Posted on 10/12/2014 6:20:37 AM PDT by BobL
Now that it's proven that Ebola transmission doesn't necessarily respect international borders and confine itself to "those countries", perhaps it's time that paranoid types (me included) update our supplies and get ready for what may come. I'll state what I see as worst-case, and others are welcome to chime-in and comment (or contradict) what I say.
First, if the virus spreads out of control (which I consider possible, as long as it is being given civil rights), there is only one way to stop it, and that is a near-complete lock-down of the country, with only essential workers allowed out of home confinement. The country will basically look like a giant ghost town with a small number of people in space suits trying to keep order and hand out supplies to the 98% of the people that are totally unprepared. They will also try to keep operating utilities such as power, natural gas, clean water, and sewage treatment. Not much need for gasoline though as our consumption rate will drop to next to nothing (so stockpiles will last a long time for those allowed to use it).
The next question is how long will the confinement be. I suspect that the confinement will be at least 30 days (longer for people having some contact with victims), and it will take some time to clear the streets.
So, as far as disasters go, this is actually one of the easier scenarios (try thinking about a landscape covered with radioactive fallout, for example, or even no water/power and a badly damaged house after a hurricane). In this case, you may lose water/power, but not right away. As far as being prepped to go out in public (i.e., clothing, masks, etc.) or taking care of Ebola patients, that's way out of my league. Others can discuss it, but I won't try.
So, my recommendations are as follows:
WATER
1) Storing Fresh Water: Ideally, you go on stored water. It can be bottled, although my first-line method is to take a large trash can, line it with 2 heavy duty trash bags, and then fill it up about 2/3s with tap water, that's good for about 20 gallons, which or about 20 man-days if used for drinking. There are also devices that fit in bathtubs for storing water, although these are getting hard to find.
2) Purifying Other Water: As a minimum have always fresh bleach, and be sure it's really fresh, as its shelf life is only 6 months. Even if you hate Wal-Mart, that's a great place to buy it, since they have huge turnover so your bleach will be fresh. Only buy PLAIN bleach, not scented or otherwise cute, and visit the Clorox site to get instructions on using it. When used properly it will kill off the vast majority of bugs that can get you, if your water supply is not clean. Lots more can be done beyond that, but it will cost some money.
3) Rain Water Collection: If your house has gutters, then try to come up with a way to collect that water. It is usually doable, and the water may be quite yucky (especially at the beginning of a storm), but it certainly beats not having water. If you have decent purification capability, you can live on it (even bleach is probably sufficient for most rain water).
FOOD
1) I think having 60 days tucked away is a good start, with half of that being starches (rice, noodles, etc.), which cost next to nothing, and the other half being yummy stuff, being not requiring refrigeration. So canned/dried food is good, with canned food being very cheap on a per calorie basis and lasting for years. I've been eating my 5 year old cans of food that were stored without any regard to temperature, reaching well over 80F in the house for 2 summers in a row. They are well beyond their expiration date, but taste great, with only slight changes from the newer stuff.
2) Beyond the above, you can then buy perishables, frozen/refrigerated food, since you'll likely have power for much of the time. At worst the power goes out and food ends up in trash bags at the curb. And BE SURE to have a lot of heavy trash bags.
3) For cooking, if you plan to rely on starches, you really need to have a way to cook them without relying on power or natural gas. I've about lost count of my ways to do that - starting with a propane stove, propane grill, gasoline (camping) stove, second gasoline stove, butane stoves and probably some other options. Don't try to get cute with a "solar stove" or "wood stove" only - you want something easy to use, and powerful. Just be sure whatever you have can boil water efficiently and that you have enough fuel to keep going (and that can be a lot of fuel if you boil). I like gasoline because I can pull it out of my cars, if I need to.
HEATING
Heating can certainly be a challenge. Here in Houston, it actually can get (relatively) cold, dipping well into the 20s for a few days each winter and not getting much above 40 during those spells. But every region and every home is different so I won't try to give a single set of recommendations. But a few things to consider: Electric blankets can make a boatload of difference for someone trying to stretch out a tank of propane (of course you need power), likewise thermal underwear. There are actually propane heaters that operate indoors although you need to have some air ventilation to prevent Oxygen depletion (and with the depletion Carbon Monoxide will be given off - otherwise, no Carbon Monoxide). Butane is similar, but I don't know where to find a space heater rated for indoor use. Never burn gasoline/wood indoors for heating without direct venting, because Carbon Monoxide will always be given off as a product of combustion. (burning gasoline indoors for cooking - I'm not really sure there, but I'd be very careful to have lots of fresh air, at a minimum). Needless to say, a battery powered Carbon Monoxide detector is a must if you have any indoor combustion.
