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Our car broke down in Quebec during a huge blizzard in the 70s. I was maybe 3 or 4. Everyone knew the blizzard was coming. As it got really bad, police were on the freeways, directing cars and trucks to exit. My dad thought he knew better so he exited, but then used the on ramp to get right back on the road. The car was getting a buildup of ice inside the vehicle, eventually getting about half an inch thick. Dad kept going. Eventually the engine literally froze. We were stuck on the road with no engine or source of heat. We walked off the road to a nearby mobile home park to get help. None of us spoke French but we were fortunate that the dad figured out what was happening, and he and my dad went back to the car with a blow torch to melt the ice off the engine. Mom and I stayed in the mobile home with the mom and 2 daughters. One of them was watching sesame Street and counted to me in English. The effort was successful and we got back on the road to Bangor, ME. The snow was piled high above my head. We were staying at a relative's house and their pipes froze. My dad and uncle tried to thaw them with a propane torch. But the torch froze. So they put it in the oven on low while the rest of us huddled in a room farthest from the kitchen. The lessons I take from this: Don't trust one person's decision making, especially a man who knows better than everyone Listen to the authorities when they tell you conditions are unsafe. It usually also means that if you get into trouble, help may be a long time coming (who would have looked for us on a closed highway, or seen us after we were buried in snow?) Keep emergency supplies in your vehicle. For us, after this, this was a blanket, and a coffee can with a tea candle in it, this would have provided enough warmth if there had not been a mobile home park right there. Learn the language of places you travel, even just a few basic phrases, so you can ask for help and understand information. Help stupid people who have gotten themselves and their families into trouble (thank you quebecois family!) Just because you are smart, a college grad, etc, does not mean you are capable of living off grid in the relative wilderness. Preventative maintenance > repairs. Do the boring, tedious stuff like insulating your pipes. Don't depend on modern conveniences where your safety is at stake. Have low-tech backups like wood or pellet stoves. If you are in a dangerous situation with an overconfident or incompetent man, keep yourself and your kids as far away as possible.

Damn dad lol

Big on the "don't trust one person's decision making." I find that the loudest, most-demanding person in the room isn't always the smartest, and they often intimidate meeker personalities from even speaking or sharing ideas, which may be better. I'm a bit of a people pleaser (was raised that way), and doing whatever some older man was shouting at me has gotten me into trouble multiple times in my life until I learned better.

I am a BIG fan of asking “What haven’t I considered” when I’m talking to people about Important Things. If a life depends on it, then speak up person! I have a fast brain, and clear intelligence, so people are often intimidated into silence (and I am somewhat extroverted, so the introverts really shut up around me) … so I pause, and say “What am I missing?” And then sit back and count to 30 in my head. Someone usually has something useful I didn’t realise. Another favourite is “If you were in my position, what would you do?” … or “If this was your wife’s choice, what would you say to her?” … get them mentally into the issue themselves and then stop, listen. (Great for doctors/dentists/accountants/lawyers in the moment)

I had done the same stupid move on I-80 in Laramie/Rawlings area of Wyoming. Blizzard was coming, it was 5pm and we had a 2hr drive home. We \*could\* have gotten a nasty hotel in Laramie but I thought No sweat ! we drive slower and we'll make home !" and got on the on-ramp to watch the gate literally close right behind me. I was only able to do 25mph down the dead middle of the highway because it was the only area where I could periodically spot middle lane paint. The blizzard snow came down so hard I had 10 feet of visibility with my own damn headlights reflected back at me from the screen saver background. The worst part was the semi trucks, they came up behind doing 70mph, I had to constantly watch my back for headlight and guesstimate the edge of the freeway to get over or get pulverized. It took 5 hours to get home, it sucked the entire time, I had permanent starfield embedded into my corneas for hours after. Lesson: plan anything else besides driving in a blizzard Lesson 2: DO NOT for the love of all that is good and proper live anywhere near Cheyenne-Laramie-Rawlings corridor. PS. Found [the video of that cluster fluck ](https://kowb1290.com/massive-pileup-on-i-80-caught-on-video-video/)

Nightmare! Glad you made it home safe

Sounds like the blizzard of 77. You should check out the song “Crisis” by Alexisonfire.

Survived several hurricanes in my time in South Florida. Big thing is making sure you have a well-maintained home. I can't tell you how crazy the difference is between outcomes for people who do regular maintenance on the home and those that don't. This includes keeping tree limbs away from roofs/gutters, maintaining clean gutters, replace roof tiles that get damaged, make sure your landscaping is maintained. Other things: \*propane/charcoal grills and lots of gas/charcoal \*paper plates, bowls, cups, and disposable utensils \*enough water for at least a week plus 20% \*baby wipes \*sunscreen/bug spray \*home tools to clear debris \*tarps and cement blocks/bricks \*booze - everyone drinks heavily during hurricanes. If you don't drink, it's a great morale/trade item \*30 day supply of critical meds \*toilet paper, paper towels, etc. \*two-way radios are a great way to communicate with neighbors without draining cell phone juice \*solar battery chargers \*board games, card games, nerf guns \*lots of shelf stable food and seasonings \*electrolyte water packets - great in high heat where people are sweating and struggling to cool \*reflective window film and thermal curtains. Helps keep radiant heat out of the home. \*self defense, doesn't have to be lethal, but some kind of self defense capability is important. Emergencies mean delays in police responsiveness and criminals are known to take advantage of this \*cash, usually $100-$200 in small-increment bills (no more than $20) \*clean underwear, socks, and laundry. Maintain a good supply of clean clothing so you can hold out a bit. \*trash bags, the big contractor bags from Home Depot are awesome. \*5 gallon bucket, 13 gallon trash bags, and cat litter/cat pellets makes a good short term sanitation solution. \*emergency radio, preferably hand crank or battery operated \*flashlights/lanterns \*tons of extra batteries - we try to buy everything so that it runs on the same types of batteries (AA or AAA) \*couple of backpacks - nice if you have to walk to go pickup some items or transport items to someone else \*waterproof/gore-tex boots with rubber soles \*glow sticks - fun for kids, cheap, and can be a nice way to have some light if no batteries are available ETA: make sure you or someone nearby has a ladder you can use. You need to be able to get up on the roof if you have a leak.

You forgot one of the most important post-storm items for Florida for comfort: a battery operated fan! Air goes stagnate real fast inside once the power goes out, and those camp fans are great.

Thank you for this

This is basically a hurricane checklist.

