Eastern Power & Lighting Electric Co. Inc.
Eastern Power & Lighting Electric Co. Inc.
EP&L Electric Co. Inc.
EP&L Electric Co. Inc.
Disaster Preparedness
"Preparing for the Big Short"
*This page is best viewed on a Desktop, Laptop or Tablet.
Hi everyone. I created this page for you to bring awareness to what our government's top security experts have called their greatest fear. That fear is a Cyber Attack on our power grid. They all agree that it is "Not a matter of if, but when..."
We need to be mindful of the fact that there are other natural disasters to consider, i.e. ice storms that can leave areas without power for weeks, tornadoes and such but I am not focusing on those too much because you can drive away from the affected areas and survive.
My focus here is to warn about the imminent dangers of long extended power outages to vast areas caused by a Cyber Attack, Solar Flares or an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) Device which is an attack designed to destroy electronics or a vast area. It is a nuclear device exploding in the atmosphere. Enemies of America have them and are considered to be first strike weapons.
Below I will bring attention to what the dangers are, and how you can and should be prepared at a minimum.
Well respected journalist Ted Koppel has written a book on the threat based on a two year study. There are many related videos on this topic.
**He recommends a 3-6 month supply of food and water as a minimum.
Ted Kopple Interview from the PBS News Hour - Video Here
60 Minutes has done multiple segments on the threat of a Cyber Attack and what you need to prepare for - Video Here
National Geographic Segment on an EMP strike. - Video Here
There are many videos and news outlets that have brought attention to the threats that are easily found on U-tube but I think you get the idea. Now, these are man made catastrophes and are not the only reason you should prepare yourself. Solar flares happen all the time but as with other natural disasters, we do get a fare warning. The cyber threats however will come with no warning and the rush will overwhelm the masses. Refrigerated foods will be useless as soon as the fuel for generators runs out or the generator fails, if you even have one.
I am going to try to bring you up to a level that I believe everyone needs to be by offering suggestions and links.
First off you'll need food and the ability to cook it.
I believe the best way to achieve this goal is with dehydrated food that have become main stream by many many manufacturers now. What was initially a camping or trekking adventure market has expanded to disaster preparedness.
Augason Farms makes dehydrated and freeze dried foods designed if unopened to last 20+ yrs. After much research and reviews I have found them to be the most economical. If you subscribe to their newsletter they will notify you on weekly sales at great discounts. Unlike other sellers, you rarely have to pay full price. They also offer "All in one" kits that carry water purification and fire starters to boil water.
Buy Here > Augason Farms
Costco also carries many different choices of foods including other products you may need. Shop > Here
Buy Costco > Supplies
Legacy Foods is a higher end product sold through distributors.
Legacy Website
Where to Buy Legacy > Here
I have not opened any of my pails but I hear it can be a real pain as they are sealed to last, so you may want to buy an opener too.
Buy > Here
For pantry shelf life of normal foods.
*In addition to your food supplies you'll want to stock up on disposable bowls and utensils. You do not want to be doing dishes and wasting water. A manual can opener, freeze dried coffee, tea, powdered creamer, lighters, just anything you take for granted should be thought out in advance and added to your stores. Don't forget your vitamins!
Now that we have our food supplies lets move on to the water. As you probably already know, you can last longer without food than you can without water. Ever wonder why they always tell you to fill the bath tub when there is a threat of a disaster? That is why. 3-4 days for the average person before you die. Your 1st an best option is stored water. After that and given the possibility that water will not be pumped to your home or your well will not be able to draw water from loss of power, your next option is natural sources. You do not want to die from a micro-organism in the water which many survivalist feel will kill off many just based on the fact that you will not have access to medications to cure what 100 yrs. ago was normal drinking water for the population.
Lifestraw has everything you need.
I suggest you buy each family member the straw, the water bottle, the drip filter and any other item you can can. They are an award winning company and the leader in the industry. *Like all of the products listed here in this blog, all of these items can be purchased at Amazon and they have tons of reviews. Gotta love Amazon :)
Buy > Here
*If you can stand the taste you can also use chemicals to kill bacteria in larger containers with germicidal tablets. They're cheap enough.
