are u prepared for disaster?

me i grew up with my dad he always taught me to be prepared.this bird flu scares me.i have plenty a water i have so much food its scarey i see stuff on sale and i stock up last week i saw 3 cans a name brand vedgies for a buck i bought a lot .i just wonder if ya all do the same thing i also have 10 gallons a water stored asprin and other things id need

Well, I store up as much as my college student budget allows. I have at least a week or 2 of food for me and my gf, along with about 15? gallons of bottled water in the garage. I try to pickup some extra cans and water each time I hit the grocery store.

We have emergency supplies stored, and equipment supplies to get through emergencys. Rotation is one of the big things so that your supplies do not get bad over time. When buying make sure you buy what you will use in every day situations, and then use it from the stores like your own grocery store, and restock as you eat from it.

Buy new stuff like you would use that week, and put it in stores in the back, taking out the same "older" already stored items to use that week.

Stored water should to be rotated also to keep it fresh.

A common FIFO (First In First Out) inventory type inventory system is the way to go.

I don't have any gasoline stored, so I wouldn't get very far...

Who can store gasoline at todays prices???

i am prepared for black outs only (isn't most ppl here are?)

No...

Slate: "The Mutant Chickens Are Coming! (The Bird Flu Panic)"

http://www.slate.com/id/2141277/?nav=tap3

"...a bird flu pandemic appears extraordinarily unlikely..."

I'm prepared to take control of my apartment building and claim everything in it by divine right of kings!!!

(kidding... I'm TOTALLY kidding!!!)

PhotonBoy said:

Slate: "The Mutant Chickens Are Coming! (The Bird Flu Panic)"

http://www.slate.com/id/2141277/?nav=tap3

"...a bird flu pandemic appears extraordinarily unlikely..."

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Terrible article. All full of bad information. Antibiotics will do nothing to keep the death rate down. Why? Because in a major pandemic with tens of thousands of cases, our national supply is about 4-7 days. So much for that. As far as our super health care system, it is only designed for "Just in Time" concept operation. It can barely meet the needs of the US in normal times. It would likely become completely overwhelmed within 2 weeks or so.
Does all this mean we should run and hide behind sandbags? No, but we cannot afford to just laugh it off either. The official who said a pandemic is extraordinarily unlikey is just playing good politics. Most of the worlds pandemic researchers know what the reality is. Its too bad most of the public does not. I guess that's just the way things are today.

greenlight said:

I don't have any gasoline stored, so I wouldn't get very far...

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Gasoline actually doesn't store very well. It is dangerous to have around and it becomes weaker as it sits in storage. You might get a year(?) out of it if you add gasoline stabilizer.

My Dad once said: "People are tough."

One good thing about preparing for the Avian Flu is that the supplies purchased may also make you more prepared for a whole range of other emergencies.

In a way, people who live in hurricane country are lucky. We have a more tangible threat to keep us thinking about preparedness. I would imagine that there are any number of places where people can see the impact of a hurricane or earthquake on the news and just brush it off because those two things don't happen where they live. I worry about them because bird flu, bioterror or any number of causes of a disruption of social order and our distribution system know no boundries.

On another note, I've read threads here where a certain mask was mentioned for use against bird flu -- I can't remember the designation right now. Anyway, I read an article recently that stated that in the longish runup preceding a possible bird flu pandemic, it's only a matter of time before counterfeit bird flu masks reach the market. This has happened with many other products in emergencies.

how long does tap water last?i would assume for ever but i find it is best not to assume i store it in old milkk jugs that been cleaned very good

Tap water in a clean gallon jug with just a drop or two of chlorine bleach is supposed to be good for a couple of months or thereabouts. Milk containers are not recommended because they don't seal very well.

http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/beprepared/water.html

raggie33 said:

how long does tap water last?i would assume for ever but i find it is best not to assume i store it in old milkk jugs that been cleaned very good

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I use 32 gal Rubbermaid garbage cans (new). I dissinfect them with a stiff solution of bleach and water. (Stiff enough that it feels slippery). Then I fill with tap water and add 1/8 teaspoon bleach per gal of water to slow algae growth. I put the cover on the can and keep the room very dark. Cover with a quilt if you have to. Algae needs light to grow. I have kept water put up this way for six months -- even in sub-tropical heat.

If you use plastic jugs I would make a very stiff bleach/water mix to disinfect each one before filling. I would fill a five gal bucket with it and after washing and rinsing the jugs I would totally submerge each jug and cap in this stiff solution for one hour. Make sure there are no bubbles. Then drain and carefully fill each jug with water stabilized at 1/8 teaspoon bleach per gal of water. Put them in a dark room. Because jugs let in all kinds of light be sure to cover them with blankets very carefully.

The various alphabet agencies won't tell you you can use plastic because they think that you can't follow directions. When nailed down they will admit, at least in private, that if the plastic jugs are disinfected carefully and thoughtfully prior to each filling they will be fine. But keep them in the dark -- the jugs and the alphabet agencies.

Do you guys keep a headlamp in your BOB or Emergency Kit? I suppose if you want to pack just the essentials a flashlight will suffice, but in the dark I'd want both hands free.

fieldops said:

Terrible article. All full of bad information. Antibiotics will do nothing to keep the death rate down. Why? Because in a major pandemic with tens of thousands of cases, our national supply is about 4-7 days. So much for that. As far as our super health care system, it is only designed for "Just in Time" concept operation. It can barely meet the needs of the US in normal times. It would likely become completely overwhelmed within 2 weeks or so.
Does all this mean we should run and hide behind sandbags? No, but we cannot afford to just laugh it off either. The official who said a pandemic is extraordinarily unlikey is just playing good politics. Most of the worlds pandemic researchers know what the reality is. Its too bad most of the public does not. I guess that's just the way things are today.

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how will antibiotics help fight a virus???? They will not help unless your symptoms get bad and you get a respiratory infection and the like because they are bacterial and not virus based in most cases.

ledlurker said:

how will antibiotics help fight a virus???? They will not help unless your symptoms get bad and you get a respiratory infection and the like because they are bacterial and not virus based in most cases.

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1) About half the deaths that happened in the 1918 flu were caused by secondary infections--this is before penicillin was invented. Antibiotics will limit a great many of those types of potential deaths.

2) Regarding Sub_Umbra's question about the masks, those would be N-95 masks. They're overall usefulness is considered to be uncertain even though they're still currently being recommended. These masks are good if someone sneezed near you, or to keep you from sneezing on anyone else.

Antibiotics would definitely help with those secondary infections. The problem is that we would only have a national supply for about a week. Scary thought, but true. As far as a headlamp goes. It is probably one of the most under thought of items. You never realize it until you need one. Best to hsave a fewfloating around.