Preparedness for when

BugglyB

I have my emergency numbers memorised and every time one of the five people I have as emergency contacts changes their number I sit and memorise it until I have it off by heart. Sad I know

One good tip which is useful for life and not just for emergency situations is make sure your house is secure. No point in having two weeks food and water for your family if the scrotes from down the road can kick your back door in and nick it all. There would be plenty of people 'just protecting their kids' by trying to theive water or food.

Take a good look at your doors and whether they could be kicked in/barged through. Make sure your windows are lockable and secure. This is all good crime prevention advice anyway and could help prevent a burglary.

This might all sound a little ott but trust me, having a bat or large stick stashed away as a weapon and not needing it is better than needing one and not having it!

grandma247

My Dh's Elderly Aunt used her walking stick on a couple of lads who broke into her house and tried to raid her gas meter of coins years ago. She was on tv and in the papers. She told them she wished she had hit them harder but the police would recognise them anyway by the stripe on their backs.

I am not sure it would have had the same outcome nowadays because so many kids are being systematically desensitized by computer games so they have no empathy or sense of right and wrong.

southantrim3

elona wrote: »

I have a gas hob and oven but not sure if they work without electric ignition.

I had solar lights but DH nicked them for the garden then accidentally ran over them. I do have tealights, candles, disposable lighters and matches, food in cupboard etc.

DH convinced I had lost the plot when I wanted some big bottles of water for emergencies but changed his mind when neighbour shut off his water supply (and ours as it is shared) . Poured bottled water into kettle and we were able to have cups of tea etc. We had no idea water access was shared and no advance notice that there would be no water.

Something like the rolling blackouts would not be so bad as you would know when supply was out and could look out torches, candles , radio, boil kettle, fill flasks, make hot water bottles, cook and put food in food flasks etc. A laptop that was charged could provide info, entertainment and latest news.

The only problem here is the router would most likely be electric powered so you wouldn't have access to internet ...

mardatha

Same with maps and books - far better than the internet in the long run!

D&DD

Well we need one of these


I've just come back from walking the dog and the foraging this year around here is just awful!!

No pears,no apples,brambles are non existent and the sloes are not much better..only thing I've been able to get is are a few cherry plums

No damsons but managed to get a few off my brothers tree just enough for one pot and his bramley looks manky as hell no apples for me this year *sob*

Fortunately our garden although very hit and miss has produced reasonably well compared to some but I'm going to have to go against the grain and actually buy stuff this year..

I'm going to get some more plums tomorrow to bottle as its so easy and it helps to have things stored in different ways just in case

Gigervamp

It's actually a bumper year for brambles here, and they're ripening about a month early. Our pear trees on the other hand look bare, as does the conker tree.

Mad-Frog

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad-Frog
I cannot imagine any scenario why you would have to have a bag containing all that video entails anytime in the UK

The only way anyone here would have to leave their house would be due to flooding in my opinion. Gas leaks would only involve a few hours at the most and would only affect a few houses in any one area, personally I would go to a persons house not affected to go to a hotel ... or the pub

I had a couple of friends years ago who had to move out of their home with their little children for six weeks because there was something wrong with the gas outside their house. It was wintertime and they had no heat or means of cooking.

I doubt that would happen in 2012, If it took my gas provider six weeks to fix a leak outside my house I would want them sacked for incompetence. The council, house insurance, gas provider would provide emergency shelter so you would have heat and food or friends and family although I understand that option isn't available to all

Electricity going off again would not last more than a few hours and some candles and a torch would suffice. I would play on my iPad personally if no TV etc

In very bad winter which do not happen very often thankfully electric has been off two to three weeks. Your central heating will not work so if that is all you have you will be cold if you have not prepared. You will also not be able to charge any device so if you don't have books you could be bored and so will any kids.

India had a massive power failure which affected two thirds of the Country or thereabouts it took just over 12 hours for them to restore it so unless thousands of overheads were down I doubt it would take three weeks and obviously if it did I know electricity reliant devices would not work, I do have hot water bottles, paper books etc in that unlikely scenario

We don't have earthquakes that devastate houses, nor hurricanes or twisters etc we are lucky compared to some Countries.

In the south of England about twenty years ago a twister came through the coastal houses and took a lot of roofs off and we do get Earthquakes here. Who says there will never be a devastating one?

I remember the 1987 storm, and the incorrect forecast before hand. I also remember it was quoted as being the worst storm in this Country for nearly 300 years, I didn't say there would never be another one how could I? But it remains that we do have a mild climate compared to other Countries.

