and I stopped working for an entire hour to watch. What caught my attention was the actual "storehouses" of food that people who were very good at using grocery store coupons were able to amass for nearly nothing. I don't think that I will go out of my way at this time to accumulate a hundred bottles of shampoo or a thousand boxes of cereal (traveling greatly limits this sort of thing) but for those who may not be able to afford to stockpile a huge amount of food and other items for use during a disaster due to limited funds, this is definitely one way to do soon the cheap (or super cheap...most were able to purchase a thousand dollars worth of groceries for less than a hundred dollars). Check out the link here.


• The government is still debating the budget with the possible consequence of a government shutdown beginning tomorrow evening. If you rely on a government paycheck (federal workers; military, retirees, and those on Social Security will continue to get paid) are you prepared for this? Here are some potential consequences of the shutdown.


• I have received a couple of comments on the blog (with no email address for me to reply to) asking if it was OK for people to use content posted on this blog. My answer is that yes, you are free to use/print/repost the information presented here, with a link back to the source of course.


• Can you solve a mystery? CNI readers are pretty clever so it wouldn't surprise me if some from here was able to break this code and help the FBI solve a murder.

10 Suburban Safety Tips

We are currently house sitting for the next few weeks, firmly ensconced in upper middle class suburbia land. Each morning I take a three mile walk around the neighborhood and there are a few things that bother me here, safety wise.

1. I noticed that the same half dozen home owners open their garage doors in the early morning and leave them open all day. I don't see the occupants outside so I assume they are in their house. I hope they at least keep the door from the garage to the house locked but still, leaving a garage full of possessions open to the public, even in what is considered a very safe neighborhood, is asking for trouble. What's to stop someone from stealing the stuff in the garage or worse, going into the garage, closing the garage door, using the tools hanging on the wall in the garage to break into the house and robbing the place or worse?


2. There are quite a few walkers and runners enjoying the safe, nearly car-free streets of the neighborhood. Unfortunately many are wearing their iPods and wouldn't hear a truck if it was bearing down on them. In the gym I like listening to my iPod when I work out, however outside, it is very important to be able to hear what is going on around you for your safety.


3. It appears that this neighborhood is keeping more than a dozen service industries in business. Throughout the day you will see vehicles for yard guys, pool guys, housekeepers, bug guys, nannys, home maintenance/repair folks, etc. coming and going. With all of these people, it is hard to tell who belongs here and who doesn't and it would be quite easy for someone to put on a uniform of some sort and "blend in" for nefarious purposes.


4. On a few occasions I have seen individual children walking by themselves and waiting by themselves at bus stops. It appears that most children are driven to school but I have some concern about kids waiting by themselves in the early morning, even though it is a safe neighborhood.


5. Nearly every home has a home security system in place. I have no idea if they are used or not but I find many people with these systems who live in what are considered safe neighborhoods become lax at using them.


6. It appears that many people who live here work in the city. With 9 to 5 jobs and long commute times, it is quite predictable, should someone want to plan a burglary, to note when people leave and when they come home, and plan accordingly. Being predictably unpredictable is a good thing.


7. Some homes appear to be a beacon to thieves and others who could do the homeowners harm. There is a Mercedes in the driveway instead of kept in the garage. Window shades are often left open after dark so a potential burglar can easily look in and practically make a shopping list (56" big screen. Check. Two Apple MacBooks on the dining room table, Check.). Recycling left on the curb each week can provide more than enough information about the homeowners (one family appears to eat take out pizza daily, another has a box from a new Apple computer in the recycle bin). I'm a big fan of keeping things--from my possessions to my habits--private.


8. Even though there are sidewalks, big beautiful homes, and friendly neighbors, there are always hazards that can threaten your safety if not your piece of mind. Loose dogs, cars backing up and not seeing you, new teenage drivers who think the quiet, straight roads would make a perfect place to practice for their future NASCAR careers, tots who get away from their harried parent/nanny and wander into the road, etc. In other words, even though you aren't on alert like you would be in the city, there are still many things you need to be aware of.


9. Then there are the hidden safety risks such as teens at home when parents are working all day or gone for the weekend (drugs and teen pregnancy are well documented problems in the inner city but can be just as likely to happen in the suburbs) and houses left empty due to the recent spate of foreclosures (like many areas, this neighborhood has a handful of houses that now sit empty and unattended).


10. Complacency may be the biggest threat to people's safety in this area. When an area is considered "safe", people automatically let their guard down which, maybe 90% of the time, isn't be a problem. It is the other 10% of the time, when the statistical aberration occurs, that something bad happens and people make the evening news saying something like "I never thought something like that would happen here."

No matter where you live, it is important to take safety precautions seriously, even if you live in a "good" part of town.