Hurricane Irene

Saturday morning started early. We were up with just about enough time to get a good night's rest. We went around the house, all the men in our location. We took down anything that could get blown by strong winds. Outdoor furniture, a lawnmower, stacks of fire wood-anything we could take into a safe location was taken out. An outdoor grill was too heavy to take in so we tried to secure it. Luckily we had taken a lot of rope with us, we also had some chain and locks. These two things alone have multiple uses and are always present in some form in my bag or box or whatever setup. We also had a pair of work gloves which were useful.

We surveyed the trees again, checking for possibilities of them falling onto the house or one of our bug out vehicles. It may be safe to relocate the vehicle elsewhere on the road if needed to keep it away from the trees. But we'd sacrifice being farther from a means of escape. Also, instead of unloading all of our gear into the house, I kept some into the car so if we loose one(car or house), another stash survives. The trees seemed to be fine, we had our worries but we judged them to be stable enough. Perhaps a good thing, as later on the driveway and road where we would have relocated the vehicles would be flooded with fast flowing runoff.  I recall somewhere that a few inches of fast flowing water (6 inch or so?) is enough to make a vehicle loose traction and slide with the water.

We checked the doors and windows as well. We took inside any window mounted AC units so we could close the window fully. I recall the mayor saying that his experts said it was not necessary-but why wouldn't we do it? We had time to prepare and had the manpower anyway. Best be safe.

I had suggested we start filling the bath tubs after the last person who wants to take a bath is done. Unfortunately, the owner of the bug out location (owner of the house) was not to concerned about it and it was eventually shrugged off. I kept taking inventory of how much water they had, how much water we brought with us. As a prepper I am proud to say we brought much more supplies in food, water and equipment than what was present at our bug out location. They were not preppers and had basically regular stuff at home. I am hoping I can slowly educate them into stocking more stuff as they already have an ideal bug out location to begin with. So anyway we had enough water for a few days. If we needed to I knew of a water source nearby, plus we could save up the rain water runoff early on-and use a ceramic filter I have with me. Also a bunch of other ways to filter the water available at the time-boiling, brita filters, etc. The children would use the stored water and the adults would use the filtered ones. I had an argument with a family member about the idea, as he did not believe any filter would be enough to clean outdoor water. Despite explaining the filtration capabilities of modern filters and the features of an MSR filter I had, they were just beyond reasoning with.

I tried to keep a small corner active, feeding us information by internet, TV news and text messages. Friends from various locations texted in their info/status. Friends in the online community of other preppers posted their status and how they are doing. It was just a small corner in the house to gather intel, I'd check up on it every now and then. I tried to enjoy the day with the rest of the family. This was to keep me organized as this was not my home and I needed my stuff somewhere with some sense of organization to keep me efficient.

I was out in the yard thinking about flooding from the rear of the house when I heard the hiss of rain. It seemed early, but I walked inside and in a few seconds the rain started pouring. In a few hours the hurricane would be upon us and we would see how things went. Checking on the forecast I opted to rest early and wake up early a few hours before the hurricane was expected to come. We also relocated to the sub-basement, me and my family. I was still worried about strong winds and the trees, everyone else was happy and seemed to be confident after sensing we had things under control. I just told them that if the winds pick up I would wake them and have them relocate downstairs with us.

We lost power in the middle of the night. Before sleeping we had taken out our flashlights so it was easy. I also had my wife keep on a comfortable, bug out ready set of clothes so we can run out and have some advantage. I had cargo pants/shorts on. Keys and lights and baseball cap on my side. Bug out bag a few feet from me. When I woke up in the wee hours of the night to check on stuff I had my headlamp on and was very comfortable checking and working with both hands free. It was bad outside but the winds were not as bad as I feared. Just lots and lots of water.

Soon everyone was up. Seems like we were in the clear. We would have to wait til later in the day to survey the property. Again, proud to be a prepper, I was the only one with a radio so we could get some news on the hurriacane. Since power was out nobody had news. I had updates from text and a weather radio I had bought and stocked years and years ago-waiting for an opportunity to be used. We noted which counties were badly damaged. Where the hurricane was and how strong were the winds currently. Some bridges were still closed to certain directions, but as long as we make it back to the island we can get home. We waited on the news to plan our trip back.

Frustratingly, I was also observing members of the retreat for whatever skills they could contribute. True enough some were completely dependent on others to do the work. Some were truly valuable with their everyday skills. Cooking was a great asset and a great moral boost during the whole time. Plus when the power went out they knew just what to do with the food to make it last the longest-what recipes, which to cook first, which meals can be recycled into another recipe with similar ingredients to extend life. It was great and I wish I had time to learn more. Child care was also an essential skill during the whole ordeal. The children were always playing and this kept us all happy. It was entertaining, distracted us and kept us stress free. It would have been far more stressful with children crying all hours of the night. Some members of our retreat did yield to some poor decision the day before and went to the local mall to go shopping, reasoning that the storm was still many hours away. It just boggles the mind.

