[EAS] Preparedness and Survival Generalities

[Suzanne Goucher]

But if one goes into battle without a plan, one is a fool, or ignoring reality. Read Sun Tzu, "The Art of War."  It's not that difficult to anticipate what will happen in one's own area. In Maine, it's blizzards, severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes (yes, really), and the likelihood of power outages (we were without power for 8 days during the Great Ice Storm of 1998; two days over Christmas 2004).  And maybe an Ebola outbreak.  Beyond that, wildfires (we're in the midst of a drought).  Thinking larger, a Ted Koppel "Lights Out" long-term power outage, or a really catastrophic event like the Yellowstone caldera blowing up and burying the middle section of the country under ash, so food deliveries get canceled.  FEMA recommends keeping a 3-day supply of food, water etc. on hand.  IMHO, that's way too short-term.  A more prudent plan would be at LEAST 7 days, and if possible, more like 3 months.  Failing to plan is planning to fail.  Or, as an active-shooter trainer put it in a session I attended a few years back:  In a crisis, we don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.  Surviving an out-of-the-box event like Houston, with 4-5 feet of rainfall and flooding - yes, the enemy is Mother Nature, and 3 months of prep probably wouldn't help.  But for "run of the mill" situations, planning means surviving.

> On Aug 29, 2017, at 10:12 PM, Phil Johnson <p_johnson58 at msn.com> wrote:
> 
> Here's why Art's second point is important:
> 
> German military strategist Helmuth von Moltke once noted:  "No battle plan
> "survives contact with the enemy."
> 
> The "enemy," in many cases, is Mother Nature.
> 
> Phil Johnson
> 
> = = 
>