An Emergency Water Epiphany

[Hooked on Fenix]

For Hurricane Helene, if I had to stay an extended time without clean water with a lot of desperate people around with the same need, I'd go for a Lifestraw Community purifier. There is nothing better, for longevity, for a large group stuck in their homes for a prolonged duration of time than that purifier. Takes out viruses and lasts up to 26,000 gallons. Costs $395 on sale plus two Lifestraw Go filters from the company website for now. Weighs 17 lbs. though. If you can keep desperate people around you in need of water from making stupid choices and make friends in a crisis, you'll be better off and so will they. I would try to avoid filling the purifier up with water contaminated by chemicals though. It doesn't have a carbon filter. It does filter to a very small pore size so odds are, not much will get through.

However, a hurricane and it's aftermath are an ever changing situation. You should also have portable filters in a bug out bag in case you need to flee your home. You could have a levy give way and flood your house forcing you to higher ground. You could have looters and have to find somewhere safer to stay. You may have a neighbor light up their home with candles and start theirs and your house on fire. You might have FEMA come in and boot you out "for your own safety". For whatever reason, be prepared to bug in or bug out.

Edit: Just saw they have the Lifestraw Max Purifier. That may be even better than the Community for a Hurricane as it also has a carbon filter and can be hooked to the tap as an option. Costs a lot more though at $650, but it could service hundreds of people a day at max.

 

[Monocrom]

$650 isn't all that pricey for dealing with a realistic weather emergency in certain parts of America. Sorry you had to go through that.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

I'm in CA. I said if I had to go through that. There are a lot of people that do have to go through that.

I had my emergency experience in the Witch Creek fire of 2007, days after the death of my Mom. Spent 5 days evacuated which included sleeping in my car, then finally at a Motel 6 in Chula Vista.

Was evacuated from Ramona to the mall in Escondido the first night. Woke up with smoke and flames surrounding the parking lot. Had to drive to San Diego to drop my grandparents off at the airport. They flew in from Canada to see my Mom only to watch her pass away.

We drove in all our vehicles using walkie talkies to communicate. No cell phone would work. Over a million people were evacuated at once and the lines were jammed with emergency calls. We had to drive through flames near Miramar on the 15 freeway. The fire jumped the freeway. After dropping off my grandparents, we stayed at a parking lot at a church in Lemon Grove until we could find somewhere with a hotel room.

The Red Cross showed up to "help" and booked up all of the Holiday Inns aggravating the situation. We tried getting water from stores but all of the stores had donated it to Petco Park in San Diego where they set up shelter for people who had evacuated. With half the county evacuated, that's the last place you wanted to be. Finally got a room at a Motel 6 in Chula Vista near the beach. Watching the news, Ramona was the staging area for the firefighting airplanes and they grounded them due to high wind with flames on the surrounding hills. The fire had spread to Chula Vista and the wind was carrying the sparks 5 miles ahead of the front line of the fire.

After 5 days, someone rammed through the barricade back into Ramona and the cops decided maybe keeping a bunch of angry people with guns out of their homes wasn't a good idea. They let us back in.

Once home, the water was green from a double dose of chlorine they had put in it. The pumping system had broken down so they decided to shut our water off for nearly another week. Turns out the system was 50+ years old and the backup system failed too. They knew in advance the system needed an upgrade but turned down government money to get it done. Parts took awhile to get to fix because it was an outdated system that they had to hunt down. All the stores donated their water to the Red Cross and they were rationing it out daily so you had to waste gas each day to get more water.

Power lines were down or turned to ash in much of town. Had friends without power for two weeks and the pipes to their water tank storage for their well melted and they lost all their water in their tank. I donated plenty of flashlights and batteries to those friends to help them get by.

If you think you're prepared for a disaster, wait until one happens and school's you on Murphy's Law.

 

[greblin]

I'm in CA. I said if I had to go through that. There are a lot of people that do have to go through that.

I had my emergency experience in the Witch Creek fire of 2007, days after the death of my Mom. Spent 5 days evacuated which included sleeping in my car, then finally at a Motel 6 in Chula Vista.

Was evacuated from Ramona to the mall in Escondido the first night. Woke up with smoke and flames surrounding the parking lot. Had to drive to San Diego to drop my grandparents off at the airport. They flew in from Canada to see my Mom only to watch her pass away.

We drove in all our vehicles using walkie talkies to communicate. No cell phone would work. Over a million people were evacuated at once and the lines were jammed with emergency calls. We had to drive through flames near Miramar on the 15 freeway. The fire jumped the freeway. After dropping off my grandparents, we stayed at a parking lot at a church in Lemon Grove until we could find somewhere with a hotel room.