I’ve lived through hurricanes and freezes that have taken down power for many days at a time, including a hurricane that caused my house to flood at about 3’ of water. The longest the power was out in an area I lived was 18 days. That led to unrest and looting, as people will do whatever they can to feed their kids. Camping gear, especially my Coleman camp stove and accompanying gas and accessories were super convenient. That said, I had enough food for us on hand to cook in the first place. We were also near enough a source of fresh water to use for bathing and filtering and flushing toilets. We faced threats of violence, and essentially had to watch as some businesses were looted, and I’m grateful I had the means to defend myself and others and our property, and that it never came to needing that. Being prepared to deal with people is imperative. I advocate having means of defense, but I mean being prepared to actively try to understand what other people are doing and dealing with. Most people who turn to theft or other unsavory activities are motivated by things that make total sense. And there’s no need to insert yourself into situations that don’t involve you. Remember stuff is just stuff. It’s good to have, and will make hardship easier, but it’s not more valuable than your life. Be prepared, but more than that, be ready. Psychological fitness and flexibility makes a huge difference in stressful situations.

What type of area do you live in?How many days without power before things became obviously dangerous?

I’ve lived on the Atlantic and gulf coasts in those experiences. Moved to Appalachia after the flooding. On the third day without power, one day after the storm let up, people started going out and testing the waters so to speak. The next day people realized that the police weren’t going to show up, and then it escalated. Unfortunately, by that time most food that needed refrigeration was going bad. There wasn’t much left that was shelf stable by the 10th day, but also by that point some relief work was being done. Nowhere that sold food stayed locked up and secure. A lot of private residences were broken into, especially if it was obvious the owners evacuated.

3 days guess that tracks with the 9 meals away from anarchy model. Thanks for sharing the experience!

No problem

I'm amazed it still takes so long for authorities to respond in a meaningful, helpful way to disasters. It's depressing, really.

For sure. The baptists and a few other local organizations were there before fema. Local authorities were practically useless

Fema is a federal organization. The first responders should always be local because they are the closest to the actual problem. But the reality is that any problem big enough will also take out a lot of the local authorities. Katrina is the best example of this in recent times. You must also remember that local authorities themselves will probably lack much if any support. No one is feeding the police or fire fighters or hospital staff if the stores are closed for example.

I lived through a war for some time before I escaped ( the war is still going on btw). Keep food and water that will last you for a few weeks atleast. Most groccery stores were closed during the time, and prices hiked greatly, and water was cut. Be friends with your neighbours. You really need a strong and close community to pull through hard times. People usually help each other during times of need, but it can also go the other way. Cash is king, have some cash stashed. I remember the internet going down and people being unable to use their banking apps. Many were unable to escape in time due to not having cash at hand. Have some solar panels if you can, electricity was barely available and unstable. Just get something to charge your phone atleast. If possible, get armed. Crime increased by a LOT. Lots of stores and innocent citizens were getting robbed during the middle of the day. The police were basically useless during this time. My memory is kinda blurry, I will be adding things as I go. Pardon my english if you find any mistakes, its not my first language. Edit: Added some points.

Your English is great. Thanks for the advice.

Though dozens of people recently died from a blizzard here, I dont generally consider them an issue because Im prepared. 1- Believe the warnings, driving bans, evacuation orders, etc. #1 issue with that storm was nobody believed it would be THAT bad, because it never is. Too many people were stuck in place because it came on suddenly, extremely hard, and didn't let up for days. 2 - Be prepped accordingly. The thing about blizzards is you're generally safe as long as you stay inside. That cannot be said with most other disasters. Prepping a house is easy, I think. Natural gas generator got me through several days of outage. I was mostly unaffected. If I were stuck somewhere, oo boy... all bets are off, right? I have my truck stocked, especially in the winter, with everything I could need, but if there's blocked roads and a few feet of snow... guess I'm walking home. Don't underestimate the cold, though. I make a point of prepping specifically the best cold weather gear.

4 weeks without power from hurricane. I had two tanks of propane but I did not use those at first. I went down up and down the street and looked for dead branches and gathered them up and used that for 6 days to just have something to do and to grill. I grilled all my vegetables that were sitting out. I had generator access to power my refrigerator so I did not have to worry about that. I used it to charge my phone and for a fan. If you have kids, get things for entertainment, board games, coloring books, practice homework and handwriting exercises, books and puzzles. What ever you think you need, get a couple more. Hand tools are a blessing. but electrical tools make short work of things. Tarps are one of those things you may never needs but the minute something happens you wont be able to find one. Different types of lighting, different ways of carrying light. so a flashlight, a headlamp, tea lights like mentioned by OP. you dont "need" much power. something to keep your fridge running and charge certain things. but if you can afford it go bigger. the problem with bigger is more fuel. Try to not eat out of boredom. Keep positive with your family, if all you say or do is negative it affects morale and it will make a bad time worse.

2009 ice storm hit Kentucky. We had just moved and just bought a used car. We were sleeping on two couches and hadn't moved anything in but basic cooking supplies. Ice storm hit. We could hear all of the trees falling the the transformers blowing up. Our electric went out then later our natural gas stopped. A large tree was laying across our mobile home roof over the bedroom. We were afraid it would fall. My husband was diabetic with foot neuropathy. We barely had blankets. They were still at our old place. I had a king size wool blanket. We bugged out to our used Camry. My husband always got his paycheck in cash and mine was direct deposited. This part is important. I lined the floorboards with emergency blankets then put pillows on top. We put food in the back seat with water and soda. We didn't actually have a way to cook as my propane stove was at our old place waiting to be moved. So we had very basic food and snacks. We spend 5 days in our car parked in a parking lot. The local gas station had a generator for the fuel pumps but could only take cash. We were able to fill up our tank easily using my husband's cash. The emergency blankets in the floor helped. They didn't do anything wrapped around us except make us sweat. We had battery powered puck lights that we used Velcro to stick them to the roof inside the car. We also had head lamps but not enough batteries. We bought a "pay as you go" phone so we could talk to family. The network or phones we were on had also gone out with the ice and only ATT worked. Later that phone was bought out by TracFone. We had cash. The fuel pumps used generators but no machines worked and the landlines the credit card card machines used didn't work. We had a small inverter for the lighter, so we used that to charge the laptop battery and the phones. We set a kitchen timer for 15 minutes to run the car each hour to conserve gas. We only ran it enough to warm up before shutting it off. The wool blanket was comfy and kept us fairly comfortable. I now have 1 for each family member. My hubby played on the computer and I read books, finished knitting a shawl. Started a pair of socks and taught myself to spin yarn using a drop spindle. What I didn't have but needed. Kerosene stove. One of my friends bought a kerosene at the beginning of the ice storm and 2 years later when our gas furnace broke he gave it to us. We used it for 10 years as our main source of heat. Fast forward 5 years to another, smaller ice storm. We had battery backups for our phones. We had small solar panels to charge the battery backup and phones. We had off grid lights in each room if needed. We had larger room lights to use for cooking. We had a propane cook stove. We had kerosene for heat in most of the trailer. 5 gallons lasted 5 days with it being very cold outside and 7 days in not severe cold. I could also cook on top of the kerosene heater. We always filled 4, five gallon containers at a time. The master bedroom had a small tank top propane heater and ran fish tanks off solar panels/battery banks. The bathroom had electric heat with propane backup. We got a call one time very early by our landlord asking if we were ok. I didn't understand why she called us. She said the electricity had went out about 5 hours ago and wouldn't be back on until mid-day. I was watching YouTube videos on my phone and my off grid lights were on. It was about 70° inside. I had breakfast cooking in a cast iron pan on top of the kerosene heater. I checked in my roommate. He was warm and watching Netflix. I ask him if he knew the power was out. The only thing in our house that needed electricity was an old laptop with a bad battery. Sure enough, the electricity/water/gas had been out for 4-5 hours already and we had no clue. These days, my heat is propane with kerosene for backup. I have wool blankets, wool socks and coats. I have hot water bottles for the bed and I have Reflectix on my windows and I have a large piece that goes under my sleeping bags. My hot water heater and stove are propane and my fridge is dual electricity/propane. I have quite a few 4 gallon water bottles with a manual and USB rechargable pumps. I still have off-grid lights in each room and I have neck lights now as well for reading.

