Are You Prepared for a Prolonged and Widespread Power Blackout?
Prolonged and widespread power blackouts can be caused by many different types of disasters. They can result from natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, extreme temperatures, and wildfires. They also can result from man-made disasters such as power grid breakdowns and terrorism.
How can you prepare for the possibility or a prolonged and widespread power blackout this summer? This article will discuss some of the preparations to consider. For example, do you always keep your gas tank at least half full? Do you have appropriate cables to charge your cell phone from your car?
As another example, have you stocked up on all types of batteries for flashlights, headlights, and lanterns? Depending upon candles during a summer blackout will increase the heat in the house. Depending upon them during any season will increase the chances of an accidental fire.
What is the condition of your teeth? Getting a toothache during a power blackout will add insult to injury. Are there any other health conditions that you can resolve before hospitals become overwhelmed and cops and firemen are given priority during a disaster?
Preparations for a disaster involve more than stocking materials and keeping your body healthy. You also need to build skills and acquire knowledge. For example, what do you do to cope with stress? If you frequent suburban parks, realize that they might have as much crime as city parks. If your stress reduction requires you to leave your home, you might want to learn to use a stress reduction technique you can use at home.
Wanting to leave home during or after a disaster is understandable. You will be suffering from cabin fever, and you will be curious to see the damage the disaster has caused.
Leaving home after a disaster is not usually a safe option. Inoperable traffic-lights and streetlights, traffic jams, riots, and looting might make staying home a better option. Crime might be more prevalent because the police might be overwhelmed.
If you decide to prepare for hard times, realize that you are doing what people have always done. There are many historical examples of people preparing for hard times. Genesis 6 describes Noah building an ark, and Genesis 41 describes how Joseph stockpiled food. In the middle-ages, people, slaughtered livestock, preserved food, and chopped wood in the summer so they could have food and fire in the winter. During WWII, people planted “Victory Gardens.” During the “Cold War” people and governments made bomb shelters. In our current age, the swine flu, avian influenza, Ebola, increased crime, repeated terrorist attacks, COVID-19 and financial upheavals all have motivated many people to prepare for hard times.
There is another advantage to advanced preparation that is important. With inflation as high as it is, you probably will never get food and equipment any cheaper. If you wait for a disaster to stock up, you might not find all of what you are seeking, and you might encounter those sellers who are demanding gouging type prices.
What have you done to prepare?
My book has additional ways to prepare for disasters.
