Planning for Disaster

Reading about all the current disasters in the world makes me think about my own life and what I need to do to keep it going – does it have that effect on you?

I’m especially sensitive to other people having to deal with floods. Living here between a river and a creek is like being a spider sitting in a sink. Sooner or later someone is going to turn on the water, and down the drain you’ll go.

This time of year I tend to start thinking about evacuation plans. Mostly that consists of making sure there aren’t too many animals to evacuate, and planning where to take them. The animals go out first. Family pix are in old marked suitcases that can be grabbed quickly. And, of course, you have to just be willing to kiss some of your possessions goodbye. Thankfully, we haven’t had to evacuate very often and the house has never suffered damage. I’d like to wish that luck on everyone.

When I see stories, though, where people who are still in their homes are quoted saying things like “we’re running out of food,” it makes me wonder. I’m sure there’s enough food in my house for at least a week, maybe 2 if you’re not too picky. As long as there’s a manual can opener, life is good. We can handle tuna straight from the can and unheated green beans. Bob eats cold soup and stuff all the time. I don’t stockpile food, mostly it’s from buying food at Costco, you get 6 cans of soup whether you want them or not, and half are stored in the basement.

And how could you run out of water in a record rainstorm? A couple of plastic tubs set outside should do it, shouldn’t it? My favorite quote, though, was “we don’t have any cold water to drink, what are we supposed to do, drink hot water?” Well, gee, if you leave a cup of hot water sitting out it gets at least lukewarm pretty fast. Personally I’d throw a tea bag in it and enjoy a cup of Earl Grey.

There are probably a lot of folks who are coping just fine, but we don’t hear about them. It’s just the whiners who make it on the news – in my case internet news reports. It’s probably worse on TV.

I do believe I’ll get an extra 12-pack of tuna next time I’m at Costco. For when the electricity goes out, as it always does in rural areas. Tuna and Triscuits, yum.