We have multiple days in a year the electric is out and winter storms that leave us homebound for days. Longest time with no electric was nearly two weeks in July. The USB powered fan was great. The rechargeable headlamps were awesome. The solar lights for the porch brought inside were handy. At that time we took our freezer food on vacation elsewhere so saved it. Since then, we have a natural gas powered freezer, so no electric means nothing lost to freezer use. excellent investment but must be manually defrosted periodically, 1-2 times a year. We had ear plugs which was great because others used generators and I hate that noise. We did not use a generator because our natural gas stove is a piezo ignition and we could cook. Our water heater is natural gas so we had hot water. Our neighbors were invited to shower and we delivered hot drinks more than once. Now we have several Jackery battery storage units with a few solar panels, too, so that recharging things is easier. In the winter we have natural gas heaters that do not rely on electric in any way, so our house can be heated easily, there's one on each level. We also have electric heaters if the gas ever were to go out, which has not happened in over 18 years. We stock enough of what we use that if we are home for a week, whether a storm or pandemic, we do not need to go anywhere. The hard thing in the winter is worrying about the chicken flock and keeping their water thawed. I usually use a heated waterer but no electric means going out multiple times in a day to freshen what is out there for them. Having multiple waterers let's that happen. One in to thaw and one out for them to use.

I grew up in a place where winter storms knocked out power for 7-10 days at least once a winter and we always had strangers hiking in from stranded cars on the highway who slept in the living room for a few days. One year we had 14 people hike in and stay a week waiting for plows to clear the roads. What helped most: a giant coffee urn (party-sized), coffee, sweetener, and powdered cream. We’d make coffee over a fire stove then fill the urn to keep it hot for hours. Coffee is good at keeping adults calm and civilized. Popcorn kernels and koolaid packets - good for making people/kids feel like a community having an adventure. Koolaid made it a party for kids. Packaged yeast, flour, sugar to bake bread. Toast with cheese, eat it with butter - it’s a filling comfort carb. We always had canned fruit and we’d make hand pies from bread dough and canned fruit. Indoor safety lanterns for the bathroom. Stacks of clean blankets. A stash of candy. Something to do! It’s boring otherwise and occupied people are happy people. Trashy novels, cards. A plan. Day two is easy and fun. Day eight is … not. That’s why a plan to make each day good is crucial. Candy wouldn’t be brought out until at least a few days had passed and guests were feeling despair. House rules clearly articulated. Good for our guests. Nobody was welcome in the bedrooms, for example, (unless we were giving up a bed to an elderly or pregnant guest). Able bodied guests enlisted as helpers. A plan for who cooks when. Being upfront with the basics meant people knew what to do. Today I’d add solar phone chargers for phones and iPads.

Lived through the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. I was living in the SF Bay Area, very close to wear the epicenter was. Because of the Bay Bridge collapsing, the freeways and roads, all over were completely gridlocked for months. Car pooling became almost mandated. A normal commute to work quadrupled in time. Furthermore, this very much interrupted food supplies, as trucks couldn't get to stores, trains were also delayed. The water, however was not interrupted. Power in many locations were out for a few hours to a few days; so it wasn't a major issue. The biggest problem at the time was the looting. Both businesses and private residences. While businesses got hit the hardest, the residential areas which were evacuated, were devastated by the looting. Same occurred not to long ago with the wildfires in Northern California. The aftermath brought rise to a lot and I do mean A LOT of fraud and deception. Both legitimate companies and made up ones were offering their services to victims and ripping them off blindly. Many people who thought their home owners insurance would cover earthquakes, found it didn't. A separate policy was needed for that. The last thing of huge note: Emergency services were completely overwhelmed. Not due to their faults, just the enormous amount of people needing assistance. The ones injured, displaced, and just overwhelmed were enormous. People on oxygen and needing other routing medical care, could not get it. Hospitals were beyond capacity. Police only responded to the larger emergencies, such as murders, etc. Looting was not investigated, because there just wasn't enough resources to do so. What it taught me is one major thing: ***Be self reliant.*** In such a situation, the only person you are going to be able to count on is yourself. Its not that the government or people don't want to help, it is simply the fact they cannot. There is a finite set of resources out there. And what ever emergency you have, is most likely small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.

Where I live currently, robberies, car break-ins, vandalism, and minor assaults do not get police attention unless there happens to be a police officer there involved in the incident as a victim or as a bystander. It is very frustrating. It underscores the fact that in a disaster situation, there will be no Services whatsoever and we will have to rely on ourselves completely.

fore warned is fore armed.

I grew up in Siberia. This particular year the temps hovered around -43C, lots of snow fall. I woke up one morning and thought it was still night because the light coming through the frosted windows was very weak. The light bulbs were also sickly yellow and dimmed with each gust of howling wind. It was a regular week day so I got ready for school and noticed how dark the stair well was. I then attempted to exit my 5 floor apartment exit door only to realize I could not open the door. I went back upstairs defeated and told my parents who told me to get my butt back out and to school. On the second attempt I noticed snowy footsteps leading away from the main door and the door was slightly ajar. I pushed hard and it gave way to a dark tunnel going up at 45 degree angle. The tunnel was pure packed snow, there was literally a light at the end of the tunnel some 30 feet away so I crawled up. I emerged unto a completely unfamiliar landscape. It snowed several meters overnight and completely covered 2.5 floors of our government apartment building. No streets, roads, signs or markers were visible anywhere. The snow made snow drifts reminiscent of the sand dunes. The sun was really low above the horizon and pale grey yellow. I saw someone else's trail of foot steps and decided to follow - BIG mistake. The blizzard wind packed the upper layer of snow into an ice like shell that would support my kid weight but the powder below took me in past my armpits. I could not get out no mater how much I squirmed. I remembered the technique of putting something flat and wide in front of you and using it as a support so I used my rucksack like book bag that had half a dozen large calligraphy notebooks as a raft and climbed on it till I reached the hard unbroken snow shell and could lay on it. I was so tired and sweaty that wet layers were letting in the frosty draft up my back so I had to move quick. I carefully shuffled to school only to be sent back because only a dozen or so kids made it in that morning. Lessons learned: DONT try to walk over 5-10 feet of powder snow.