The Red Cross showed up to "help" and booked up all of the Holiday Inns aggravating the situation. We tried getting water from stores but all of the stores had donated it to Petco Park in San Diego where they set up shelter for people who had evacuated. With half the county evacuated, that's the last place you wanted to be. Finally got a room at a Motel 6 in Chula Vista near the beach. Watching the news, Ramona was the staging area for the firefighting airplanes and they grounded them due to high wind with flames on the surrounding hills. The fire had spread to Chula Vista and the wind was carrying the sparks 5 miles ahead of the front line of the fire.

After 5 days, someone rammed through the barricade back into Ramona and the cops decided maybe keeping a bunch of angry people with guns out of their homes wasn't a good idea. They let us back in.

Once home, the water was green from a double dose of chlorine they had put in it. The pumping system had broken down so they decided to shut our water off for nearly another week. Turns out the system was 50+ years old and the backup system failed too. They knew in advance the system needed an upgrade but turned down government money to get it done. Parts took awhile to get to fix because it was an outdated system that they had to hunt down. All the stores donated their water to the Red Cross and they were rationing it out daily so you had to waste gas each day to get more water.

Power lines were down or turned to ash in much of town. Had friends without power for two weeks and the pipes to their water tank storage for their well melted and they lost all their water in their tank. I donated plenty of flashlights and batteries to those friends to help them get by.

If you think you're prepared for a disaster, wait until one happens and school's you on Murphy's Law.

Greetings, I'm new to this forum, initially joining to gain more knowledge on candling options (primarily info on MagLites), yet after reading this thread I want to say that I greatly appreciate the testimonials folks share here. This thread on water and general emergency prep has been eye opening, and educational. I'm not necessarily a stranger to challenging environments, but admittedly, I have not been forced to evacuate my home. The information that you are presenting, based on your personal lived experience, is extremely valuable and helpful to folks like me who have been sitting on the fence with regard to BOB/BIB equipment and readiness. I live in San Diego, in an older home (circa 1950), closer to downtown than I'd like, and surrounded by neighbors who are making it through life paycheck to paycheck, all of us crammed densely together. I often think about how my neighborhood, my street, would respond to a natural or manmade disaster that restricted or eliminated resources that so many of us seem to take for granted. The likelihood that even 20% (generous estimate) of my neighbors have necessary supplies (food, water, meds, etc.) to survive more than five days without utilities is questionable.
Thank you for sharing what you know and have lived through; may it be the push I've needed to get off the fence to make my home and family more prepared.

As a side thought, what type of walkies would you recommend for someone to purchase that would be adequate in a traveling circumstance with multiple vehicles like the one you and your family experienced? Something that meets the need competently, yet doesn't break the bank?

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

I don't really remember what kind of walkie talkies I had back then. I know I don't have them anymore. They were limited to 5 mile range back then. You can do much better now, at least on paper. The thing to remember is that in a disaster, you are competing against so many other people that need a way to communicate that they are likely going to use up all of the channels. Getting walkie talkies with the extra codes for each channel is a must. It cuts down on the possibility of other people interfering with your communications. These type cost a bit more. Don't cheap out and just get FRS walkie talkies with 2 mile range or GMRS walkie talkies without the codes. The best walkie talkies now allow you to text which works much better for communicating long distance without misunderstanding others. Those may be out of your price range though. Remember that most Motorola walkie talkies don't work correctly with other brands so if you get that brand, stick with it. It may help block out chatter from other radios. If you get other brands, don't buy Motorola too. Some newer Motorola models say they work with other brands and this is a new feature. Also consider the batteries. During an emergency, you want to be able to use alkalines since you're be traveling and don't have time to stop and charge something while fleeing a disaster. Some offer built in USB charging of removable batteries with the option of using alkalines. Some even have drop-in charging plus the other two options. Having usb charging is a plus as long as the battery isn't built in. You can plug a usb adapter into the cigarette lighter of your car and charge on the road or with a solar charger. Don't get two way radios with built in rechargeables. They are paperweights once the battery is discharged. I'd suggest getting ones with at least a 14 mile range (those are relatively cheap) with GMRS and FRS and the secret codes. My current favorites that I use are waterproof Uniden 50 mile range ones. Very hard to find them nowadays. Got them at Fry's Electronics years ago. A two pack was $120 if I remember correctly. I got mine in camo. Has GMRS, FRS, and Weather stations.

