Shelters, Would you go?

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Great info, Raven6

If a sudden event does occur, one of the most important things is for you and your family to have a contingency plan for where and how to get back together. Your home may not be accessible. Communication may not be available. Transportation may be limited. Everyone in the family needs to know what to do.

 

[sipowicz]

From my cold dead couch...

 

[Out West]

I'd go for the hot chicks! Shelter babes are the hottest.

Out West

 

[loknload]

Absolutely Not, and I will not be forced from my home either.
When the time for me to leave has come, I will do so on my own accord and make my departure in my Motorhome, which for the most part is stocked and ready to go.!

 

[rpbcab]

Great post Raven6. We lived for a year in the interior of Alaska,

Glennallen to be exact and we, my wife and a 3 year old and a 4 year

old and a part wolf part husky dog lived in a 8 by 35 house trailer.

Most of the winter the toilet was frozen and at certain temperatures

heating oil won't flow. Most of the time we had to check all of the

sides of the trailer to be sure that the local wolf pack was not on the

site before we could go out or let the kids play out.... Now we are

only concerned about what will happen if there is some sort of disaster

that will run the folks out of the cities in West Tennessee into the

rural areas. We live in the Friendship area and Memphis is only 75

miles to the west of us. We have 2 generators and plenty of fuel for

many days in survival mode.... We have a heavy duty truck and 32 foot

fifth wheel trailer, we have a 4 door Jeep Wrangler to pull our utility

trailer with generators and many other survival tools in case of having

to bug out. I like your 5 things list:
1 – EAT
2 – DRINK
3 – SLEEP
4 – RUN
And for those that choose to do so,
5 – FIGHT

We have adopted 2 little girls and they are 5 and 6 and we constantly

teach them about what to do in an emergency. We plan to stay put as

long as possible and we have no worries about taking off in any

direction necessary. No SHELTER>>>>>

 

[DJINCO]

Nope. Hunker down or evac to our alternate location.

 

[YogiBear]

Aloha,

Well today we had some excitement. AKA Tsunami

Luckily, it was a major flop.

But, before the day ended, I had gone out to fill up my SUV and some boat 6 gallon gas tanks for our 2 Honda generators. If I didn't have a "secret" gas station(so to speak), I woul d have been waiting in a very long gas line reminiscient of the 1970s.

As it was, just under 25 gallons of gas cost me ALMOST $100. But, the plus side is that I got it immediately withour waiting. In and out.

While I was out getting gas, the Wife was filling water into various containers. One set for drinking andother for toilet.

We have enough food and Toilet paper to easily last a week Cases of local favorite SPAM.

More and more people here in Hawaii are actually beginning to take warnings seriously. So much so, just mention Emergency Alert and people are evacuating their home with clothes on their back....

 

[Smith357]

I have my own shelter deep in the hills some 60 miles from the city, I don't need the government handout. I took care of my family's needs without them.

 

[Catshooter]

Raven6,

I've been into the "survival mode" for many years now, but you made me think and spot a hole in my planning. Assaulting my own position! Thanks, that is a wonderful idea and I will put it to good use.


Cat

 

[truckemup97]

Besides riots/insurrection, there are only two things I can think of that might force us from our home. The first is a refinery emergency; we live within four miles of two, so if we were downwind of a poisonous gas release, we would certainly grab a bag and get out. The second is a tornado, which would destroy the house with us in it, as there is usually little warning. Other than that, I can shelter in place for two weeks or more, with or without city water, electricity or natural gas. I see no need to go to a public shelter with all the smelly people eating MREs.

BTW, great post Raven6. I've done a lot of research in the last couple of years, and you've certainly hit the high points. There's lots more to know, but it would be impossible to list it all on one forum.

 

[Capt Steve]

One of the most interesting threads I've seen in a longtime. I don't anticipate ever needing to go to a shelter. Since we are retired and have the ability to choose where we live, we have chosen a location that is immune to 99% of the disasters that could require an evacuation. We don't get hurricanes, tornados, fires, earthquakes, tsunami's. No chemical or industrial facilities near us either. As Mr Myagi told Daniel san....best way is to no be there. (o; I realize most folks don't have this as an option.

If however, we had to boogie on short notice our camp trailer and my F-150 loaded with our usual camping supplies would see us safely for at least a week and probably two if we packed some extra provisions. Because we like to get away, often on short notice, we are able to hook up and drive off in a very short period of time (the trailer is stored in the garage). If it were a matter of staying put at home for a week or two without the usual amenities - power, water, phones etc again I feel covered. We have a large pantry, frig/freezer and usually have at least a month's supply of food. With the extra propane bottles we can cook and maintain the frig/freezer on the trailer for weeks. The spa on the patio hold 300 + gallons of water that I wouldn't drink but could after purification. Absent the dreaded zombies (LMAO), we would be fine. Just another two cents worth....maybe.

 

[David LaPell]

I can tell you that if the proverbial excrement hit the spinning blade here, that I wouldn't go anywhere unless 100 % necessary. Besides I am thirty miles from the nearest shelter. What would that drive be like? What would the shelter be like when I got there? It's in the local city and since every time there is a natural disaster the absolute best seems to come out in people (sarcasm injected here), I doubt I will travel. I have the house, woodstove, fireplace, generator and plenty of wood. I also have running water in the form of a large stream nearby and I keep food stocked up anyway. If something happens to the house, there is the guest cottage, and worst case scenario is the big tent behind the house. As far as bugging out, well the only problem is what would the place you are going to bug out look like when you get there? Neither the wife and I take and sorts of medications needing to be refilled (at least not yet) and other than diapers and baby formula, we are pretty much self sufficent.

 

[GatorFarmer]

Interestingly, this is a subject that I get paid to write about (sometimes), albeit not very much.

Here's the concise narrative. No matter where you live, how well prepared you are, or what your likely set of emergency situations likely consists of... There will always exist the possibility of a set of circumstances that could render you current abode inhabitable. Some people have bug out locations (BOLs), gear to get there, specialized vehicles, etc. All well and good.

However, there are times when doing what the government tells you to do really is a smart idea. They don't want you dead after all. You pay taxes and buy things, thus everyone from the IRS to Coca Cola has a vested interest in your survival.

In a truly dire national emergency, FEMA and the military, in conjunction with the Red Cross and similar agencies, would set up shelters. Certain things are only possible to shelter against with specialized equipment that the government might have but most people won't - for example digging some nice deep holes to sit out a gamma ray burst.

Unlike the film Zombieland, there is no hard and fast set of rules about things like this. That's what makes it scary about emergencies, you'll have to use your own best judgement and common sense at a time where reliable information will be sketchy and panic a likely and common thing.

 

[Raven6]

"...for example digging some nice deep holes to sit out a gamma ray burst."
********************************
How about two rooms with 360 total square feet, within a Faraday cage, complete with food/water stores, sleeping area, off-grid electrical power, full communications, air filtration/ventilation, and sanitation facilities, all underneath 4 feet of earth and 12 inches of concrete?

All accessable without leaving the residence... Will that work? If not, I've at least got one helluva gun vault.

Mike