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No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
Good god this was the clown claiming to be a "marauder" I think...Total mall ninja idiot...He fit the bill of a felon lunatic and it's good to see him get taken out...
sounds a bit like gunkid and his tactical wheelbarrow!
2014, the RE market has not been good due to weather in most cases. However recent sales should raise eyebrows as the buyers have been 60% investors rather than individuals.
Secondly banks have been slow, and in some cases very, very, slow, to foreclose while they try to deal with the backlog. Therefore foreclosure statistics are not accurate.
Just a note - I am a Katrina survivor, but I was not in New Orleans. It was bad enough in the little town I live in near Covington, on the opposite side of the lake from New Orleans. I did have friends who were trapped there.
Why:
1. They were told repeatedly that the levees would never fail. The 'experts' assured them they had nothing to fear.
2. They assumed they could (1) retreat to the the attic as had been done in past years (the older homes in hurricane land had an ax sunk into a rafter so a hole could be chopped in the roof to facilitate escape); (2) ride out the storm in their elevated houses; (3) take the boat and escape if the water came up too high. (These three options had sufficed in the past)
3. They relied on public transportation and had no way (or not enough money) to get out of the city.
It had been a long time (I believe 1969's Camille) since a killer 'cane passed thru our area and a generation had grown up who had not even experienced a CAT 3! Some people simply won't believe the worst could happen to them.
A lot of people did leave only to experience an evacuation that could be measured in inches per hour rather than miles per hour. People who did leave got to watch looters moving freely about the city while they were kept out (for their own good, of course).
I am sure that other people, such as the Sandy survivors, will attest to the number of people who can tell you what should have been done - it's quite another thing to make the decision beforehand. Do you stay or go? If you go, do you prepare for looters (hide what you value or take it with you)? If you stay, are you prepared to do what is necessary to protect your home from looters? What about pets, livestock, handicapped family members? What do you take with you? Where will you go? How will you be treated in the area you take refuge in? Can your car handle the trip (in the inches per hour traffic, a number of cars simply overheated)? It's just not that easy to leave the familar to go to a strange place as a refugee.
By the way, the people I know who lived thru it either are preppers, or have moved out of the area.
I prep because I lived through one natural disaster, and have learned from it. People need very little to survive. A survivor attitude, water, clothes, shelter, food will carry you through to a better day.
My community was hit with a massive epic flood. Thousands homeless within a few days. No water, sewer, power, natural gas. The credit unions and banks were flooded, so no money either. For many, jobs were wiped out, too. The water eventually peaked at 13 ft over the 500 yr flood plain.
You experience life on a vastly different level quickly. Anything not directly useful for survival was an extravagance. Little things meant a lot. You wouldn't believe how grateful we were to find a 2x8 wood bench to sit on. Getting actively working on recovery is absolutely crucial. The survivor attitude thrives or withers on it. Guns? The two most useful guns to have are a frame nailer and powered drill/ driver.
There were the scum, too. Looters that would take pipes and wire for scrap were the lowest. Housing codes meant that most had to have tradespeople install electrical and plumbing. Price gouging was the rule of the day, with the few that were fairly priced being so overwhelmed that you either waited many months or just paid the price. After spending tens of thousands, a looter stripped my mom's house and my family's house of copper pipe and electrical wire, leaving water spraying. Weeks more to re-dry and back to the end of the line to get gouged again. They may have sold the scrap for $20. Second time, pex plumbing. If I had a gun and had caught a looter, I would be in prison for manslaughter or worse. I am NOT that kind of person normally but I would have snapped.
That was years ago. From that I found out what I am made from and how to survive. I cannot go back to being a non-prep person.
I forgot about the money situation. If you take too much cash with you and the local police find out about it, the money can be confiscated as 'drug money'. Your ATM may not work if your local bank has been closed by the disaster. One of my friends took travelers checks and had trouble cashing them. She had to request a bank manager's help. The cashiers didn't know what a travelers check was!
By the way, in some states, only a local doctor can write prescriptions. A friend of mine got relocated to an alternate work site after Katrina. He took prescriptions written by his local doctor since he would be there for a number of months (6 as it turned out). None of the pharmacies would fill the prescriptions since they were written by an out of state doctor. Fortunately, he was able to find an understanding doctor at a local 'low income' clinic. That doctor kindly rewrote the prescriptions.
Bugging out takes prep - if you do it as a last minute solution, you will have problems.
We all know that we should be prepared for severe storms but this kind of preparedness goes well beyond storm safety. People are just afraid of losing everything.....including their lives!
Note: If you don't like this blog then fine. At least be kind enough not to be a rude by disrespecting the topic. Some folks just might learn something from this blog.
The ad hoc militia groups in New Orleans supposedly killed hundreds or even thousands of criminals during the aftermath of Katrina. That must have been a pleasant as well as a prudent task.
A true nationwide or just regional disaster on one of the coasts would likely have a real cleansing effect in this country. I'm ready.
To answer your question, BETTER to be prepared for nothing, than NOT be prepared for something RIGHT? This is NOT a difficult issue to figure out.
Short and sweet.
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