 

[greblin]

I don't really remember what kind of walkie talkies I had back then. I know I don't have them anymore. They were limited to 5 mile range back then. You can do much better now, at least on paper. The thing to remember is that in a disaster, you are competing against so many other people that need a way to communicate that they are likely going to use up all of the channels. Getting walkie talkies with the extra codes for each channel is a must. It cuts down on the possibility of other people interfering with your communications. These type cost a bit more. Don't cheap out and just get FRS walkie talkies with 2 mile range or GMRS walkie talkies without the codes. The best walkie talkies now allow you to text which works much better for communicating long distance without misunderstanding others. Those may be out of your price range though. Remember that most Motorola walkie talkies don't work correctly with other brands so if you get that brand, stick with it. It may help block out chatter from other radios. If you get other brands, don't buy Motorola too. Some newer Motorola models say they work with other brands and this is a new feature. Also consider the batteries. During an emergency, you want to be able to use alkalines since you're be traveling and don't have time to stop and charge something while fleeing a disaster. Some offer built in USB charging of removable batteries with the option of using alkalines. Some even have drop-in charging plus the other two options. Having usb charging is a plus as long as the battery isn't built in. You can plug a usb adapter into the cigarette lighter of your car and charge on the road or with a solar charger. Don't get two way radios with built in rechargeables. They are paperweights once the battery is discharged. I'd suggest getting ones with at least a 14 mile range (those are relatively cheap) with GMRS and FRS and the secret codes. My current favorites that I use are waterproof Uniden 50 mile range ones. Very hard to find them nowadays. Got them at Fry's Electronics years ago. A two pack was $120 if I remember correctly. I got mine in camo. Has GMRS, FRS, and Weather stations.

Thank you for the suggestions, I appreciate your response. I'll be doing some research to source some that meet the criteria you mentioned.

 

[Monocrom]

I'm in CA. I said if I had to go through that. There are a lot of people that do have to go through that.

I had my emergency experience in the Witch Creek fire of 2007, days after the death of my Mom. Spent 5 days evacuated which included sleeping in my car, then finally at a Motel 6 in Chula Vista.

Was evacuated from Ramona to the mall in Escondido the first night. Woke up with smoke and flames surrounding the parking lot. Had to drive to San Diego to drop my grandparents off at the airport. They flew in from Canada to see my Mom only to watch her pass away.

We drove in all our vehicles using walkie talkies to communicate. No cell phone would work. Over a million people were evacuated at once and the lines were jammed with emergency calls. We had to drive through flames near Miramar on the 15 freeway. The fire jumped the freeway. After dropping off my grandparents, we stayed at a parking lot at a church in Lemon Grove until we could find somewhere with a hotel room.

The Red Cross showed up to "help" and booked up all of the Holiday Inns aggravating the situation. We tried getting water from stores but all of the stores had donated it to Petco Park in San Diego where they set up shelter for people who had evacuated. With half the county evacuated, that's the last place you wanted to be. Finally got a room at a Motel 6 in Chula Vista near the beach. Watching the news, Ramona was the staging area for the firefighting airplanes and they grounded them due to high wind with flames on the surrounding hills. The fire had spread to Chula Vista and the wind was carrying the sparks 5 miles ahead of the front line of the fire.

After 5 days, someone rammed through the barricade back into Ramona and the cops decided maybe keeping a bunch of angry people with guns out of their homes wasn't a good idea. They let us back in.

Once home, the water was green from a double dose of chlorine they had put in it. The pumping system had broken down so they decided to shut our water off for nearly another week. Turns out the system was 50+ years old and the backup system failed too. They knew in advance the system needed an upgrade but turned down government money to get it done. Parts took awhile to get to fix because it was an outdated system that they had to hunt down. All the stores donated their water to the Red Cross and they were rationing it out daily so you had to waste gas each day to get more water.

Power lines were down or turned to ash in much of town. Had friends without power for two weeks and the pipes to their water tank storage for their well melted and they lost all their water in their tank. I donated plenty of flashlights and batteries to those friends to help them get by.

If you think you're prepared for a disaster, wait until one happens and school's you on Murphy's Law.

Thank you for sharing that. A lot of important lessons could be learned from your experience.

 

[Monocrom]

....As a side thought, what type of walkies would you recommend for someone to purchase that would be adequate in a traveling circumstance with multiple vehicles like the one you and your family experienced? Something that meets the need competently, yet doesn't break the bank?

I know this question wasn't directed towards myself. But one of my subscribers on my main YouTube channel has his own channel, and tackled this topic about a year ago. I think his video would be helpful to you.