(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)
Remember power sources. In 1993, I did not have a generator. Batteries and their accessibility were my power source. As mentioned earlier, batteries for radios, light sources, and even appliances are a necessity. Not to mention an emotional boost for your family and friends. Rotate batteries. You need fresh batteries in your supplies, and of all the necessary sizes. Friends, don’t forget to look out for your neighbors. They may be better prepared than you are, or not, but a friendly knock on the door and a simple question about their needs is a big encouragement. I know folks who removed the battery from their snow-bound vehicle to power 12 DC devices inside. Necessity is the mother of invention. Shelter, heat, water, and food are all essential, but there is one that gets overlooked.
Sanitation: If you have access to water, you can flush a toilet. A toilet may seem simple, but nothing is more depressing than being confined indoors with a smelly toilet. Don’t forget to store plenty of toilet paper. Wet Wipes are also a recommendation today. These are a few of the essential things that stuck with me from the Blizzard of ’93. Don’t get caught stranded in your own home with only a three-day supply of food. We were without power for seven days and without highway access for more than three days. Remember for any natural disaster, have: shelter, a heat/cooking source, access to or a supply of fresh drinking/cooking water, at least two weeks of preserved food, either store-bought or self-preserved, and paper goods for sanitation and cleanliness. More on this later.
Now let’s talk about Hurricane Helene. Most of you reading this remember or experienced the hurricane of 2024 that decimated Western North Carolina and many other areas. The towns of Chimney Rock, Old Fort, Black Mountain, and Spruce Pine made national news, and they are within a stone’s throw of where I live. I was better prepared for Helene than for the Blizzard or Hurricane Hugo. Still, a natural disaster took me to school. My wife and I watched Hurricane Helene and followed it on weather broadcasts and weather radio.
By the time Hurricane Helene arrived, I had become a seasoned amateur radio (ham) operator. And I am thankful that I had amateur radio. When Helene made landfall, we knew the remnants would affect us. But we were not expecting the intensity that arrived. Almost 48 hours of heavy rain and high winds pounded Western North Carolina.
The Catawba, North Catawba, and Linville rivers ran over their banks. Bridges washed away in flash flooding, cars were lifted off their wheels and and homes off of their foundations, then carried away. Some material possessions still have not been found and are believed to be at the bottom of Lake James. Again, the power was out for days or weeks in some areas. This time, I had two generators and a supply of fuel. The fuel didn’t last. I had about a three-day supply on hand and so I learned that was not enough. When roads were cleared and opened, we drove almost an hour looking for a gas station with power for its pumps. Fortunately, we were able to get gasoline without price gouging.
Our neighboring communities and towns were devastated, and residents were moved into shelters as fast as they were opened. While listening to Emergency Communications (EmComms) over one of my ham radios, I heard details about the destruction from firsthand accounts. I checked on fellow church members and neighbors. I learned that my church pastor was trapped in his house by large fallen oak trees. I couldn’t reach him. But with my radio, I could get him and his family with two special needs children the help they needed. By the way, my pastor was just released from the hospital after having one of his big toes amputated because of infection. I was able to reach their local fire department, and help arrived, clearing the fallen trees and allowing access to the residents on the road.
I thank God for His blessings on my years of preparation. As a result, my wife and I were able to assist several families and numerous homeless individuals in our neighboring town. You see, prepping isn’t just about taking care of myself and my family; it’s about having more, to charitably help others. We broke out two cases of MREs and distributed them as needed.
After Helene, I heard FEMA mentioned in my County as an organization and resource for help. When the federal government says we are here to help, I doubt its intentions. My doubts surrounding this organization became a reality. I incurred no loss because I made preparations ahead of time; however, I did have expenses that were a direct result of the hurricane. According to the guidelines given by FEMA, these expenses were reimbursable. Yet, I was denied reimbursement and given very little explanation.
I would like to share a true story with you about the collaboration between the FEMA, State, Local, and federal governments. I work for the North Carolina prison system. In my County, there is a minimum-security camp that we closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The State reopened this camp as a temporary shelter for families of State employees displaced by the hurricane. It also served as a distribution center for supplies to State employee families. All of this was fine. However, the State of North Carolina applied to FEMA for a replacement generator as a backup power source for that facility. Can you believe it was approved? In my County, there was no temporary housing, no supplies, no FEMA relief for the average citizen as described on television. We took care of each other, just like we are supposed to. The state and federal governments followed the mainstream media’s cameras; they wanted the spotlight, and they found it.
A year later, we continue to rebuild. Government agencies have been gone for months. Families continue to live in donated campers because their homeowners’ insurance will not cover flood claims, and federal flood insurance hasn’t accepted new policies in several years. As we rebuild and prepare for the next disaster, I would like to review some of the lessons I have learned from natural disasters.
First of all, let me give credit where credit is due. When I started prepping 15 years ago, I knew nothing about the formal science and art of disaster preparation. A friend of mine introduced me to the trend and I ran with it. One of my first discoveries was Survivalblog.com and the List of Lists spreadsheet. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, then I recommend you do so right now. The Lists of Lists is more than just a list on a spreadsheet. It provides sound reasoning for the science behind the art of prepping.
All of the preparation you can do does not guarantee you will get to keep some or all of it. Flash flooding, trees crashing down, forest fires, and many other natural and man-made events can destroy your preparations. I heard several accounts of families having all their prepping washed away by raging flood waters. I have learned that the most fundamental preparation you can make is to review your current living situation. Remove dead or dangerous trees, and create a landscape that diverts water away from your house and any outside storage buildings. Consider relocating if your HOA will not allow necessary improvements for safety.
In many cases, suburbs have turned into death traps. Poor design did not anticipate urban flooding from rainwater runoff. Poorly-designed highway drainage systems can lead to urban flooding and eventually result in sinkholes. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can depend on the government. Governments create dangerous situations and leave the dangers to citizens and homeowners. That is my personal experience and observation. Learn to preserve the fruit and vegetables you grow or source locally. It isn’t as difficult as you may think. Learn to grow at least some of your fruits and vegetables. A small garden can yield a substantial amount of food. Again, if your HOA doesn’t permit that, then I suggest finding another place to live.
Concerning standby power, even a six-thousand-watt generator can provide you with much-needed power during an outage. Remember fuel storage and calculate fuel usage based on the consumption of your generator under full load. Also, keep a stash of cash, small bills, and even coinage. Following Hurricane Helene, power was out, and that meant ATMs were not working. Any open businesses were operated cash-only. Although I have never needed a firearm, I have always kept one with me — in my home, my vehicle, and on my person. When TEOTWAWKI occurs, even for a few weeks or months, unprepared people become desperate, and desperate people do desperate things.
One of my biggest concerns stems from the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, as well as the financial impact they have on individual States and our Nation. I’m concerned that a major natural disaster is looming, one that affects the entire nation and one that could contribute to an economic collapse that would severely impact the entire nation—possibly leading to permanent changes in our society, culture, and freedoms. But I’m not a pessimist. Actually, I am a person of extreme and serious faith. From my faith comes an understanding that we live in a biblical day described as “the beginning of sorrows”.
Remember this: knowledge precedes understanding, and understanding leads to preparation, to the best of our abilities. I encourage you to prayerfully seek the Lord’s direction in your preparation for the events that are most likely in your neighborhood or region. Remember those less fortunate, the elderly, and the children. Be a mentor for those who will listen. May God Bless you, is my Prayer.
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