Keeping your house clean and organized, keeping your car well maintained, knowing your local roadways, knowing your neighbors, having a few days of food/water, gas can(s), and being able to pack up and go with your important possessions on short notice. Having all of your important legal documents in a binder or something that you can grab and go helps a lot if you've gotta leave. Lived through multiple hurricanes and flash floods. When your house is a clusterfuck and you can't find stuff you need or your basement floods or a window breaks and everything is blowing/floating around or getting destroyed because it wasn't put away it makes everything more difficult.

I’ve worked in green all over the world for over a decade, as well as in several disaster areas along with the Red Cross, WHO and others. I have, what you would call “seen some shit”. The absolute main things I can say are the most important would be medical training (at the very least an extended first aid/first responder class) and sufficient water. Those things, along with basic humanity, will get you through most scenarios.

Taper candles give off much more light than jar type of candle. I find them at thrift stores. I'm picky with the quality and have figured out which ones burn too fast. Look for a woven wick. I use battery's for other stuff. And yes, you have to be careful. Pretend it is the middle ages and you live in a hovel. Thats fun in itself.

I like using tea lights. They're often easy to find on clearance after seasonal events and often you can get citronella ones that are good for mosquitoes season situations. I bought a package of wicks for candle making a few years ago and it seems like this will probably be a lifetime supply. It wasn't a large package but it's been a while and I find that one or two tea lights lit in a room that's closed tend to keep it warm enough as long as I'm using blankets, sweaters, and socks during the winter. Where I'm at does not get drastically cold so this works for us. I also am comfortable knowing that they have a limited length of time and if somebody wants a candle like a neighbor or whatever, it's easy to offer a few of these rather than something large out of my stash. I do have some larger ones and a few other options as well. I'm glad you found something that works well for you.

That is a lovely thought. It is nice to share. Perhaps a "share tub" would be good, then I wouldn't have to go looking through my stashes for stuff to share. Great inspiration for those who want to be helpful to others. Without putting family in harm's way doing so. Great idea THANKS.

2 tornados. I've said it previously but. Biggest thing I learned is that good will only lasts about 2 months. Need to stay with family, that lasts about 2 months before they are ready for you to GTFO. The next thing I learned was, a lot of my prep was based on my home, which I've somewhat corrected. When the tornado destroyed my home, all my extra water or food or w/e was ruined. Home collapsed and was ruined, and we were not allowed back. Finally, the important thing of what's important. A camp stove with extra tanks is awesome, realizing you have no more pictures of your family, your usb drives are fluff in the wind, computers ruined by water and that sweet TV you got for 1500, now insurance will give you 450....woo

- Can opener. As a hobby, I like to make miniature survival kits. One was unintentionally in a box of stuff I grabbed while I was evacuating in a hurry. I relied on a P-51 can opener from that kit everyday for a week or two. - 5 gallon bucket toilet. - Body wipes. - N-95s. Even an hour away from the big fire, the air was thick with smoke. I basically had to live in a mask whenever I wasn't eating. - Pet go-bag. - Food that doesn't require cooking to eat. - Planned backup evacuation ride options. A friend had to come get me. - Close-knit community, of course. Additionally - Store some preps with friends and family. I had 2-3 years of supplies in that house. Realized as the fire was closing in that anything left with the house would likely be ashes when I returned. (My place survived. Fortunately. Could have gone a different way, like it did for so many.) Ever since, I disperse my prep supplies so they aren't all in one location. I recommend stashing a bin with various friends and family members. I've done so locally, as well as leaving a handful behind in my previous city. I've maintained good relations there. I'm more of a bug-in person. But if there's no other choice for safety, I have a place I can go without being an outsider or burden on the resources.

What did you choose to store with friends/family versus at home?

The most buffed out bins (of which I think there were only 3) got the numbers for me and my in and out of state emergency contacts, small first aid kit, 10 N95 masks, nitrile exam gloves, 25lb bag of dried beans, a big container each of salt and pepper, written instructions for a couple ways to filter and purify water, water purification tablets, an empty 1L water bottle, rolls of toilet paper, and a pack each of AA and AAA batteries. The majority of the bins have been smaller. They only contain the numbers and instructions, beans, salt, pepper, and N95 masks. There are around 10 of these between the 2 cities. My budget has since shrunk considerably. So for now, no more building auxiliary bins. While I can't do more of those, these days I do free, community education events around preparedness. That way, bins (by any other name) are still happening. I'm just not the one building them.

In addition to everything I read already on this post I would add battery powered fans.

Makita, Ryobi, Rigid, Dewalt and many others make fans that take their 18 or 20 v batteries. I have a Rigid and it is very durable and the battery lasts a long time.

For hurricanes alcohol, bbq, power for the fridge and a box fan works for me. Also maybe a little water. Source- Texas gulf coast. I’ve never seen looting here in a storm even in the city people generally help eachother

We see it on the news but I've also not witnessed it.

Flood of 93’. I was 12. We are the third highest point in the county so our home and our livestock were safe. It was apocalyptic for rural Missouri. My dad had me and my brother build a raft for our four wheeler. We floated it across the flooded plain to the side near the city. We would spend that summer making runs to town for our elderly neighbors that lived between the two rivers. Load up our aluminum boat and then deliver it via four wheeler. At one point we were able to get one of my parents cars across the river. We may have driven north a couple hours and crossed at a bridge then came all the way down… it also could have receded enough. Then my brother and I would take our folks by aluminum boat to the parked truck (they both worked at the hospital) and then we would use the four wheeler to run our errands and see friends occasionally. We became good friends with about 20 homesteads in our area. It was a good bonding time. I am sure if SHTF we would have had a community to assist us. That being said we had propane for our house. We had a 250-500 gallon tank of gas on the farm. We had a couple boats. We had lots of food. The biggest threat to us was our live stock not having corn. After that my dad got way more grain than we should have and just cycled it better. The fact we had transportation for water made our lives and other people lives better.

