The "E" Plan

 

 

“Failing to plan is planning to fail”

 

Winston Churchill

During World War II

Last week, a long time Face Book friend posting something very disturbing. A man deep in the faith, most of his posting had to do with Christ and his teachings. However, this one did not. It was  a warning. He heard something from a law enforcement customer of his who lives in another state. This person deals closely with the Department of Homeland Security. Even though this is anecdotal, I will repeat what he was recently told. "You did not hear this from me. However, I will tell you this - don't travel too far from home from now until Nov 1st, as you might not be able to get back." And that was it - that is all that was said.

The timing on this was not good as I had just promised my wife we were going up to Duluth on a day trip. What did this obscure warning mean? Is there an attack planned? An EMP attack that will render most cars unusable? What if we get up to Duluth, 140 miles from home, and something happens? To solve this dilemma, I was left with two choices. Choice #1 - stay home - forget seeing the fall colors on the North Shore this year. Choice #2 - go anyway, only go with a plan. In other words, have an emergency plan (an "E" plan) for everything you do, even a day trip.

The old saying of "live for today, but plan for tomorrow" is morphing into "live AND plan for today, and also plan for tomorrow". Watching a new show called "Doomsday Preppers" has enlightened me. First, I am amazed at the amount of planning these folks have done in anticipation of an unknown event which may or may not materialize. Second, unlike many of them, I refuse to hide in a hole and wait for the end times. That being said, being prudent these days is prudent (redundancy intentional).

Back to the Duluth trip. Many military planners I have dealt with look for a worst case scenario, and plan for it. A worst case scenario for us being 140 miles from home would be an EMP event, natural or unnatural. If that would happen, the car would be rendered useless. We had our bikes on the bike rack - worst case, we had rudimentary (EMP proof) transportation home. It might take four days, but our bikes would get us there. We also had some water and food in backpacks that would become "E" packs if needed. We went to Duluth, had a great time, and never gave the worst case scenario a second thought.

I believe the mother load for all "E" plans revolve around the primary residence. If the power in a region would go out for reasons such as abnormal sun spot activity, terrorism, EMP pulse, or just the old age of the grid, very little in your house will function. Turning on the tap will not result in running water, the toilet (which is dependent on water) will not work, the food in your freezer and refrigerator will start to spoil, your furnace and your stove will not work. I remember reading during Katrina many people would have given anything for one bottle of potable water. Again, as in Katrina, if we have a wide spread event where utilities and distribution systems are damaged, THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE OF LITTLE HELP. If there is one lesson to take away from Katrina, it is that.

The purpose of this article is not to describe how a plan should be prepared. An "E" plan is like the family budget - unique to needs or circumstances of the family. An "E" plan should cover weather events, as well as other natural or unnatural disasters. Most grocery stores have only a two day supply of food on hand. In an emergency, that two days would be gone in two hours. If the distribution systems are gone, your house will be your store. Potable water is the most important thing to have. Without drinkable water, you and your family will not survive more that a week.

A friend of mine recently told me he was more prepared today than he was yesterday and not as prepared as he will be tomorrow. The "E" plan we have for our family is a work in progress. To paraphrase my friend, it is better than yesterday, but not as good as it will be tomorrow. Winston Churchill said during World War II, "Failure to plan is planning to fail". Amen to that.