Preparedness for when

Perplexed_Pineapple

BigMummaF wrote: »

I know we here, have not been personally affected by floods &/or power cuts. I know my family, personally, have been fortunate to not be affected by travel delays. You know what's coming next... & here it comes... BUT!


Am I the only one who finds the current crop of people being interviewed, as incredibly selfish in their anger?
Admittedly crimbly is possibly the worst time of year for this type of thing to happen; (if you're fortunate) your cupboards are stuffed to the gunnels with gifts & delicious treats you deny yourself for the rest of the year, the fridge & freezer is struggling to cope with the extra content as it is & things are not where they should be because of guests descending & things.


I really don't know what the power companies could do differently. They have to find where the ruddy break is--let alone try to fix it--in the dark, gales & downpour.
So there were difficulties trying to get through on the phone, but there were thousands of other households also trying to get info, ditto the environment guys. One chap was bemoaning the fact they were not told to evacuate earlier while the weather wasn't so bad, but would they have gone or be on tv having a go because there was no need for them to move out (cuz the wind shifted direction or summink, for example) & couldn't get the turkey stuffed on time.


Of course I feel incredibly sad for those whose crimbo was rained off, but their reactions annoy me beyond words. My real sympathies lie with the homeless, the hungry & the war-weary who have to live like this for years.

I was thinking exactly the same thing BM reading the coverage of people in Kent having a go at the PM. I definitely don't hold any brief for the current incumbent but I did feel sympathy - how on earth is it his responsibility to protect people against the weather? Again, looking at some of the photos of people affected by flooding, why on earth did they think it was a good idea to be living on a flood plain? The answer, is, of course, is that property in the SE is massively beyond the reach of most to buy or rent (unless on HB) so at the time it probably makes sense to rent a static caravan on this nice flat field with a view of the river...... FWIW the part of the country we live in would be largely underwater should there be a significant rise in sea level, although the specific local area would be an island for a while at least :rotfl:

nuatha

jk0 wrote: »

Thanks Nuatha,

Those Maxcold boxes look interesting, but you have given me another idea. Rather than store the energy in batteries, I am going to store it in these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermos-Weekend-Ice-Pack-400g/dp/B0001MQ8GC/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_t_1_QDM4

I am going to sacrifice a shelf in my freezer to these, and have ordered five packs of them. For some reason Amazon won't let me order more than that at once, even if I put in two orders.

If they are to help keep your freezer colder for longer, may I suggest stackable water containers. You always want to run a freezer as full as possible, its more efficient than trying to freeze air. One of the standby recommendations was loaves of bread, but I'd rather not be in the position of throwing food away if I suddenly needed an extra drawers worth of storage space. Whereas 2l pop bottles aren't very space efficient in a freezer, 2l milk containers aren't bad for freezer tetris, though I've found some cube tupperware type containers even better.

BigMummaF wrote: »

I know we here, have not been personally affected by floods &/or power cuts. I know my family, personally, have been fortunate to not be affected by travel delays. You know what's coming next... & here it comes... BUT!


Am I the only one who finds the current crop of people being interviewed, as incredibly selfish in their anger?

I've wondered if those interviewed are typical or whether they have been selected to make good TV/political points.
I agree with your comments regarding those I'm more concerned about.

GreyQueen wrote: »

There seems to be a lack of a wider view in this life. So many people seem bound and determined to put decking or impermeable surfaces over every bit of earth that they personally control in their own gardens. Add that to the roads, pavements, paved areas and you inevitably end up with a lot of surface water flooding.

But could you imagine the opprobrium if "the council" had the power to enforce the removal of such impermeable surfaces for the common good? To prevent someone down the road having their home saturated with mucky water and all their treasured stuff sodden and stinky and ruined?

I was under the impression that they may well have the appropriate power, though I've never heard of it being exercised. I have vague memories that powers were brought in around the time of the Boscastle flood (not actually connected to it, just that time frame) that required planning consent to replace soakable/permeable surfaces with impermeable.

I've often thought that we have a tension between wanting to be free to do what we want yet wanting to be protected from the consequences of other people doing what they want.

But, as we have comic line in my immediate family; Someone's Got to Be Blamed.

