Posted on 11/06/2012 11:40:32 AM PST by blam
Grid-Down Collapse: Hard Assets Soar In Value
Mac Slavo
November 5th, 2012
By all accounts, the residents of many hurricane stricken areas of the north east are in the midst of a collapse. While FEMA, the National Guard and private relief organizations are in place and providing some level of assistance, the fact of the matter is that for tens of thousands of Americans, the world as they knew it has completely collapsed around them.
What we are witnessing are the immediate after-effects of what is referred to as a grid-down scenario, where utility infrastructure like water and electricity, transportation infrastructure like food and gas delivery, and commerce infrastructure like electronic banking and brick & mortar trade are no longer functioning.
In some areas there has been a total breakdown in emergency response. Without communications it has become impossible for emergency responders to be contacted. For all intents and purposes, law and order broke down within just a few hours of Hurricane Sandy passing over the east coast. Likewise, medical response was unavailable due to overwhelming demand put on the system by hundreds of people reporting simultaneous emergencies.
Almost immediately after the worst of the storm passed, people in the hardest hit areas began to realize how bad things were. Within 72 hours we had complete chaos. People were fighting for gas, digging through trashcans and standing in FEMA supply lines for hours at a time just for a bottle of water and an emergency ration kit.
The hunt for resources had begun.
Looters were hitting grocery and convenience stores, thieves and armed robbers were breaking into personal residences, and tempers flared.
With essential supplies running low and government support lacking, black markets have sprung up to fill the gap.
What has been theorized in previous commentary about what becomes money when the system collapses, became a reality over the last week.
When it hits the fan the only things of value will be the hard assets in your physical possession.
In one report, the cost of a bag of potatoes jumped to $7, up from $3 before the storm hit. The cost of the box of matches appears more than three times the usual cost, and the loaf of bread is more than double the usual cost. (NBC)
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I waited in line for 2 hours to fill up a 5 Gallon gas container. I’m willing to sell it for the right price and will deliver! $25 per Gallon OR Shoot us your best offer!! (The Daily Sheeple)
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Just got back from trying to deliver 2 generators to Long Island. 220 mile drive one way. Deal was brokered, $7000 cash, for a business owner to open his shop. (SHTF plan)
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This is crazy, it’s like post-apocalyptic scenarios, you know with this gas. It’s as important as food and water to people. It’s a dogfight out here (CS Monitor)
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Residents in the Queens neighborhood of the Rockaways are using anything they can get their hands on to protect their homes after Sandy devastated their area, including bows and arrows… Locals say they are arming themselves with guns, baseball bats, booby traps — even a bow and arrow — to defend against looters. (Liberty Blitzkrieg)
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The largest number of complaints are related to increased gasoline prices, he said in a statement, but consumers also have reported possible gouging for emergency supplies like generators and hotels raising rates due to “high demand,” as well as increased prices for food and water. (Huffpost)
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[Editor's Note: During the first economic and financial panic to hit Greece in 2010, citizens of the country scrambled to convert their currency to gold when they thought the system was about to go under... A large portion of Greek commerce has since moved into underground markets.]
Prices at which the Greek Central Bank is selling one ounce gold equivalents are as high as $1,700 (40% over spot), and prices on the black markets are even higher. (Zero Hedge)
Arguing the right and wrong of “price gouging” is off no consequence. What matters is that prices for key supplies will rise exponentially as their supply dwindles. This is a natural effect of rising demand, especially if that demand is driven by panic buying.
Food, gas, clean water, batteries, self defense armaments, shelter, clothing, ammo, precious metals and related preparedness supplies are a must-have in any grid-down scenario. First and foremost you can use these and other supplies to survive or at the very least, remain comfortable. Second, you can use these items for trade as their value soars.
The north east will recover in due time, just as New Orleans did after Hurricane Katrina. This emergency is limited in scope and the government was already actively employing emergency response plans prior to the disaster. However, as we have seen over the week since Sandy struck, there is simply no way for government to be able to manage a crisis that is spread over a wide area and involves tens of thousands of ‘victims.’
What we’ve learned is that when it comes down to it, those in areas affected by a disaster will have no one else to rely on but themselves.
Having key supplies and tools prepared in advance of an emergency is absolutely critical to your well-being and survival.
We live in NYS and many houses don't have shutters, and on the ones that do, they are simply decorative. Long and short of it, we simply don't NEED shutters.
There's a problem when people start judging others for not doing something they don't need to do just because the person doing the judging needs to do it.
It's legalism at it's finest.
Your judgment is wrong and unjustified. You don't have any idea who prepared and how and cannot make that determination because someone didn't do what YOU thought they should have.
