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Are You being advised in your area to store food and water ?

Posted by pamelabaker • 3/12/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: food, pandemic, storage, water

My friend's son came in from Kindergarten the other day and had a note from the school. The note was to advise parents to store a minimum of two weeks of food, water and medicine due to a possible pandemic.

I then opened my water bill and it contained a note saying pretty much the same. When watching the last state of the union address, I noticed that the Democratic reply contained the words, "It is not enough to tell people to store food and water, we must help them do it."

Is anyone else seeing this?

User Comments

3/12/08

clioandme

Nothing about storing stuff, though talk of a pandemic has been pretty standard since SARS, I believe. Where do you live?

By the way, I had my students read a book on the Black Death (mid 14th century) this year, thinking it would be something they could relate to. ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_death )

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3/12/08

pointlessbanter

Looks like I am going to be drinking my own urine because I am way under prepared

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3/12/08

bnsullivan

Here in Hawaii we are encouraged to have a "hurricane kit," which includes storing food and drinking water, and having on hand enough medicines and other essential supplies. We haven't had a hurricane that actually hit the islands in well over a decade, but that "hurricane kit" served a lot of us very well after our big earthquake in 2006. In my district, one of the hardest hit, we were literally cut off from the rest of the world for many days, due to landslides blocking roads, power failure, etc.

Whether the cited reason is to prepare for a hurricane, pandemic, or other disaster, it really is a good idea to think ahead about what your family might need to survive for a period of days or even weeks, and plan accordingly.

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3/12/08

pamelabaker

I am in Ohio,and while we do have tornadoes, I have never seen this type of warning.I have had friends call me and tell me that they have seen the same announcement on the news.
And, I have heard that if you have a distiller, you can purify urine to drinking water.......I haven't the nerve to check it out.
I went to the notional site for pandemic and it had plans for a quarantine... I think I am stocking up on vitamin C !

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3/12/08

shelleyk

I have never heard of such a thing either. We were stuck in for a snow storm last weekend but the only thing that we really needed to stock up on was rock salt and it was all sold out!

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3/12/08

pamelabaker

I am glad you made it through that earthquake. It must have been a living nightmare.
I guess that it couldn't hurt to have a kit prepared.

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1. 3/12/08
  
  bnsullivan
  
  It was not fun, but survive we did.
  
  Incidentally, following that event, some neighbors got together and discussed how we did -- which of our preparations (i.e., the "hurricane kit" stuff) served us well, and where we fell short. Ever since that discussion I always make sure that I have on hand one of those large 24-roll packages of toilet paper from Costco. More people ran out of toilet paper and paper towels than food and water.
3/12/08

JeanR

We're not getting that message here in Michigan either.

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3/12/08

pamelabaker

to Stoneman, didn't we have a plague in America in the early 1900's that killed more people than WW1?

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1. 3/12/08
  
  clioandme
  
  That was influenza (the flu).
2. 3/12/08
  
  bnsullivan
  
  There's a very well-written book about that flu pandemic: The Great Influenza by John Barry.
3/12/08

daniel23

Preparation for martial law?

video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6495462761605341661

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1. 3/12/08
  
  Anok
  
  Thats what I was thinking too, Daniel. It's been running around the grapevine that UK troops are being prepared here in the US in case of Martial law being used for a "food crisis".
  
  I don't know how true it is, but this post just made my skin crawl a little.
2. 3/12/08
  
  globalgirl
  
  Yup...
3. 3/12/08
  
  Anok
  
  Have you heard that too global girl?
4. 3/12/08
  
  globalgirl
  
  Yes... for sometime.
5. 3/12/08
  
  Anok
  
  I've promised myself I would check it out in depth...so tonight, after I unplug myself from BC (Fat chance!) And after I write my posts, I think I will be doing some serious reading.
6. 3/12/08
  
  globalgirl
  
  Disturbing but true. They do not exist to help. Recent case: the 1000's of trailers in LA...many never even occupied (left empty) and now found to be toxic inside.
3/12/08

clioandme

Being prepared sounds like a good idea, but I've become a little desensitized after all those Homeland Security alerts we got in the first half of the decade. Color-coding, duct tape, and plastic . . . it all seemed more likely to foster fatalism than preparedness. But maybe others aren't as afflicted by a contrarian instinct as I am.

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3/12/08

offendedblogger

I live in Idaho, we all have fully stocked bunkers here.

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1. 3/12/08
  
  globalgirl
  
  Do YOU and your family? If so, why?
2. 3/12/08
  
  offendedblogger
  
  I am not saying, I wouldn't want you to try to come and take my bunker away from me GG!!
  
  I know how mean you can be hehe.
3. 3/12/08
  
  globalgirl
  
  hee hee let the raid begin!
4. 3/12/08
  
  AmmoBob
  
  I need a place to store my Harley if this gets crazy...
5. 3/12/08
  
  Anok
  
  Underground in a heat resistant, tracker trailer!
3/12/08

jojoblue

I have never heard of that. I am here in CO.

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3/12/08

pamelabaker

To stoneman,
If you were to prepare a .room the way that is drawn on the security website you would die of carbon monoxide poison in less than two hours.

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3/12/08

pamelabaker

to Anok,
I think my skin is crawling a bit too

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1. 3/12/08
  
  Anok
  
  I fear that it's because I've simply read way more than I am supposed to....
3/12/08

globalgirl

No propaganda like what you mention in N. California but certainly there has been much chatter here and there about the possibility of martial law and other activities, especially since 911.

