The devastation from the latest hurricane is incredibly horrible. Lives were lost. Homes were destroyed. Millions are without power. In some areas there is no food - no water. The people who live in the path of the storm have had their lives changed, and not for the good.
Our government that is supposed to take care of its citizens, especially in a time of need, is silent. Guess who is stepping up to the plate. Yep. Those crazy preppers!
Pinball of "Pinball Preparedness" YouTube channel tells the story much better than I can. Especially since he is up to his neck in trying to help those impacted by the storm. The link below is well worth a watch.
"I'm From The Government And I'm Here To Help" - Kiss My Ass - YouTube
Minnesota doesn't have hurricanes. Instead, we get tornadoes in the summer and blizzards in the winter. So if our citizens have a shred of common sense left, they prepare. Food. Water. A source of heat to keep us from freezing to death when a blizzard knocks out the power. Can't do much when a tornado blows your house into the next county, but if supplies are divided and stored in a couple of places, we at least have a fighting chance for survival.
I would hope that the plight of the hurricane survivors would open the eyes of those who think it foolish to buy an extra can of beans or more bottles of water. But I don't think I will hold my breath waiting for that to happen. There are way too many who think those of us who prepare are nothing more than crazy conspiracy theorists.
I will remember that when my family is eating good, stomach filling food and the naysayers are digging in dumpsters. Mean of me? Perhaps. But I am totally out of patience with those who believe nothing bad will ever happen in their back yard. I would hope this last storm might serve as a wakeup call. Lives depend on it.
I know I don't need to remind all of you to keep stacking. Or to keep praying. Prayers heavenward for those poor souls affected by the storm. May they get the help they need.
With all due respect, the Federal government is hardly being "silent" with regard to Hurricane Helene. Disaster declarations have been made, FEMA is on the ground, the US Army Corp of Engineers is on the ground, and so on. Give me a break.
ReplyDeleteWhen our government can spend less on wars that have nothing to do with us and more to help our citizens who are hurting, then I might have a good word to say about it. Until then, government is as useless as tits on a boar.
DeleteUhhh... "Laura," Biden just said "This all we can give them..." ...Look it up... That's what happens when you dump our tax dollars into fighting a 400-year-old family squabble between Ukraine and Russia, and MANY more billions of dollars funding INSANE giveaways to illegal aliens... ...You sound like you live a very protected, sequestered, and tax-free life...
DeleteOn my -- a troll appeared!! Just my two cents...
ReplyDeleteAnother good YT I've been watching is Appalachia's Homestead with Patara. From Eastern TN. She too gave a shout out to Pinball. I'll watch him next.
And my thought when I see all these Govgt-types....in their embroidered shirts and vests ---- that was a good use of my taxpayer money for those shirts and color coded vests. (Snarc).
Me -- I just bought a WaterBob for my bathtub and I'm taking an inventory of 'stuff' around the house.
Buckle up. Pray. Listen to Gospel music. And then get to work.
SJ now in California
At least I have the guts to use my name. Just saying....
DeleteLaura Who? No information on your bio. And don't you dare talk against SJ. She is a longtime supporter of this blog as well as a longtime friend. All you are is someone who has nothing better to do than spread hate and discontent. Further comments by you will be deleted.
DeleteSJ...Totally agree. I'm doing what many of us who still have common sense are doing. My grocery order went in today. Included were several items to fill holes in my storage. This last storm hopefully woke some folks up to the fact that they are on their own. Government types are too busy finding useless projects to spend money on that we don't have instead of helping our own. They should be ashamed and might be if they had a scrap of humanity left in their souls.
DeleteGood on you, my friend, for doing what needs to be done. Hope many more are paying attention!
Hey "Laura," anyone who's frequented this blog for any amount of time is VERY familiar with "SJ now in California." As for you, are you "Laura Ingalls Wilder?" "Laura Ingraham?" "Laura from Gomorrah?" WHO? I would say that I truly don't see your point here, except that you're just looking for a bear to poke. Say- Vicki; are you a polar bear or a grizzly bear?...
DeleteDepends, Pete...Someone insulting my readers and friends will likely set me into the category of irate grizzly bear. I don't mind differences of opinion. But mess with my friends.....gone!
DeleteVicki, every time I see news stories following hurricanes and the like, replete with people standing in line for water and gasoline, I have to ask myself just what's wrong with them. I'm sure there are some who got caught in a bad place and couldn't prepare, but by and large, it looks as if they just didn't care about what was coming, and assumed Uncle Sam would be there in minutes to bail them out. I just don't get it! Hurricanes are NOT tornadoes that appear out of the blue. They're NOT earthquakes that ALSO strike with no warning. These people had TIME to prepare and they DIDN'T! I have limited sympathy for them. Sure, there's ALWAYS something "more fun" to spend money on than prepping, but it seems there would be few things LESS fun than standing in line in heat, humidity, standing water, and mosquitoes waiting for a handout from FEMA...