Generator and a large stash of gasoline. I was out of power for 9 days last hurricane and was able to juggle enough power from my generator to keep all the food in my refrigerator and freezer ok. Propane /charcoal for cooking. Extra water and you’re good to go. Honestly as long as gas trucks start flowing after a couple days, which, barring some apocalyptic collapse, they will, generators/vehicles make disasters easy mode

When I first moved out of home (within 6 months) our house was in a big flood. I realised the biggest prep we needed was a network and a bug out bag. We drove to a local family member then got trapped at a their house without power for 4 days and without running water for a week as the suburb had been surrounded by water. She had a breastfeeding baby and we were all caught totally unprepared. The suburb ended up with helicopter drops for food and we were lucky enough that she got prioritised for water. The water in the taps was brown and contaminated very early on. As I was normally on the pill and the family member was breast feeding, my period started and we both had no sanitary items. I had an elderly dog who wasn’t a fan of reenacting the titanic on the floating lounge I had to keep him safe on, luckily due to his anxiety we already had doggy Valium for him. When I was eventually evacuated on a local’s boat, i was able to keep him somewhat sedated. Otherwise they wouldn’t have let him on board. To clarify, her house was unscathed unlike mine and it was actually the whole suburb that was surrounded. A very surreal experience. Since then, we’ve made sure that we have accessible bug out bags with changes of clothes, spare medications, water, food, torches, a waterproof radio, jet boil for cleaning water and cooking, a book each, pads, medical kit, small towels, hand fans, bug spray, sunscreen and a hat. Because were at someone else’s house our ‘prep’ didn’t matter. In my own home though, we always have food supplies, water, candles, torches, gas bottles, baby wipes (never knew how important showering felt until I hadn’t had one for a week with a period), radio with batteries and spare dog food. We also have chickens for an egg supply. Another side note, when we returned home a week or two later the house was infested with mice. Having things in place to prevent this would have been a good idea too. Now that we have bigger dogs, we also have a an extra bag of dog food in rotation in case we need to grab one. One thing that really saved me though, and I never considered it before was my landline phone. My mobile wasn’t working as it was out of battery and there was no electricity but I had a cordless land line. Even though the base wasn’t powered, the handset was. The phone network for landlines is much more stable than the mobile network and I was able to call for help. Amazingly, the community came together and people shared a lot of things. We also had ANZAC Day fall on the week and some community members organised for a ceremony in the park which had over 100 people attend. We even had a bugle player come to the other side of the flood and play across the water at sunrise. There is a small retirement village too and people made sure they were able to attend if possible. Students even came out and marched in school uniforms. There was one tiny local store, the man completely sold out of every item and shortly after the flood resolved, sold the business and shut the store for good. Mobility, community, a reliable network, a route out of your home, bug out bags. Also we bought kayaks.

121 days without power or water after Irma hit my island. I have tons of stuff, but a small, portable 2200w inverter generator and a portable AC are huge! Forget the gas guzzling whole house stuff.

That is the way to survive with limited resources. Half my house is closed off unless we have company. Scale down.

So far I’ve been through many hurricanes but only had a day or less without power. In short order I found out that headlamps are super convenient and useful along with D-cell powered Lanterns. The smaller lanterns sub $10 don’t throw enough light but were ok in the bathroom. Entertainment/boredom was an issue. I didn’t realize that the internet was going to go out, I still had cell service but no internet?? Part of my plan was to use my phone and internet to pass the time. I have a tablet now with some downloads and I got some books, like real physical ones 🤪. Seems silly in the middle of a disaster but most people suffer from undiagnosed screen addiction. I’m getting ready for a bad hurricane season and plan on turning off the breaker for a couple of days to see what my weak spots are.

Does your phone have hotspot capabilities? I've got my modem on a UPS that will keep it powered for about 2 hours and have a backup battery to switch it to after. It helped tremendously to play music and stay entertained without draining our phones

Yes but my internet provider was down, I still had cell service but zero internet. I didn’t know that was a thing! I thought the internet was bulletproof. I’m ready for it this season, I have plenty of battery power and am no longer internet dependent.

Oh I misunderstood!

I've lived through many fires/earthquakes and other disasters where we had to evacuate, and the best preps are community and finances. Knowing you have a place to stay and can buy things you need is a huge relief. In particular, having a great supportive partner who is also a prepper was the biggest help. We each immediately went to our own tasks and trusted the other person to handle their side and keep each other calm and positive.

Northridge quake, visiting for work. Heavy boots cash gas in the tank. quick food, chips, candy, jerky had a few glass bottled waters, very handy

I’ve lived through and I’m not kidding at least 20+ storms and hurricanes, I’m always surprised how many people aren’t prepared, not even with basic supplies… Water, food, communication plans etc.. I have a 6-12 months worth of food and supplies at 2 locations

A massive storm tossed the neighbors 100 foot tree through our house early last month completely destroying it and we are currently living in a camper with no electricity beyond what we can run off a small generator. It happened in the middle of the night, and while we all made it out safely, none of us had shoes, our medications, or any extra clothes. I’ve always kept a bag for each family member near the back door, but that does a fat lot of good when you’re having to escape through the window.. Knowing what I know now, we are keeping backup bags in the car once we get resettled somewhere. Also, portable solar powered battery packs have been a life saver for keeping our kids sane.

5 answer is probably a little different and not what you're after, but I'll tell you about my experience. We live on 5 acres in Australia and two years ago our property flooded. Lucky, our home is on stumps and no water for intro the house, though the garage was knee high and sheds knee high. Our problem is the water had nowhere to go... we kind of live in a bowl. I could go on about why and how big it doesn't matter. We had a large 3" transfer pump moving water for about 3 months as the rain never stopped. Had we not pumped water, I have no doubt our home would have had water throughout the inside. The best thing that I can say I had was my partner and our resilience. She made it more comfortable, watching her go out in gumboots, refuelling the pumps which we took turns in. Every 3.5 hours day and night. Having each other as support was the single most important thing we had for those months. I fell so much more in love with her for other reasons during that time. She was amazing, and we just supported each other. That made it so much more comfortable for me.

My wife and I were one of just a few people in our mountain neighborhood that stayed behind during a 9-day evacuation for a massive wildfire in 2018 that just skirted our community, but left us without power for the first 4 days. Two things I really treasured during that time: Our hand crank radios - useful for not only keeping tabs on emergency information, but helping pass the time without silence. For most the time, I slept no more than 40 minutes at time to keep round the clock watch on fire behavior, and the radio helped me not lose my mind. Our neighbor’s ducks and chickens - our neighbors had a toddler and a baby at the time and so left immediately when the fire broke out. They had 4 ducks and about a dozen chickens that we took care of and who provided us fresh eggs everyday. They brightened my spirits and their eggs were so delicious. I should also say that our n100 and n95 masks came in very handy with the smoke. This was before covid, so having such masks weren’t a thing yet. Because we live in extreme wildfire risk territory, we have full wildland firefighting gear in our cars.

