Emergency planning

Survival Diary from 3 Hurricanes & Lessons Learned, Part 1 of 3

May 27, 2020 / 2 Comments

Notes from Hurricane Frances (and then on to Hurricanes Charley and Jeanne) This is compiled from notes that I, Stephen McGehee, took during and after the hurricanes that went through here in 2004. Since it was written in a diary format, some conclusions in the first part are changed by the time we get to the end. Be sure to read all three parts of this article. Background Hurricane Frances came through last weekend. Today is Friday September 10, 2004, …

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Real-life Survival: Train Wreck Topples Town

May 27, 2020 / 18 Comments

Guest post by Janet Spencer. I live in Montana where it is often bitterly cold in the winter. In February of 1989, it was 29 below zero, and a long train was crossing the state and heading up the Continental Divide just west of town. When the over-worked heater went out in the engine, the engineers stopped the train in order to swap engines so they could have heat. They set the brakes, disconnected the train, swapped the engines, and …

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“Gone In 60 Seconds”… Do You Have a Disaster Prepared Mindset?

May 27, 2020 / 7 Comments

Ashes fell like rain and smoke drowned out the fiery red sun on our cozy Southern California beach town in October of 2007. The news reported that 1500 homes were lost in what is considered the worst fire disaster in San Diego County. At the time, I was a local non-profit chapter director and was receiving numerous calls and emails from eager volunteers looking to help. The American Red Cross already had boots on the ground and evacuation centers and …

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Power-less in Seattle: A first-person report from a winter blizzard

May 27, 2020 / 37 Comments

I was sent a link to this first-hand report of a Seattle resident, Dave, who lived through this week’s blizzard.  I lived!!! As anybody who doesn’t live in a cave probably knows, the Seattle Pacific Northwest this week was hammered by winter storms, knocking out juice to what amounted, at the high point, to over 300,000 households, which affected around 1.2 million people! In this case, it was actually predicted that there could be scattered power outages.  News on Wednesday …

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Survival Tips for a Tornado Disaster

May 29, 2020 / 3 Comments

I’ve always been afraid of tornadoes, even before I heard of the Wicked Witch of the West and, “Surrender Dorothy!” Tornado survival is something that took a while for me to learn. Anybody who grew up or lived near Gilbert, in Central Iowa, is familiar with the destructive, whirling wind patterns. The movie “Twister” was filmed about 40 miles away from our family farm, and all the locals can tell storm stories. One year, our neighbors lost their house to …

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My Story: Lessons from the Nashville Flood

May 29, 2020 / 11 Comments

Beginning Saturday, May 1,  2010, Nashville and surrounding counties in Tennessee received one-fourth of our yearly rainfall in about 48 hours.  Since I now view everything through survivalist eyes, I’d like to share what I observed and the lessons that were reinforced and pass along a few tips to help you survive a flood. Lesson:  Good neighbors can help prevent loss of life during a disaster. While our emergency responders were great, they couldn’t be everywhere.  The greatest good was …

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Not-Just-For-Alaska Earthquake Survival

May 28, 2020 / 4 Comments

by upinak, Alaskan Preppers Network There comes a time when you will feel an earthquake here in Alaska, no matter where you live. Whether in South Central, Interior, North Slope, South East or the Aleutians, you will feel them. What to do and how you survive them is all up to you.  There are two types in pseudo-geological terms to worry about, Shakers and Rollers.  The differences between both could be the reason and way to save your life. A “Shaker” …

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Seven Ways to Prepare for an Earthquake

May 28, 2020 / 7 Comments

In 1994 a friend of mine was in the Northridge earthquake. She was awakened in the middle of the night by her apartment collapsing around her. She crawled out of the wreckage wearing nothing but her nighty. She met her neighbors in the street. Most were cut, like she was, from scrambling through broken glass on their way out of ruined buildings. Some were missing. Most were found. Several were dead. It was a long time until dawn. Hearing her …

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