Also, on distributing responsibilities, I took out the radio so that people could listen in on the news. Soon I realized I was the only one listening in and the rest were simply chatting about like nothing. I felt tired, I had been on the alert for awhile and just keeping tabs on too many things. I wish they could take on the task of picking up news and gathering intel. In the future I intend to formalize assigning responsibilities to people.

I started to get a cold, from the stress and exhaustion. Sleeping early did not help, loads of vitamin C did not help. At the end of all this I still had to load and unload my gear to the jeep and then back to the apartment in the city. I thought of this in planning the bug out in general but did not think it would come so soon. yet another improvement for future plans.

I picked up news of which bridges leading to the city were open. With the hurricane a long way past NY, we wanted to get back in the city before all the other evacuees decide to drive back home as well. This was a wise decision as we avoided all the traffic. It was a smooth drive home, albeit a few detours. It helps a lot to have a map and a gps. Also, communicating with the other vehicles in the convoy before driving and during is essential. Everything was coordinated and we kept stress levels to a minimum.

Soon enough we were back at home. I unloaded our bug out preps in the boxes one by one. I could not avoid some neighbors seeing me do this, and I at least kept them consistent. Whoever had already seen me was okay with seeing me do it again with the other boxes, but nobody else. I was exhausted after unloading.

We were all glad to be back home. Everything was in order. I recall securing the house in the event looting or robbing in the neighborhood starts. We had water in the tub and loads more in jugs. It was a smooth procedure storing our bug out gear back into their closets. We were back to functioning at our apartment. We're glad nothing bad happened in the city, and glad we bugged out. It was a perfect opportunty to test the plan and a perfect reason to teach them the plan. They even led the convoy and chose the best route for the event. I know at least that they have this part of my bug out plan in their memories and know some basic stuff to bring, ,where to go and what to be aware of. I just hope that when we get the chance to sit down and review the events they will be more keen on listening and consider prepping to some level. We'll be checking in on our family and friends on how they did. Hopefully not a lot of people lost their lives. I do pray for those who got hit harder than us, may God bless them.

Hurricane update

We have arrived at our bug out location upstate. We have been keeping track of the hurricane through CNN and our local news channels. The local channels actually provide better coverage, while CNN has better technology and quite accurate meteorologists. I am glad everyone is aware.

My bug out "drill" needs some work. Packing up my gear onto our vehicle took far longer than expected and more labor intensive than I hoped. This would be an issue when I am trying to minimize stress and conserve energy. I have to keep in mind that one of the most valuable parts of a bug out is timing when to do so. We timed it right this time, just ahead of a lot of people who thought Saturday morning would be ideal.

I have surveyed the area multiple times, our biggest risk for now are downed trees. If any of the nearby trees fall towards the house we would have problems. It is dark now and I will need to look at these again tomorrow (Saturday) morning. For now we still have power, water and food. It seems my group brought the most supplies to the bug out location. We have the most tools, equipment, food and water. This incident should prove a good reason to start educating them on prepping.

Some observations:

• Plans for loading and bugging out will have issues.We had a cart to haul some boxes and that did not work. In theory it seemed a good idea, but with the weight and the need to keep quiet down the hallways so as not to make people aware of my preps, I snuck them out by carrying them instead.
• My wife had "prepped" some stuff as well in the last minute. Mostly regular comfort items. They added a lot to carry and load to our vehicle. More than I expected and at some point hindering visibility to my rear view.
• I wanted to keep a low profile so that my neighbors won't see my stuff. It was doable, but it would only take one to see me and gossip.
• I did not take all our bug out boxes-I left one box full of food. I do not expect the stay to last that long. If it does, then there are other more complex reasons leading to bigger problems.
• I was the only able bodied person capable of loading the heavy gear. It may be useful to divvy up the load so others can help me and keep busy.
• At some point I had some tunnel vision due to the stress and alertness getting out. Used up a lot of energy to calm myself down.

Will post on the big day tomorrow or as soon as I get a chance. For now I am beat. All that physical labor, alertness and stress drains way much more of one's energy than I expected. I am feeling a cold coming on already due to exhaustion. (probably factor in all that overtime my office has been asking of us as well). I plan on sleeping early and waking up early. Must save my energy and remain healthy and at full capacity, the hurricane weekend is only starting.

Bugging out - Hurricane Irene

We are preparing to get out of the city for Hurricane Irene-expected to make landfall this weekend. Right now I am coordinating with my wife what can be done at home and will be out buying some last minute gear at a Home Depot close to work. We are communicating with my parents as to whether they should bug out to our apartment or if we should all get out of the city together and head upstate to another family member.