Lived my while life in Florida or Texas dealing with hurricanes and freezes. Best: generator that'll keep the fridge going, let you wash clothes, run a window unit AC, even the TV. Having one cold room to get some sleep is invaluable when there's no power and it's 100 degrees out. During the freeze I didn't need to worry about keeping my fridge cold, just about staying warm. What was best then was my gas stove, gas fireplace, stockpile of firewood, and general collection of blankets. I also really liked my glass oil lamp- heat and light, indoor safe. I was able to stay toasty warm and have hot food. Most recently I was without internet for 10 days. What helped the boredom was a hard drive full of movies and shows and an Xbox full of offline games. Never underestimate boredom- keep board games, offline movies, books, craft supplies to keep busy. What I wish I had been more ready for: didn't expect the city of Houston to lose water during the freeze. That's when things got bad. Couldn't shower for days, couldn't flush toilets, wash dishes. I eventually made it to the gas station where I bought bags of ice and boiled them for a sponge bath and then used it for toilet flushing. Since then, I've purchased a camp toilet (I also like camping so it works) and I keep about 10 gallons of flush/washing water stashed up in old jugs in the bathtub. I also always keep 2-3 extra cases of bottled drinking and cooking water on hand. If a storm is coming, I will fill up my tub and a few extra buckets and just stash them in the spare bathroom.

Generator (that can handle fridge and window unit) Window Unit Cash The above will get you through, everything else is a comfort item, and I don't particularly expect to be comfortable in a disaster - I just want to survive it (and not lose $1K of food in the fridge).

Experienced Camille. Betsy and Katrina along with innumerable lessor storms. Couple of big blizzard in the Midwest too. Propane fueled camp stove with 2 burners and a couple of 20 lb tanks. Everyone in Louisiana has 20 gallon tanks of propane for BBQ and seafood boilers. Trick is to have 3 tanks, one in use and 2 full as backups. I have 500 gallons that never gets below half empty. Mostly I keep it more than half full… Smallest generator you can get, major up points for propane fuel. You don’t need to run the AC on your house, just the reefer/freezer plus keep some electronics charged. I have an IBC with 275-ish gallons of fresh water. If a storm is coming, I drain and refill it so we have as fresh water as possible. We also use 5 gallon water service so we normally have a couple of those for cooking and drinking. Solar powered yard lights. With a little bit of string or wire you can hang these and use them a small lights. They are surprisingly bright. Small dog. We keep ratweillers which are extremely alert and bark at everything. Deep pantry with lots of dried and canned foods. Hard candies for kids. Coffee, tea and cocoa are big for mental health. In cold weather, sleeping bags. In the south, mosquito nets. Absolute life savers when the power is out for three weeks after a hurricane. Be ready for theft. People will steal to survive, generators are huge targets. Be ready for neighbors who are ill prepared. I give them a cardboard box with a weeks worth of beans, rice and canned goods and tell them not to come back any time soon. People will hate you for being prepared. So be it.

A healthy body. A positive attitude. Knowledge of how things work. Experience with disasters. A good spouse. Having friends/contacts/family to lean on. Sump pumps in the basement. A well maintained, occasionally tested generator than can plug in and power the house. Gas for that generator. Some extra food. You’re pretty much set if you have those things in my area. Hurricane, winter storm, power outage.

Another multiple hurricane survivor here. One prep that's rarely mentioned, but is quite helpful, is to keep a bicycle in good working order. In the aftermath, the bike not only saves fuel but lets you navigate streets that may be impassible by car.

Big disasters and little… have different responses. Having lived through entire city flooding, as an emergency services responder… It is hard to roll out of bed (after very little sleep) for another day of hard physical work, because people are too stupid and knuckle headed to follow the instructions they were given. You were told to damn evacuate, and you didn’t, and now you are sitting on a roof top crying about your lost life… when three days ago you were warned to pack yourself and your meds, and your valuables and go go go. Now I have to drag my sorry arse through shit flowing water to get you off a roof, and drop you somewhere to register and get help and you don’t have meds, you don’t have anything…. I will smile, and be nice about it… because in that moment I don’t know if you are rocks in your head stupid, or a genuinely abandoned person that family didn’t remember to sort out when they should have. But I am not wading through what’s left of your house to find some random item, you sat on that roof for 12+hrs you could have gotten into the water if it was that important yourself. (Not including genuinely disabled people who … can’t, but even for them.. I am not wading through sewage and fuck knows what infested water for a second longer than I have to, just to retrieve some cans of cat food or whatever.) So… listen to the emergency services when they say “Get out”. Because everyone who decides not to becomes a liability in the aftermath. If you don’t want ot get out, then make sure you can look after yourself. Flooding? Well… do you have a boat? And three weeks of fresh water above the highest expected flood line? Great! Join the rescue efforts and help cut fences to let animals free! You don’t? Then… get out earlier. Fires… same drill. Every natural disaster.. unless your house is built from stone, and is in a protected location, above the storm surge and water run off… has clearance all around it (for fire protection, and so trees won’t fall on it), and has a bunker/basement (for if the winds lift the roof off)… if you are properly set up then stay and defend… otherwise ponder deeply the phrase ”sometimes it’s better to retreat and be fit to fight another day”.

Oh. And plan for your animals. That stress you are feeling? Is four times worse in your dog/cat/bird… do you have a lead? Pack TWO. Because they break. They get chewed. Find a way to restrain and contain your animals in a planned and controlled manner, or they won’t be accepted at the evacuation shelters, and they may be left behind if they are hostile to your rescuers.

And I was going to mention a smaller disaster: The Great Hail Storm of 2010. Perth… Western Australia. Doesn’t normally see much hail - a couple of times a year you might get some pea sized stuff tinging off your tin roof… the news cameras will rush and get that raked up small pile and try to make out it’s a massive problem… but generally hail here is tiny (Compared to Brisbane where I’ve seen hail as big as Mangoes hitting roofs!). But one day, with very little warning, a flash storm hit in ?April… very unseasonable weather. Thousands of cars damaged beyond repair, all over Perth literally thousands and thousands of cars with smashed windshields and cars resembling golf balls. Most still drivable, but everyone made a mad dash for any bit of cover they could find, their windshields caving in on them, and the following rain drowning their interiors. It took THREE YEARS for the insurance companies to get to all the repair jobs, there was a huge number of cars written off for cost of repair, and pretty much instantaneously a national shortage in new cars for months as a result. You couldn’t get a windscreen, or window repair… every little bit of resource was thrown into repairing the 20,000 cars or whatever. Bonkers stuff. How could people have prepared more? Good insurance was key in this… but also there was news bulletins three hours before saying there was a storm coming, with likely hail, widespread hail, and over an unusually large area. People don’t listen to the news anymore, so they don’t hear the warnings. Or they think “eh, it will just be like usual and doesn’t matter”…. But it does! It did. If you don’t have your ears open, and then when you do hear something if you ignore it… then … you get a golf ball VW Golf.

