Crisis Management

 

 

 

"You never know how much you need something until you can't get it anymore..."

 

If you live in West Virginia, this past week was another punch in the gut. It was a painful reminder on how vulnerable we all are, and how depended we are to the most basic of necessities. In case you missed it, a very toxic substance spilled into a river which feeds into the water supply for hundreds of thousands of people. Just like that, an emergency order was issued from the state to not use water. The order affected seventeen counties. When I say not use their water, this toxic spill was so potent, so potentially hazardous, people could not water for anything. They could not drink their water, brush their teeth with their water, bathe in their water, or wash clothes using their water. It was an instant and critical mess.

 

These 300,000 people did not see it coming. Nobody did. But it came, and came hard. It should give the rest of us pause to think - am I prepared? For the unexpected as well as the expected? People in West Virginia were so panicked, every store was emptied out of all bottled water, fruit juices, anything liquid. Even the ice cubes were gone. In an instant, the week went from being a routine post holiday schedule to a sudden rush for survival.

 

January is a good time to take stock of your stock. Your family food stock. When I say food, I mean everything from bottled water to intermediate needs to (God forbid) long term needs. Most grocery stores do not keep and endless supply of food on hand. Many stores would run out of everything in less than two days of panic buying. Bare shelves, just like in Russia during the cold war days. 

 

A family of four should have a minimum of 100 gallons of water on hand. If you are a careful shopper, that will cost about $100. They can be stored anyplace in your house, except in direct sunlight. The 5 gal or 1 gal bottles are the best - the 2.5 containers are the worst (they will leak). Experts say we can last a few weeks with little food, only a few days with no water, and mere minutes with no air.

 

We should all look at our home pantry (or bunker if you will) as a type of insurance. Should we have some kind of major widespread power disruption in our country, we would all be in instant survival mode. It can happen. For a variety of reasons, it can happen. Manmade or otherwise. If your power goes off, very little if anything in your house will operate. No water, no toilet, no heat, no lights. Stone age stuff. Think about a worse case scenario and then plan for it. As the saying goes, "chance favors a prepared mind".

 

This winter, besides thinking about and helping the needy, think about you family's survival in the event of an emergency. Most people who have been through a major disruption say the same thing - they did see it coming. In the military we learned that failure to plan is a plan to fail. Wise words in thinking about your home security.