We have two courses of action to choose from. As I said we can have people bug out to our location, or we can altogether bug out even farther outside the city.
The first option is actually bugging in for us. This would  be most convenient. All our supplies can sustain us for the duration of the disaster on its way, "us" including our guests. We are way above the flood zone and way above sea level. We are also above the first floor and are in a brick and block apartment building. Shelter wise, we would be more secure than most. We share the same threat level with everyone with regards to having their windows broken by flying debris. It would be tight for our apartment but we can accommodate family for a few nights. We have lots of water bottled and stored-more than we can carry with us if we bug out. Same thing for the food. Our gear is designed for our apartment and, in fact, our main plan was always to bug in. We would be ready for this.

If we bug out to get away from the city we are looking at exercising the full bug out plan. All my gear would be loaded onto our vehicle and we'd coordinate going upstate. A lot of trouble, but all part of a plan. We would not have as much food and water but we would have shelter, safer from the storm. Our supply lines are less prone to being cut and we still had time to prepare water and food before the worse comes.

Our decision to bug out would be based on these issues:

• News updates. We tracked the hurricane where it was going and how powerful it wouldbe when it got to our city. I would recommend having updates from NotifyNYC. They texted me everything from Mayor announcements on the evacuation to suspended parking rules after the storm.
• Possible scenarios if the worse happens. Looking at footage from Katrina and foreign occurences, we played out the scenarios and what we had planned for them. We have done these before, when we were trying to list down the likely disasters to prep for. Hurricanes are not frequent in NY, but from where we came from we have had them before. We knew to prep for them just in case. You are looking at power outtages, food and water shortage, flood damage and a lot of other possible events linked to a big storm. We assessed how these would play out in our immediate neighborhood/community and what may happen.
• Supply lines. This was crucial for us at the time. Being in the city your supplies to food and water, utilities and all else are dependent on a shared system. If the city closed its bridges (which they said they would) or if flooding closed them and other roads, food and water, aid, would be unable to get in. Now, we have our own supply. That is not the problem I was worried about. However, if the rest of the people around us have none, then things can get really ugly. And with the news still saturated with recent riots in London and other would be attempts at riots throughout the US-you know it is a very likely scenario. The minds of people are just so open to resulting to mobs and looting.

My parents were waiting on a decision as to where we would go. They were thinking that Saturday morning would be the ideal time to leave if we were going to. I had asked for more time so we can better assess our options after tracking the storm on the news. Around Friday lunchtime it was decided we are leaving, that we do not want to decide the same way as everyone else and leave on Saturday morning-that we would leave that same night.
We are leaving tonight at about 10pm. Estimated travel time is 1 hour. God bless all of us in the path of the hurricane.

East coast earthquake scare

By now news of the earthquake we had felt here on the East coast has been all over the tv. Fortunately the quake had not cause any sever damage and injuries. There were some damages to older buildings here in New York city, but last I checked no loss of life was reported. I am writing in retrospect of how the situation could have had a better reaction, given that it may happen again and the situation may escalate and cause real damage.
The tremor came at about 2pm, most of us were either having lunch or just finished. Most of us were relaxed, as is common right after eating and sitting to get back to work. I felt my leg shake against the floor and was not sure. I checked for similar reactions with other people in the room. I saw the fear and concern but I did not jump up. Where I come from, earthquakes are not uncommon. I grew up having similar tremors and nothing really had happened. I sat back down on my desk and looked to see where the quake was coming from-thru the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) site. Meanwhile people stayed in the room, concerned but with no real plan on what to do. Our boss was not even aware and came out asking what the commotion was about. Looking back this was a rather bad reaction on my part. If anything did happen, I would be just one more victim desptie all my preparations. One should never play down a sudden event due to past experiences-as things do not always turn out the same. Perhaps previous experiences did not cause any real harm-but this one, nobody would know until after the event has passed. I should not let other people decide or control what steps I take to ensure my survival. I should be more cautious, not over-confident.

I had considered an escape plan from the office building before. Key components include:

• Closest fire exit - the closest is not always the best. Where I work one fire exit will lead you to the rear of the building-in an alley surrounded by several other buildings. Scary place to be in an earthquake. I had surveyed this prior when clean up crews were using the exit-thus without triggering alarms or out of the ordinary actions I have scouted it and know it is less than ideal.
• Safest fire exit-is actually pretty easy to get to. This is my main escape plan out of the building
• Time to descend fire exit-several descents with various speeds average to about 2 minutes. A long time to be running down a stair in an earthquake. Plus, an important factor-this is me running at my pace. If everyone else is in the stair running down with me then it would take much much longer.
• Possible refuge areas-in my case since it may take too long to get down and then pass through an exit alley or interior lobby-I had to find an alternate place to seek refuge in the immediacy of an earthquake. We are actually on the top floor so it may be a good idea to go up to the roof instead. I have to think about this a little more, but it would mean I would be on top of the rubble if the building collapses. I would have a higher chance of rescue. One question is, in a freefall-what would be my chances of surviving.  I have read other experts recommend the top floor as opposed to a dense street which will mean getting buried due to the closeness of the buildings. I have to do more research on the idea and weight the benefits.
• It is important to know a few things about your building. It would all roll into your general duties of scouting your area, but some things to look for would be the construction method of the building. Say what kind of building is it, steel frame or concrete structure? How old is the building? This would help inform you of quality of construction, how likely are glass windows to shatter and shower down below for example. It also informs you of which walls are safe to seek shelter to using the triangle shelter.