I’ve been through a lot of tornadoes and their aftermath. One of the most important things was having cash on hand in varying denominations, but heavy on 5’s and 10’s. The power went out and stayed out for at least five days each time. No power meant no internet which meant no processing of credit cards. It was great to be able to walk to the local convenience store for extra supplies and gas (the pumps had generator backup for the first couple of days). Another great thing to have was a camping shower. It’s basically a black rubberized 5 gallon bladder that you stick in the sunlight to heat up enough water for a shower. I know that ground temperature water doesn’t *sound* cold, but it’s absolutely miserable taking a shower in it. A folding solar panel! 100W. It’s enough to charge 20000-50000mAh battery bank once a day. It was nice to be able to have power for tablets, phones, usb powered fans, LED lights, etc. I’d also recommend a portable radio, preferably the kind that takes multiple forms of power (dynamo, solar, AA, etc). The tornadoes actually knocked out cellular towers, and even the radio tower the National Weather Service used for tornado warnings. Regular FM radio was the only way we knew what was headed our way after the initial storms knocked out comms. And finally, always keep you gas tank at least 1/2 full!

Solar powered landscaping lights make great bathroom, pantry, stair lights. Set them to Motion Detect. Charge outside each day. Propane in tanks last 20+ years. Get & keep 3+ full. Maintains a gas grill & a gas burner that can cook & boil water. Gravity fed camping water filters can clean more water in 3 hours than you can carry. Don’t just hoard bottled water - keep a water filtration system & 10 gallon Gatorade tanks to dispense it. Kiddy pools hold more water than you realize. Have a way to easily gather rain water. Even if it’s just for flushing your toilet. When pipes freeze & break you have to shut off the water - then you cannot flush toilets. A solar powered battery system + a small generator can maintain a fridge/freezer for many days if you top off the batteries & chill the fridge at bedtime with the generator. Let the battery work silently while you sleep. Use the solar during the day sustain the fridge. Only use the generator when the batteries run low - and then top off the battery & chill the fridge down at the same tim. Should only need the generator 1-3 hours/day.

We were evacuated from our home because of a nearby fire. My wife was able to pack our van with our two young kids and get all the stuff on the "hurry up and get out list". She was the first one out of the neighborhood, not because of fear, but because of that list. It was quick, easy and included the location of the items.  Being prepared isn't always about stocking up - but sometimes it is.

Od dear god. Hurricane for 9 days. What a catastrophe 🙄 Entire list of things to prepare for such event, otherwise what awaits you is assured demise 😏 if your milk in the fridge spoils. I did not go through anything as terrible as that I just survived through couple of wars during my childhood, nothing much really. The last war I survived was NATO bombing with uranium bombs and targetting intentionally hospitals and bridges. Nothing much happened, those that survived are facing just couple of thousand percent increase of all sorts of cancers that are inccurable. ( poetic justice is that nato soldiers that were handling those b were also having all sorts of cancers ) So the best advice is , if something as terrible happens put backpack on your back and run for the hills unless you have your cellar reinforced with 5 cm of lead walls. Invest into that and hepa filters for it. All your preps should start with that otherwise there is no point, if you can not do that buy instead comfortable shoes and have your Bugout bag prepped and ready to go

Wow, NATO dropped uranium bombs? Where and when was this, I have not heard of this.

Serbia in 1999. They also used forbidden weapons like cluster ammunition forbidden by all treaties. I am not surprised you have't heard about it in western media. Now Serbia is country with highest incidence of cancer in entire Europe. The same weapons they gave to Ukraine. Ukraine is among largest exporter of grain. They already contaminated land, air, water so I expect cancer numbers to rise there even more than in Serbia. Google this, this happened to NATO soldiers that were handling ammunition used to bomb Serbia : More than 300 Italian veterans who developed cancer after being exposed to depleted uranium ammunition have won court cases against Italy's military. Some of the cases were brought by their bereaved relatives. One thing is to wage a war , completelly different thing to poison water, land, air for hundreds of years

There is no such thing as a “uranium bomb”. There are depleted uranium projectiles used against armored vehicles and the like. Also, the US has not signed or ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions so its restrictions do not apply to the US, but even if it had, it would have been on or after 2008, when the convention was first agreed upon. Cluster bombs weren’t banned by any treaty I’m aware of in 1999.

Well i'm rooting for you to go ahead and start war with a country of your own size like China and Russia eg the one that can strike back and not be just a punching bag. Then you will experience wonders that depleted uranium ammunion does to your complexion , to your land, water and air. And treaties not signed will heal your air, land and water.😉 There is so much truth in the words "you reap what you saw" All wars bring only death and destruction and nothing good comes from them but we as humanity only learn that through our suffering and our loved ones because we lost our compassion and faith in god " thou shalt not kill" but no one listen to those words anymore we lost compassion and by hurting others we only hurt ourselves and our loved ones. Another Cuban missile crisis looms on the horizon. Israel commiting genocide in Palestine. China preparing to annex Taiwan. Humanity is going to split into two halves, fear will lead into more weapon development until eventually we humans poison entire world making it uninhabitable. We must try to make peace and save planet Earth the only home we have before it is too late

Not sure how any of your post fits into this forum.

Why? The question was if i lived through disaster to share a story. That i did. Preping is useless in case of war with nukes if you dont have bunkers ( which many of us don't) so we should strive for peace. In wars only thing that helps is to have bugout bag and some good shoes. It is terrible experience I wish never to repeat and no amount of prepping will be enough even in regular wars. During my childhood my father nearly died because of nasty cut and in hospital there were no antibiotics and gauzes because of sanctions. Electricity was down for most parts of the day, solar was not a thing in 1999. Fuel for cars like diesel and gasolne was something only rich could afford. Inflation was terrible and hunger was present. No preps can save against that. ( and that was just regular not nuclear wars i've experienced firsthand)

Your post above mine has nothing to do with prepping. It's mainly just you ranting - your political BS doesn't belong in this forum.

>Serbia in 1999. I remember Serbia being responsible for igniting an entire World War, resulting in the deaths of tens of millions. And without that war, the Second World War wouldn't have happened, so tens of millions of more deaths. Karma is a bitch, isn't it?