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3/12/08

pamelabaker

I have friends in Oregon who are saying the same thing

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3/12/08

bnsullivan

So you all are saying that the reason behind these admonitions to lay in supplies etc. is because martial law may have to be imposed? I assumed it was to help families get through natural disasters.

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1. 3/12/08
  
  Anok
  
  It wasn't the specific advice that made me think that, but rather a tic-tac-toe style of thinking that made me think Natural disaster (which would open the door for Martial Law), equals food shortage, equals food crisis, equals panic and mayhem, equals Martial Law actually being enforced equals a lot of bad news....
  
  My brain works in mysterious ways...
2. 3/12/08
  
  globalgirl
  
  Don't count on FEMA to help.
3. 3/12/08
  
  Anok
  
  You aint lyin' Global girl.
4. 3/12/08
  
  bnsullivan
  
  Actually, my experience has been that neighbors are of the greatest help during a disaster, not any government department or agency. After our big earthquake in 2006, many of our roads were blocked by landslides and other debris. The county highway department were completely occupied with trying to clear main highways and thoroughfares first -- rightly so. Who knows when they would have been able to get to all smaller streets and secondary roads. So, after several days of waiting, a group of local ranchers in my area got their men together, along with whatever tools and machinery (shovels, wheelbarrows, tractors, backhoes, etc.) they could get, and cleared a couple of the roads themselves. Our local heroes!
5. 3/12/08
  
  Anok
  
  And that bnSullivan, is Anarchy in a nutshell
  
  Good for you guys and gals!
6. 3/12/08
  
  globalgirl
  
  Excellent point. My friends and I have discussions about "what happens when" on occasion. Thus our interest in bartering and sustainable living.
  
  FEMA doesn't exist to help people in disaster. Simply look at the trailer fiasco in the South after Hurricane Stan. Not only were they a waste of tax dollar money, many sat empty due to bureaucracy, and ALL were toxic inside!
3/12/08

pamelabaker

to offendedblogger...
Wow ! That is amazing. Do you mean like a special room in the basement or something?

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1. 3/12/08
  
  offendedblogger
  
  Actually, I live with a mix of devout Mormon and hardcore militia types, so depending on who we are talking it could be an outside, well stocked underground military style bunker or just a storage room with canned goods and extra reading material in basement or garage.
  
  I'm sure you probably know whose is whose.
3/12/08

acousticguitarist

what country is that in?

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3/12/08

pamelabaker

to Anok,
mine works in mysterious ways too martial law means bye bye constitution hello police state...but surely not

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1. 3/12/08
  
  Anok
  
  Oh...surely it can. it can happen here, and it has happened here. In fact, I believe it was Lincoln who instituted Martial Law in the US, detaining citizens without Habeas Corpus, etc and so forth.
2. 3/12/08
  
  acousticguitarist
  
  surely that wouldn't happen in the US
3. 3/12/08
  
  Anok
  
  It's hard to tell if pandas are using sarcasm. They just always have that look of cuteness on their faces.....
4. 3/12/08
  
  acousticguitarist
  
  red pandas are very smart as well as beautiful but prefer to eat fruit salad, surf and sing, they never use sarcasm, they're too nice
3/12/08

pamelabaker

Did you know that they did away with Habeas Corpus as a form of homeland security?

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1. 3/12/08
  
  Anok
  
  Only for people being held as "enemy combatants" which, in reality could be anyone they so choose. They are trying to cast an even wider net with regards to that by slipping in HR 1955/S 1959.
  
  Freaking' scary.
  
  But regular citizens being tried for non terrorism or national security crimes still have teh right of Habeas Corpus....for now....
2. 3/12/08
  
  offendedblogger
  
  They'll never take me alive!!!
  
  Oh, sorry..
  
  hahaha
3. 3/12/08
  
  Anok
  
  Wait till Fox news is here Chelle...save it for the broadcast!
3/12/08

pamelabaker

So what is to keep less than honest enforcers from claiming that anyone is a threat?
I will be passing along info about that bill

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1. 3/12/08
  
  Anok
  
  Well, nothing, actually. That's why people like me are all freaked out. Many of the old, dusty laws like sedition, and laws that regard any group tat calls for "change" in our government who obstruct or try to obstruct or speak out against our government's actions can be (when the bill passes, but some states already have a similar bill on the books) considered "homegrown terrorists" and "radically violent" even when no violence occurs.
  
  People such as myself are at great risk by this, and not because I've done anything wrong, but simply because I speak out, and I choose to affiliate with Anarchists and Socialists and yes, even Communists.
  
  It's feckin' scary. But I'll keep on keepin' on till they drag me away
3/12/08

acousticguitarist

Don't worry they've kindly got a strategy ready just in case

www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/nspi.pdf

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3/12/08

pamelabaker

Did anyone watch that utube link that Daniel23 posted?

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1. 3/12/08
  
  kristilinauer
  
  I watched 25 minutes of it. It was a little to ADD for my taste, as far as the filming and editing. And really, the main thing that struck me was how angry people get with people who have differing views.
  
  For example, I stopped watching during the part about the Republican National Convention. It seemed as if violence would erupt at any moment simply because "the Republicans are coming!" That's sad to me. I feel that, no matter what people believe politically, spiritually, or otherwise, they should be able to have their views, and gather with others who share their views, without feeling like their safety is in jeopardy by those who oppose their views.