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You are so right about the stores. After Hurricane Katrina,...
A couple of stores wanted to reopen as soon as the store was cleaned, with plastic taped over the counters that had to be sterilized. This was allowed in smaller towns, but not in the city.
Some of the stores complained that they could get fresh produce, milk and meat after the storm but couldn't sell it. One store in my area planned on selling out of a refrigerated truck, but weren't allowed to.
...
So, once again, it was government preventing recovery...
Today, almost 4 weeks after our small town burned down, Paradise, CA, most of the residents are still not allowed to visit, unless they need to get medicine or a car which survived. To get access we need an appointment, a police escort, and only 15 minutes are allowed.
Sad part is that many former homeowners can't get a check from their insurance because the insurance adjusters are not allowed in either. These people want to move on to another part of California or to another state, but government powers get in the way.
In the meantime looters using back roads and the cover of the night are able to get in.
Our home survived the fire, but we have no idea what mayhem we'll be facing once the blockade is lifted.
To the preppers here, good for you, I agree, but your very own government could be the biggest obstacle.
Today, almost 4 weeks after our small town burned down, Paradise, CA, most of the residents are still not allowed to visit, unless they need to get medicine or a car which survived. To get access we need an appointment, a police escort, and only 15 minutes are allowed.
Sad part is that many former homeowners can't get a check from their insurance because the insurance adjusters are not allowed in either. .
I am a former insurance adjuster.
They CAN get an advance up to 10% of the anticipated claim.
I'm recent years insurance companies have been using satellite imagery more and more.
They should call their company, talk to their assigned agent, and request (the above)
-company will need to get the pic to see if it's burned, but after that....
cash will be useful in minor events, in the big one it will still be used in the beginning days but not for long, you may be able to get extra supplies with cash before the masses realise something is up.
As a general rule, I always keep approx $100 cash on me at all times. Never really thought of it as a prep, but looking back, that actual paper cash and not a debit card, has saved my a** multiple times.
As a general rule, I always keep approx $100 cash on me at all times. Never really thought of it as a prep, but looking back, that actual paper cash and not a debit card, has saved my a** multiple times.
Agreed! I usually keep between $300-600 on me, tucked in a slot in my wallet (100's folded nice and flat.), plus at least $1,000 minimum somewhere at home plus similar in Various BOB's (lower denominations.).
I figure $300-600 is enough to cover towing and/or hotel for the night if power or internet are down...or you're in hickville and they are cash only. Been there before.
I always keep low or zero balances on all my cards too, just in case, but if you are still paying things off, keep at least one card 100% zero balance for EMERGENCIES only.
They say money can't buy happiness, but it sure does buy peace of mind and reduced stress if you have it....which makes me happy.
As for the prep vs non-prep....I was attacked earlier in the thread for being a non-prep person which is completely untrue. What I roll my eyes at are the loons that are hopping for a total collapse of society...Mad Max scenarios...THOSE are the people that give prepping a bad name.
My opinion....I survived the collapse of USSR and all that followed: cartels taking power, unrest, riots, total lack of food, overall mayhem, in all spheres of life, etc, there were wars all over the periphery. People here discuss expensive crap, tons of tech gadgets, radios, generators, rockets to fly to the Moon, years worth of GMO food crap, etc, etc. Most of what's written here shows people have no clue of what it's like to live through societal collapse.
One thing: guns won't help you...not for a long time. You might shoot a robber or two, but there'll be organized criminals, with guns, outnumbering you and much better organized. They'll kill you just for your guns , ammo, gold, and for your tech survival toys. May be even for your crops, if you try to protect them. The less you have/own, the safer you are. They'll find where your gold and guns are, by torturing you, if they think you got something worth taking, and the word spreads fast... It could be your nice neighbors, who'd tip someone off. Another thing: your nice neighbors you think you can rely upon very likely won't open the door for you.
Live low key, don't focus on material possessions. Urban real estate is the best hedge against this stuff usually (except if it comes to bombing), as all collapses eventually end and things come back up, urban areas tend to do much better in those. Rural RE: not so much....it might end up being worth only the potatoes and goats you can grow around that house, which will be very likely to end up being burned down. Not much incentive to go after an old RV...but much to rob and burn the house built to complete with the Johnses, they won't have enough "guards" for those.
Relax and enjoy your life. You won't face STHF during your lifetime, by all chances. The worst SHTF happening here will probably be Happy in Wyoming having a legal dispute with neighbors over parking of his armored RV
We have several relatives who are preppers, eagerly anticipating the total collapse of society as we know it.
Their homes and storage sheds are stuffed with plastic buckets of deyhdrated meals. They buy each other guns and ammo for Christmas. They talk of their "bug out" bags for when they have to head for the hills and live off the land.
I actually lived off the land back in my twenties. It's a lot tougher than it sounds and I didn't have to deal with roving bands of criminals.
It's the criminal element that they seem so ill prepared for.
It seems they anticipate a period of disruption while the current system collapses followed by a better system where, presumably, they, or those like them, will be in power because they've survived (plastic buckets of dried food, bunkers, bug out bags, ...) and there will be fewer government regulations, more freedom and liberty, etc.
If they survive at all, it will be because the criminals allow it. But you can bet the criminals will survive. They always do. They have the will and your resources.
And it will be the criminals running the place.
So your advice is right on. Relax and enjoy the good times. Who knows how long it'll last.
you've been watching too many repeats of Mad Max, roving bands of criminals? maybe in the early days but not for long, not after the food stocks in the supermarkets are all gone and no resupply is coming. have a look at the videos of malnutrition in Africa if you don't believe me. don't trip over all those dead bodies on your way out of town.
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