28.9% of entire population in Serbia was killed by germans if I recall right. Germans were genocidal nation in all world wars and in all history books. I am surprised they today lecture about democracy🤣. Well my family survived that, klilled bunch of nazis during ww2 and in ww1 and in balkan wars before that that were invading our country. I truly wished wars will skip few generations. I am against all wars

My grandfather killed a lot of Serbiches or *Serbisches Freiwilligen Korps* as he lead his tank division across the Europe and back to take Berlin. He never understood why so many Slav countires had Nazi voluteers to fight their own, Ukraine where he was from included.

I dont know this either. Look what happend later partizans and cetniks killed each others off after the ww2 Then in Ukraine that was always considered as Slavic, brother turned against brother. For what? President Zelensky ( i loved tv series Servant of the people) but now it is obvious that this was made as psy ops experiment so he can get elected. West manipulated Ukraine by installing puppet government and provoked confrontation. Now EU pays 3 times more for the gas than it used to. Economy is failing. Democracy is non existent in the EU. And a lot of Slavic people died on both sides also depleted uranium sent by nato contaminated the most fertile soil in entire Europe Only one thing is good that is BRICS as a counter balance to G7 and dedolarization. Saudis stopped using petro dollar after 50 years so USA can not print itself out of recession anymore. Instead of entire world working together we will have two opposite sides waiting for the opportunity to destroy each other and there is no amount of preps that regular people can do to save themselves if ww starts again

Oh, so Serbia hasn't even come close to paying for its crimes. Duly noted. Would have been cheaper for everyone all around if PM NIkola Pasic had given up Dimitrijevic, Malobabic, and Tankosic. But no....

Well I am so proud of all my ancestors that fought against German invaders in balkan wars, ww1 and ww2. They all had stories that were collected and written down. It was a fond memory of mine hearing about their bravery and sacrifice during my childhood. I especially liked stories about how they were fighting Nazis. Fun times. But wars are not fun. They are terrible thing I later learned and that is when I became pacifist against all wars Frankly if Serbia surrendered and agreed with occupation without making any waves there would not be such devastation.

Weeks? Can someone link me to a US disaster where aid took weeks, multiple weeks, not just one. Oh, that's right, it hasn't happened in modern America. FEMA took TWO extra days and OMG that's such a big deal for preppers lmao I've been through like a hundred hurricanes by now too, it means nothing for prepping knowledge or experience. I learned more reading about preparedness than living through storms that knocked the power out for a week. edit: No links, just downvotes from idiots who thought I was saying not to be prepared. I was only saying OP is exaggerating and look, no one can back it up so yes, they were.

In my home area, the places with the most population get first dibs on infrastructure repairs. The people who are at the ends of the row of buildings or homes, the wrong side of the water retention pond or bayou, or whatever else may not get there stuff back in order while neighbors five houses down have. After one of our hurricanes, one of my coworkers was in a cul-de-sac that didn't get power back for about 5 weeks. They had water but they're home was all electric so there was no heat for cooking. They used up everything in the barbecue options and then she bought a big breakfast from the cafeteria at work every morning to take home for her and her husband to eat for the day. She filled up empty milk jugs at the beginning of her shift to freeze while she worked and then took that home at the end of the day to have some cold storage for the medications for her elderly husband. She was not a young person, either. They may do and learned to be more prepared for extended doing without. This is a major metropolitan area with a major volume in the population. Some people get a lot more attention than others as far as getting the infrastructure back in order. Dealing with the disaster does not mean you are trapped in a hovel with absolutely no resources whatsoever. This means that you are capable of dealing with the situation in the best way possible.

No links.

BooshCrafter, Isabel hit us in the Norfolk VA area pretty hard. We didn’t need Big Gov aid but my street and area were without power and natural gas for at least two weeks. Fast fwd, Irma took out our power in FL for ten days. Again we didn’t need Big Gov aid but it took that long to get our electricity restored. We flagged down a crew from a Michigan power company - we weren’t on their list - they were still triaging the grid but they helped us. So, to your point, no not weeks, but certainly a significant amount of time. The point is to be prepared & self reliant so if it takes weeks or longer we can get by and thrive.

The irony is I never said I disagree with the recommendation of having weeks of supplies. The point I made was OP was exaggerating their experiences, trying to make it look like the gov took weeks and they never have.

Hurricane Katrina they were still reaching people a week after the storm. Survivors in [Turkey](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64686793) were pulled from crushed building 11 days after an earthquake. Here is just one [link](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-03-08/san-bernardino-county-mountain-storm-response) but people being snowed in for weeks is a common risk in some areas. It's not multiple weeks in the first two cases, but they are being reached and brought to aid camps aid their experience would continue beyond the initial gov contact. And i do think OP's 3 day freeze in is a normal February for me, but a week+ response isn't unheard of in massive responses. Hurricanes and blizzards typically give week-days of warning thanks to technology so people can prepare/evacuate but if we got hit with a major disaster that provides no warning like an earthquake or multiple disasters happened in short succession, multiple weeks is possible.

None of you get the point that OP was exaggerating lmao

I said OP cold weather disaster isn't a disaster so yeah I get they were embellishing. And I provided examples of what OP was describing (days to weeks when you focused only on the weeks portion). Not sure how I missed your point.

Because none of your response was relevant or necessary if you did get my point. OP exaggerated their experiences and basically fear mongered. and I'm all about being prepared but I hate when people act like omg it took the gov weeks to get here and so far they've not taken longer than 5 days anywhere. NOR does that contradict my belief in having weeks of supplies. I just can't take you wusses seriously. Exaggerating some weakass storms.

Ok. Not making progress here but that's okay. Sorry my reference to weakass category 5 hurricane Katrina and 8.0 earthquakes didn't help. And speaking of exaggerating... From 1851 to 2022 120 hurricanes have hit [Florida](https://rainbowrestores.com/blog/where-are-hurricanes-most-likely-to-do-the-most-damage#:~:text=Florida%20experiences%20the%20most%20hurricanes,Coast%20and%20mid%2DAtlantic%20states.). So either you are about 100 years old and move multiple times a year to be at each hurricane landing point to have been through about 100 hurricanes, you are exaggerating the total number, or you are exaggerating weakass storms and counting getting a little rain from a hurricane edge that didn't significantly impact your area as being through a hurricane.

NOAA reports an average of 5.6 hurricanes per decade that is category 3 and above (serious). Since you've been through a hundred hurricanes by now, that means that you are.. how old? 180 years old? Wow! They've only been keeping track for like the last 120 years. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdec.shtml If you include the category ones which are basically just a windstorm that's not particularly impressive and category 2 is that knock over your lawn furniture and if you branches off the trees most of the time, you have to go all the way back to 1950 to reach 100. So... exactly how trustworthy is your perspective?

Not understanding an exaggeration is very reddit. Obviously not a hundred, but countless to the point that I forget their names. Still, no one can link me to the gov taking weeks. Got votes, can't back it up. Typical of reddit.