Also I found out from USGS that the earthquake had come from Virginia, at the time showing a magnitude more than 5. Still with a lot of time left I prepared for the aftershocks. I could not take my entire bag as it would make people jumpy, so I took the essentials out of it and clipped them onto my belt.

I realized it would be useful to have a smaller bag inside my every day carry bag that would hold the key survival items in it. Something to the size of a pouch bag or a small camera bag-nothing to attract attention. This way I could have the option of having basic gear on me without carrying the rest.
Also realized the need for a whistle. I have a couple, but I kept them as part of another bug out setup, not with my EDC. If buried in rubble, a whistle would be a most efficient way to signal for help. It would consume less effort and energy as opposed to shouting, and the signal would travel much much farther around the debris.

As expected phones were bogged down. I could not get through a 30 second conversation with my family and I would get cut off. I resorted to texting as planned. It was a bit delayed but it got through. I texted people where to meet if an aftershock occurs, and to be on alert.

I have been planning to find a better rally point/meeting place for my family in case something happens. I haven't done it yet so we had to resort to a previous location-the park around the corner from our house. Being in a city so dense, open areas are hard to find. I would have my family grab a small bug out kit at the door-designed just for them with minimum gear and light weight. These things need some work and the recent scare we had is just a reminder that times are changing sooner than we expect. Those of us who prepare and adapt faster will be better off than those who did not.

Stock market plunged down 500+ points

As soon as I received a text update from CNN about the stock crash I lost focus on my day job and kept rehearsing my plans in my head. Over and over-kept rehearsing my plans in my head. I kept close watch of the news and tried to get a feel for anything going on outside of the office...some lessons learned:

• Make sure your family/group know what to do and what to avoid if this triggers something. At the time, as I was trying to gather more detailed info on the matter, I called up my wife. She and our son were out of the house strolling about the neighborhood. If something happened, I would want her to be home, or to avoid other people and minimize risks. I made it known to her what I had found out and told her of my concerns. She was soon back at home, secure and listening to news, keeping each other updated by text of how we are doing.
• Have your atm cards on you, in case there is a need to take out cash. In this case it would have been in anticipation of a bank run. Should people panic and run to the banks, you  want to have taken out enough money before the panic. However, I did not take out cash-as it would have been a negative effect on the banks-I do not want to contribute to the panic.
• Keep a short inventory of what bank accounts you have and around how much each of them have-revolving around or set aside. If banks closed you may have difficulties. At the time, it was Thursday, if something happened over the weekend banks would be closed. One could still have access to the ATMs but more than that, it would be a problem. So a short list of bank accounts and their value, and the closest branches to your location at the time. I was at work and I knew how much, how close the banks were-and I kept calm and monitored the news. One thing I must advocate is to not contribute to a panic-no matter what the situation.
• Check your everyday-carry gear before leaving the building. If people do find reason to panic (not this one just yet as it was only a partial crash) I may have difficulty going home. I checked my EDC to find I have enough food, will need to refill my water bottles at the office pantry and should wear my spare shoes I have at work-which are better for long distance walking.
• I did a quick check of what my recent preps were-and they were all at home and ready for use. A bit messy some of them, not being logged and stored in the right box, but all were within our home and can be used.
• My office is fairly oblivious to market news because we are in a different industry. I am only aware of the issue as it is part of my concerns as a prepper. I cannot rely on my coworkers to know what is going on outside the office. Hence, I have to get to a window to look at how people are acting. This has other useful applications, but this allows one to sense any tension amongst the people who are outside and not confined to their work at the time. I would peek out the windows everytime I went for coffee, or went for the printer. Any tension in the air and I may need to get a closer look by going downstairs.

As the day went on, my mind kept drifting to the situation and I lost focus at my work. At some point I was comforted by the knowledge that nobody is in a panic just yet-perhaps the sheeple are just oblivious, or maybe people remained calm and optimistic. I went back to work and tried to be productive, keeping in mind that employment is one of the most important preps one can maintain. As soon as I could, I'd inform my family/group and update them on issues I told them were coming-this was to reinforce those who doubt the warnings I had been easing them into. They may not become preppers, but at least they are aware through me. I could definitely need more help to support our group and this was a way to keep them aware.