ReplyDeleteI live deppinahearta earthquake country. We get little jigglers now and then, but BIG quakes are as random as they are infrequent. I SHUDDER to think of what my area would look like if we were cut off from food and water here after a good solid shaker, especially in the heat of the desert summer!!! Suffice it to say, my doors will be closed to outsiders should that happen... They COULD'VE prepared, but DIDN'T... Their complacency is NOT my problem...
Pete...I think I have, by now, heard nearly every excuse known to man for not being prepared. The most prevalent being they are convinced nothing bad will ever happen to them and if, on the off chance it does, a government entity will surely take care of them. Those in charge of brainwashing the general public seem to have done a bang-up job!
DeleteMany of us have tried for years to interest those around us in the world of preparedness, to no avail. I am old. I am tired. At this point I have all I can do to keep up with what is necessary to make sure my own family is taken care of. Those still residing in the world of unicorns and fairy dust are on their own.
Thanks to Vicki and Peteforester for the shout out.
ReplyDeleteEven I am learning new things - even all these years into keeping a deep pantry. Today, I was talking with a friend and dog food came up. She said how she keeps canned food for her canines because the kibble won't keep as long. LIGHT BULB moment for me --- and I had to laugh. I had not even thought about canned dog food as an item to put on my buy list. But now I will.
Yes -- agree that most people would rather go on a trip or buy a new car. You name it - anything but spending money on preps. Me -- I get comfort knowing I don't have to run to the store for tonight's dinner.
I too am still trying to figure out the best way to increase my water storage. For me, that's a soft spot should services get cutoff. But I'm working on it, and perhaps that's what is all important.
Stay safe everyone.
SJ now in California (along with PuppyGirl who will also remain nameless on the web)
Seems like EVERYONE forgets the pets. We keep a good stock of pet food on hand here at Rancho Whybother, but, as you said, the dry food doesn't seem to keep very well at all. There was a sale on the food we buy for the dogs, so we bought deep. MISTAKE. We had to throw the tail end of the supply away. The oils in the food settled to the bottoms of the bags. Not only that, those oils went rancid. Canned food is a great idea. It keeps longer, and the cans don't mind getting wet!
DeleteLiving in the desert, water's a HUGE soft spot in my book as well. I keep 5-gallon water cooler jugs filled at all times. We have a water cooler in the kitchen, so the water gets cycled out, oldest first. I have 19 jugs in the barn that are always kept full, along with a couple of other jugs that I'd fill in an emergency, as their caps don't fit very well. Just remember that water is ridiculously heavy! If you store large amounts of water above the ground floor of where you live, make sure you spread it out, as putting it all in one place could have it end up going through the floor!
Thanks Peteforester - I can have about 3 bags extra on hand of kibble. Been there like you and had it go bad. Glad the learning curve happened when it did.
DeleteI'm in an apartment so even though I have a second bedroom now, I only store water in my laundry room on the vinyl flooring. I'm hesitant to store it outside given our ridiculously high temps in the summer time. I've got filtered water via the kitchen tap as part of my rental so cycling through the stored water is a challenge. Any more advice is most appreciated.
SJ now in California
My dear Kitten has about four months of her special diet stocked (might as well store it at home rather than the Vet's shelf). Besides, winter is coming on.
DeleteGood for you, Don...Our pets aren't just pets. They are part of the family!!
DeleteYou know, I have to agree about they should have prepared. And I am sure many didn't. But you have to also wonder how many did, and now have no home to go to where they had prepared.
ReplyDeleteSome small towns don't even exist any more, let alone the number of homes destroyed.
Just a thought.
LindaG...Nobody can predict that kind of devastation. Some time back, my daughter moved a truckload of stuff to her house. Should anything happen to this apartment, it would be awful. But at least I know some food and supplies would still be safe at her house. If possible, dividing the stores seems like a smart thing to do.
DeleteI definitely agree about multiple caches, Vicki.
DeleteFor some reason the observation/complaint about being unprepared - this time - just rubbed me wrong.
And the observation was probably for the least damaged areas and not the worst.
But I just felt the need to make the observation.
LindaG...As a well-respected member of this little family here, your opinions are most welcome. And I don't care if they do not mirror my own.
DeleteI find myself frustrated with those who refuse to lift a finger to help themselves by preparing for whatever happens. And then they tell me I am crazy for doing what I do or tell me they will just come to my house in bad times. Or they expect some government official to knock on their door with a ham sandwich and a Coca Cola for them.
My heart cries for those who have lost so much, no matter if they were prepared for disaster or not. All are hurting. So we do what we can and pray for them all, preppers and non-preppers alike.
God bless, my friend.
Indeed, LindaG. That's why I said that some ended up in a "bad place." My attitude towards this springs from the almost unbelievable disregard those around me have towards being prepared. These are, for the most part, fairly well-educated. They have families. They have sufficient funds. The grid in California is precarious at best. Earthquakes, as I said, are as random as they are destructive. One could happen any place at any time. And yet their retort to me when the subject comes up is "When things go bad, I'm comin' to YOUR place!" It just blows my mind... These folks don't realize that I prepared for ME. I prepared for MY FAMILY. There is NO WAY I'm going to be handing out survival supplies to "trick or treaters" showing up at my door!
DeleteI'm with Vicki in not putting all the eggs in one basket.