OTHER STUFF
Lots of other items - just think of what you normally use, and have a decent supply. Also think of what might get used more, especially things like plastic bags and have a large supply of them. Paper items are another good thing to have - if water/soap is tight, you may want to use paper plates, for example. Batteries, of course. And also consider what happens if the power goes out. Do you have a manual can opener?
So that's it for now, I'm in pretty shape with the above (actually really good shape). Even if you're not a prepper you can still do a lot of the above on a temporary basis and then slowly consume the items (like food, paper towels, etc.) and your net cost is nothing, you simply bought the stuff a bit earlier than you otherwise would have. Even with food, you don't need to buy food that requires cooking (you may not be used to it, but most canned food doesn't require any heating/cooking to be safe, and yummy)...but it will certainly cost more than starches.
Good Luck!!
Ping
I’ve already started! The sh## is officially about to hit the fan!
“I’ve already started! The sh## is officially about to hit the fan!”
I’m not convinced it will (yet), but being a prepper, I will be ready for it.
When you mentioned the bathtub water containers were in short supply, I looked some up (I have the waterBOB, which is out of stock, currently):
While I agree about self quarantine, I am putting my money into food, etc. While I will have clorine, gloves, etc., I will not be stocking up in large amounts of PPE.
If trained HCW in a Hospital connot protect themselves, the chances of my allowing anyone that could have been exposed anywhere within the zone a 12 gauge blast is nil. I will not be trying to put on and take off PPE to shake hands with the mail man.
See here
https://www.clorox.com/dr-laundry/expiration-date/
The best way to identify the age of a bottle is to use the production code stamped on the neck of the bottle, which typically looks like this:A8116010
5813-CA3
The top line provides the information on when it was produced, which would be A8-1-160-10 (if you added dashes). You only need the first 6 digits and you read it from left to right as follows:
Plant Number—Last digit of year made—Day of the year made
A8 1 160
The bleach in this example was made in 2011 on June 9th, the 160th day of the year.
I'm still experimenting with using Calcium Hypochlorite as a dry, stable & store able medium for making bleach on-demand; maybe other FReepers can validate that method.
Yea, the problem is that these are small, outlier, companies that sit around selling a handful of items a week...and then BOOM, everyone and his brother wants it. They don’t have a prayer at keeping up.
Don’t be surprised if large bags and trash cans also see a run, soon.
We are always ready to be independent for a long period but we did get the masks and gloves last week as they will disappear if even a few more people start coming down with Ebola.
“If trained HCW in a Hospital connot protect themselves, the chances of my allowing anyone that could have been exposed anywhere within the zone a 12 gauge blast is nil. I will not be trying to put on and take off PPE to shake hands with the mail man.”
I’m with you...which is why I haven’t even tried to study it. Way over our heads, and maybe everyone else’s. I’ve seen some stuff on it, and who knows...and if it gets in my house, I’ll do my best not to get it, but it’s almost certainly too late then.
Have toilet paper, and a gun to keep it.
Don’t use lawn and trash bags as your water container/can liner. I’ve read (some of) these are treated with pesticides. Not sure about the white/kitchen type liners...of their food grade quality.
Sales of gas masks, bio-hazard suits and foil blankets soar as ‘survivalists’ prepare for Ebola epidemic - and warn others to store water
Good words, I checked my bottles, and that does check out. I do, of course, of Calcium Hypochlorite, otherwise known as Pool Shock, too, as a backup to my bleach - in case I get caught out of date. I had earlier read about that, but don’t have details on its use though.
Lots of money, then you’ll be able to buy whatever else you want or need.
ping
I didn’t see any reason not to stock up for the winter ahead of time. One thing I bought an ample stock of is homecleaning supplies. If disease takes hold, it’s going to be important to have a daily routine of keeping the house really clean, and that will take up a lot of supplies. Same thing with laundry. Things will get washed more often.
Bring Out Your Dead
Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.
The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.
So far the false positive rate is 100%.
At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.
*sigh* Such is life, and death...
Bing
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