Get over yourself.
I think there’s still plenty that would take a class - I personally had no clue until a few years ago. Thanks to helpful folks like you and Kartographer and some other FRiends, now we’re good to go for about 8 months, not including barter foods/items. But you know, like that tv show, I’d definitely pay a few dollars for an expert to give us an onsite assessment of how good we’re doing, so I see a strong market in that type of individalized service.
That's the first thing I noticed when I saw all the photos. At least a lot of the homes looked to be built on stilts, albeit some were enclosed.
And next time there's a freeze, should we condemn all the Floridians for losing their fruit crop because they didn't prepare by having cold hardy plants growing instead of citrus?
Hey maybe we should go into business! ;-)
Yeah, right...
Let me relate a friend’s experience with attempting to register voters at a gun show.
Either the people were already registered, or they were too paranoid about getting their name on a list.
You think your standard prepper would hire some “preparedness assessment” business to come out and take an inventory of his stuff?
No way. Too much chance of it being a gov’t front group that wants to know where the stuff is in order to confiscate it.
How do you expect me to find resupply sources? ;-)
We are so tied into the ‘grid’ there’s not much the government doesn’t know or that they can’t find out. If George only knew how much he was right.
You’re crazy. LOL
I wish I had a basement so I could store everything.
Right now I have plenty here in the house but, I also have three different storage lockers with art, furniture and back up supplies.
There are geographically diverse and I should be able to get any of them at some point.
Lead foil is good for gamma and beta radiation. EMP is an "Electromagnetic Pulse", much like when a close lightning strike destroys everything electronic. A steel box is best for EMP protection. It can drain static electric charges and protect the contents from magnetism.
Ammo boxes would offer better protection than nothing, but a gun safe would keep a radio device safe.
These shelves which I bought online, were the best investment I've made recently, next to my firearms/ammo stockpile.
How many brain cells does it take to fill all your pots and pans, etc. with tap water? I used to work with poor people and I never saw any of them without food in the pantry. Ok, one didn't have food but she was able to call in uh, "favors" so that when I checked in later that day she had enough in the pantry to last a good while and the windows, doors and porch were also repaired. Not that I condone such activities but where there's a will, there's a way. The majority of those we've seen on tv don't have the will.
I'm surprised some bozo hasn't called the police to complain there's price gouging on crack.
Lead is for stopping what’s called ionizing radiation — Geiger counter stuff — like Alpha, beta, gamma/Xrays, not EMP, although it is a pretty good conductor, and you COULD fashion a proper Faraday cage to guard against EMP. But don’t. Use steel or aluminum.
EMP = electro-magnetic pulse = damage to electronics from induced current.
A poor man’s method to shield electronics is fairly simple and cheap.
(1) a metal box with a ‘lid’ that seals pretty well. An ammmo can is just about optimum. You want it sealed so the energy of the pulse cannot get through a gap bigger than the wavelength of the pulse.
(2) wrap the electronics to be protected in an insulating material to generate a space gap and an insulating shield from the box itself. DRY paper, multiple layers will work pretty well, and finish with bubble wrap on the outside of the paper. Add some silica gel or other dessicant to the can.
(3) Place the can on a grounded surface — like the garage or basement concrete floor. (3.1) for overkill - drive a copper rod into the ground and ground the can(s) of protected devices. (3.2) the idea is to keep the pulse and any induced current away from your stuff, and to provide an easy path to ground/earth for said current and pulse.
No need to build Faraday cages. Just ammo cans, paper and bubble wrap.
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Hmm, tankless water heater and 92% efficient furnace?
So, basically the current travels through through the box to ground and not through what you’re trying to protect? Ok, then would it be a good idea to also line the inside of the box with a non-conducting material like rubber?
Play nice.
Sure, but why work that hard? Instead of trying to make a form-fitting rubber (or other di-electric) liner, just wrap the items you want to protect.
Let’s say it’s a handcrank radio/flashlight. Wrap it loosely in brown Kraft paper, tape it loosely with ‘scotch tape’, then wrap it again in some bubble wrap, then place it in the ammo can with other devices similarly separately wrapped, SEAL the lid well from a gap standpoint, and you are good to go!
Indeed the idea is to have real current flow through the can to the ground, and static electricity to stay on the outside of the can and flow to ground.
The Ruud and Amana were replacements after 22yr OEM units; a little costly but ROI is within sight now. I installed a tankless unit (saw it on ‘This Old House’ TV show) in my Family Farm Business Office 22yrs ago, and it still works. I’d never get a WH tank installed ever again.
What kind of shutters are you talking about and what openings?
Thanks for the info!
Nice stash. Needs Fruit Loops ;)
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