Buy > Here
Now comes the ability to boil water for re-hydrating your food.
I suggest you have multiple ways to do that. Consider the options - "bug in" or "bug out". The latter requires portability. Be prepared for both.
We all have grills but grills are not designed to boil water. They can but you do not want to be wasting precocious fuel for what you can do minimally with alcohol or propane single burners for example.
Below are a couple of options I can suggest. This is normal camping type equipment. I am going to just post right from Amazon for the sake of convenience.
Coleman single burner with 1 lb. propane tanks easily found at Big Box stores by the case. *Attachment sold separately for larger propane tanks
Buy > Here
The "Solo Stove" can burn multiple fuel sources but I've found that denatured alcohol is very effective and again, can be found at the Big Box stores.*The option for the burner to use alcohol is an option listed the details as "Frequently bought together". It's a small fuel container that will burn any type of alcohol.
Buy > Here
So now we have our ability to boil water down, lets talk about staying warm.
*Again, this is just a recommendation based on what I have for my personal use and I've based all of these products on reviews.
The "Mister Heater" is highly rated by campers and will run on the Coleman small tanks and they have an option to buy the hose and adapter to go to a large propane tank. This unit is ideal because it is safe for indoor use. There are of course larger models but with all of my suggestions, they are minimums.
Buy > Here
Dual Fuel Propane or Natural Gas Indoor "Blue Flame" Vent-less Heater.
*There are other larger vent-less heaters that do not require electricity also.
*Natural gas units can be hooked directly to an existing valve or run direct to the incoming gas manifold with flexible gas line. No electricity units might be the best option though. If you had electricity you could run your home heater...obviously.
Buy Vent-less Heater > Here
Fire starters for fuel or for fire starting. They can be broken up and will stay lit for a pretty long time. They can also be used in the Solo Stove as it can also burn twigs to boil water.
Buy > Here
Emergency blankets and sleeping bags designed to trap body heat preventing moisture from escaping. You would use these in addition to blankets.
Buy > Here
So we're alive! Now we need to see what the hell we are doing and hear from the outside world what just happened.
I suggest you rely on solar and crank emergency radios and LED lanterns. They have battery options too but are the batteries going to be available or even work coming out of storage? Not likely..I suggest you have two radios and two lanterns.
Buy > Lantern
Buy > Radio
Buy > Radio
OK so now your pretty well set but how will you charge your cell phones? Lets hope for the best case scenario and that they will work. The majority of people don't even have a car charger! Lets dismiss the car charger outright...you do not want to be running your car just to charge anything.
Buy > Solar Charger
For immediate charges and when you do have access to a car charger or electricity you'll want this top rated Battery Bank.
Buy > Battery Bank
Survival Guides - Buy >Here
Survival Hacks for the Macgyver in you. - Buy > Here
Medicines
You will want to stock up on anything you may need as far as pain and fever relievers, any prescription medicines, bandages, anti-bacterial ointments, tooth paste, mouth wash, just anything you can think of. Does your medication need to be refrigerated? Consider car charger refrigerators/coolers. Some are designed specifically for Diabetics.
Money
With electronic transfers down, credit card processing will not be available. Have cash stashed away!
Consider what you have and consider the fact that whatever it is, it may be used to barter later on.
Emergency Apps for your Phones
Download emergency Apps. Nation wide emergency services and police scanner. Picks up everything in your area under the "nearby" tab.
Police and EMS Scanner App for iPhone - Free
Police and EMS Scanner for Android $1.99
*Change your location and EMS band as needed.
Another well known Scanner app. >Android
Book Mark power outage pages to report or check wait times on repairs.
*You may have to create a user and save the link as open. This is a great tool have on your phone.
Finally, there are many other media outlets that are "Prepper" related. I suggest you check them out through their websites or through social media sites like Facebook. Some great tips come up in your news feeds.
American Preppers Network is a great site to check out and like them on Facebook to get tips from survivalists, campers and preppers in your news feed. I've added a couple more links too for you to check out. As you get in to the culture even as a casual viewer you see just how big the industry is and amount of people who follow it.
Fema - Ready.gov
Be prepared and hope you never need to use it.
