I read a good book the other day, it got me thinking, and at the same time it scared the crap out of me.
” One Second After” by William Forstchen, it’s the tale of a town in NC. near Asheville post EMP attack. I’m not sure how many of you know what an EMP does, it’s an electromagnetic pulse it can happen by natural causes such as a large sun flare or by man made causes such as a nuclear bomb detonated in the atmosphere.EMP the scariest attack ever devised. Forget bombs, forget getting killed then think about being alive and suddenly your cell phone stops working, your car stops running and anything that uses electronics stops working. No more electricity for a long time. The book chronicles such an attack and what a family and a town does to survive the event. I found it an easy read that made me take stock of our family.
What happens if a catastrophic event were to strike our family, either thru an EMP or a hurricane or any other means that would stop outside help from reaching us for an extended period of time? Yes at first I laughed and said chances are unlikely but then I took stock. Do I have the means to get clean water, one adult uses one gallon a day so two adults needing to survive for one week would need 14 gallons. Then I looked at food, yes I have food to last a week but what if we had to leave this area due to fire or some other catastrophe, do I have food I can easily transport? The book not only makes you think but it opens your mind to taking stock of your own personal preparedness. Hopefully the EMP scenario never plays out, but a little preparedness goes a long way. We started to put together a 72 hour bag. This is a backpack loaded with the necessary items needed to survive for 3 days on our own. I think there’s a lot of differences in what I would pack compared to a family with small children.
I found a site that sells the kit all ready to go. I’m putting one together on my own.
http://www.thereadystore.com/
Preparedness in this economy, in this political climate, might not be a bad idea.
Ok, so now I hope I got you thinking. My family, we got a plan, we also have the means to protect our plan. I just want more of you to stop and think, cause when the shit hits the fan our plan doesn’t include more than 4 people . So far, I have in my backpack a water filter, 7 days worth of dehydrated food, a few glow sticks, a knife, a medical kit. I’ll eventually take some pictures of our pack when it’s finished.
I’m never one to dwell on the bad. Even though I’ll be prepared, I’m thinking that on the famous mayan calender end of the world date, I’m going to throw a party. The idea is that we eat only survival food, and we use no electricity, of course there will be plenty of beer. 12/21/12 sounds like a plan to me!
