Predictions of an economic apocalypse are now main stream

Predictions of an economic apocalypse are no longer restricted to the realm of fringe doom and gloomers lurking in the dark corners of the internet. As we’ve previously suggested uncertainty now pervades the social consciousness, not just in America, but the world over. Every major media outlet in developed nations is now reporting on the headwinds facing the so-called recovery. The problems and threats confronting the stability of the globe can no longer be dismissed as theoretical arguments, because they are now being actualized – in real time.
Continue to article

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.