If all else fails, responsibility defaults onto the nearest cat. Being cats, they don't give a four ecks........:rotfl:

Freedom is wonderful, until its wasted on other people. (And the number of people who never see any flaw in the variations on that really does astound me)

nuatha

westcoastscot wrote: »

Nuatha can you explain more about recent banking legislation? I don't have much wealth in money (but am rich in other ways) but want to hang onto what I do have. Thanks,

WCS

The Bank Resolution and Recovery Directive was agreed on the 12th December 2013 and takes effect from January 2016. Its basically EU wide legislation that means the Cypress haircut will be the normal way to deal with a bank in difficulties (rather than the tax payer bailouts we had in the UK. So far deposits of less than €100K should be exempt (but I'm a cynic and can see this number being reduced if circumstances warrant)
The Irish Times has a sensible brief summary.

I suspect the biggest problem facing small investors is likely to be the time it takes to get the provisions put in place - looking at the situation in Cypress, where the banks remained closed and ATMs were down for several days. Hopefully having the framework already agreed would expedite this process.

GreyQueen

I was just downstairs with the folks having a cuppa and reading the newspaper and this anonymous woman in Kent was barracking Cameron about what "the council" weren't doing about getting her electricity back on.

He was reportedly made rather uncomfortable by that. I'm not going to say ToryBoy being discomfitted is something I will lose sleep over (:D), but for goodness sake, why the heck do people call the councils if their leccy or water is off?

We get this all the time at work. I swear we know about water disruptions as quickly as the local water company. Indeed, I have an affable working relationship with their call centre. If there is a burst water main or a pump failure interrupting supply in the city, we really have to get a recording onto the front of our phone menu inside 5 minutes or no end of people will ring us again and again and again to expect us to fix it.

Drives a body spare. And why the heck did that quoted Kentish villager ring her council about her leccy being off? There's some rationality to it if she rents her home from them, but even so, if she has water in her electrics, all that can be done is to isolate them and leave it several days to dry out before re-instating. If she isn't a council tenant, her leccy in the home is her own/ her private landlord's business, and getting it to the home, council or private, is the business of the supplier. Nowt to do with "the council" at all.


If my own water is off, I walk about 30 meters to where our 5" main lurks about 4 feet underground. It blows every 3 years or so. If there is a river running down the street from that spot, I know exactly who to call - Tiddlyumpty Water, our local privatised utility. Otherwise, wait half an hour and it usually comes back on again.

[Deleted User]

calicocat wrote: »

then said to have animal traps in it..!!!

My BOB contains 20' of brass wire, and 100' of paracord.

GreyQueen

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

My BOB contains 20' of brass wire, and 100' of paracord.

I have a tiny GI type can opener on each of my keyrings and in the BOB. Cost £1 for two. Pic is about to scale. Also known as the P-38 can opener.




:eek: Imagine sucessfully hunting or foraging for some tins and not being able to get into them easily. I have paracord everywhere, it's pretty cool and useful stuff.

[Deleted User]

GreyQueen wrote: »

I have a tiny GI type can opener on each of my keyrings and in the BOB.

How do you trap animals with that :huh:

[Deleted User]

GreyQueen wrote: »

We were watching a bit of news yesterday and they showed a family who had no power and they were cooking on one of those single-ring butane gas stoves, the kind you have in a case, widely available for circa £10.

They've made an excellent choice.

They're more stable than most backpacking stoves, have better heat distribution, and use cheaper gas cannisters, than the aforementioned backpacking stoves.

I wouldn't take them camping, as they're to bulky, but for home use, I'd pick them every time.

GreyQueen

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

How do you trap animals with that :huh:

There's an important issue with energy conservation in a crisis. It's more important that I conserve my energy by breaking into a food store/ cannery or private home to steal canned goods than hiding in the fields waiting for a bunny to throttle itself in a snare.

Heck, if I have any free time, I'll be making bows and arrows to make hunting more fun.

Besides, it's highly-skilled work fitting one of these



into one of these.



Any amateur can get one out, tho. It even has it's own key.

[Deleted User]

You don't wait around for something to get caught in the trap.

You get on with something else, and check back from time to time.