Seriously I don't see any need to panic or get bug out bags in the making. A blanket in the car, a torch and some spare batteries would see most of us through any minor crisis, being snowed in is exaggerated again in my opinion it might not be pleasant to go outside and trudge through thick snow but rarely are roads impassible unless in remote areas

Here we have a reservoir above us and if there is no money to maintain it how long before the walls collapse and it comes down on our houses? Also this area has seen a few riots before and with the increasing feelings of unrest they will probably happen again and may be worse.
No buses run here if the snow is bad and cars slide down the road if they dare go out because the council chooses not to grit. We are in the middle of a large Northern town.

[COLOR="Red"] Obviously I don't know where you live but if it is not maintained and in danger of collapsing are the residents not complaining to the Council? MP? I don't think we will see worse riots or should that be looting as I think the swift and harsh punishment netted out would deter that from happening anytime soon, but again who knows.
That's poor that your Council don't grit the roads on bus routes, again people need to complain[/COLOR]

I would recommend a head torch and a spare battery, when we were camping it was much easier to put up/down tents in the dark, cook food, find stuff in bags etc with a head torch than the wind up torch we took with us.

I have put comments in the above post because there are a lot of people with this attitude. They are the very ones who will climb over your head to get to safety should there be an emergency because they haven't a clue how to deal with it. Nor do they care.
I know it is old and I haven't read through yet but the post made me mad.

It won't let me mutli quote for some reason

People prepare for things in different ways, some people panic others do not, each to their own, I think it is sensible to have provisions in case of power outages, what to do in case of fire, disruption etc, everyone is different and will plan accordingly

I was quoting a video that appeared to get people to prepare for a scenario that you were the lone survivor in an Armageddon scenario that in all probability will not happen, if it does it does and I am sure many people will muster through it.

Individuals would cope or not in different ways, there is no need to be rude or judgemental I am entitled to my opinion as are you

[Deleted User]

We all have our own take on what preparedness means - it's an individual response to a percieved threat. There is room on this thread for everyones opinions, most of us are fairly polite however in how we respond to other individuals!!!!!!!!! I applaud your preparedness, which is to a degree that makes you feel prepared and safe - have the courtesy to allow the rest of us to prepare to the degree that makes us feel prepared and safe as well - Thank You.

Beetlemama

BugglyB wrote: »

Take a good look at your doors and whether they could be kicked in/barged through. Make sure your windows are lockable and secure. This is all good crime prevention advice anyway and could help prevent a burglary.

When we first bought the house, we were really pleased the day we locked ourselves out and I managed to get in through one of the top windows, yay me! Good job it was only me. It's all locked now when we're out, we bought the ones that you lock and take the key out of. The best thing we read in the diary of a burglar (in the paper once) was that he said when looking for a house to rob he'd always walk away from a house with a dog, it just wasn't worth the risk. Bark my babies, bark!

What we have apart from the girls, who undoubtedly would not tear a burglar to pieces, Black Labs not being particularly well known for their aggressive behaviour traits, are "inoffensive weapons" distributed around the house at strategic locations. Items that you are allowed to own, but you wouldn't be allowed to walk down the street carrying. Works for us.

prepareathome

As Mrs LW says each person looks at their own situtation and prepares accordingly to the point they feel comfortable. If by having a lot of 'kit' that person can sleep at night well why not, its between them and their bank manager so to speak and should not be dismissed out of hand.

Many will agree with you and think that video is going to far but others will feel its totally justified.

Unfortunately councils, gas, national grid and water companies never seem to have passed on most of their time frames to fix problems from the emergency planning dept to the workmen on the street - so emergency planning might say 'no problem we can have whatever back up and running in 12 hrs ' this in reality quite often doesn't happen. I am not saying the workers are slacking, far from it they do wonderful work in appaling conditions very often, but they rarely can keep to a plan that has been put down on paper as in reality until something has happened and been dealt with no-one can actually say how long it will take to fix. Computor models are only good to a certain extent and cannot take into account the human imput. If all repair work was done by machines which worked perfectly then maybe we could be smug and say oh well power etc will be up and running in 12hrs.

Even the government advise several days not 12hrs supplies in your home. Link takes you to government site that will help those starting to prepare.

Its easy to say complain to councils, water authority etc if something needs repairing but 9 times out of 10 you get told not enough money, we have other priorities etc. In the real world no company ever wants to repair something that is working, they usually wait till something happens then have to pick up the pieces. Every winter sadly there are always people left without power for over 24hrs due to various reasons, some could have been prevented yes with repairs done but others no.

Those who have stocked up and feel smug that they are ok but don't want to share advice really are unhelpful to those to whom this is new.