Disaster Preparedness. Are we ready for the changes predicted to come?
Source: www.lataheagle.com

FROM THE DEMENTEDMIND OF BEAR

When nearly every ancient to modern prophecy touches upon serious natural and man made disasters allegedly to occur in our near future, we ought to at least consider how we might handle local and worldwide disasters.

Nostradamus, the Mayan calender, Edgar Casey, Oriental tri-grams, Bible code, and many more claim Dec. 21,2012 to be a culminating point of a whole lot of tremendous survival struggles mankind will face.

If we should remain un-empathetic, relying on our federal and state governments to take care of us should disasters fall upon us, think again.

Where were the feds when hurricanes devastated the Gulf Coast? Thousands of communities in that area struggle even today with recovery attempts.

Where were the good people of the world when we all heard of the genocide in African and Asian countries? Darfur suffers even today, decades later.

Listen to any media broadcast today about present corruption and greed problems in government, and there'll always be a so-called expert who will deny any foreboding claims.

When health experts finally got around to doing battle with tobacco companies thirty years or so ago, the wealthy tobacco companies produced hundreds of so-called experts and scientists claiming tobacco was NOT addicting and posed minimal health hazards.

Today, tobacco companies still make a hefty profit from their continuing sales and marketing ventures.

Our federal government redefined the definition of "torture", and applied varying torture techniques on alleged terrorists in order to obtain information that would "save thousands of American lives."

When the rest of the world rejected American ways because they saw us following the "Dark side of the the force", we scoffed at them. After all, it was for "our own protection" that we took to the new practices.

History repeats itself, great nations rise, expand, and then get too prideful and go away, becoming just another chapter in the history books.

If history does tend to repeat itself, read the scriptures and see how mankind formed and maginified prideful, non-empathetic nations. According to these scriptures, God, as most good fathers do, let His kids get naughtier and naughtier until they got a bit too big for their britches. Then He came down on them with fury.

Maybe we are a bit too big for our britches now. And maybe we are soon to feel the pains of a good father's discipline.

Whatever the origin of what is to come in our near future, it's not very difficult to see how it can't be a glorious thing.

Take a moment, relax, and picture a mega-disaster having happened. Let's say it's a global earthquake of immense magnitude.

Roads are so broken up that none are passable. There's no electrical lines standing anywhere. No television, no commercial radio, and no help is coming from the outside of your community. All you have is your neighbors, what supplies you have on hand, and whatever survival skills you have learned and must now use to help one another survive.

Let's face it. It doesn't take much for what we perceive as security to fall apart, leaving us to each fend for ourselves.

A global earthquake (which scientists now say has happened in the earth's past more than once) is but one of nature's disasters that could affect our lives without notice.

Now, take just a few moments to consider what you would need if such a disaster DID fall upon you and your family.

An old mountain man saying tells it all, "The measure of a man is not how many conveniences he can gather to himself in his life, but how few he needs to be satisfied."

I am no survival expert. I'm just an ordinary guy like most others who love and care for their family and friends.

I plan on continuing my research and sharing what I learn through these pages. I don't intend to lead anyone to worry about what will or will not happen. But only share what my research uncovers and could very well mean survival for the few who heed my warnings and prepare for what could be.

Preparedness is the key to everything. When you're prepared, the old saying takes meaning, "What don't kill ya will make ya stronger."

Now, what do we need to survive any disaster?

The ancient list of basic elements: Air, water, wind and fire cover it well.

You can stay alive only a few minutes without breathable air. You can live for a couple of days without water, a few weeks without food, and probably not for a year without shelter (we can put shelter under the heading Earth as it's the forces of earth and the blessings of earth that provides shelter.) And fire is important for purifying, preparing useful food and other necessary things we'll learn about.

Air is a gimme. You either have breathable air or you're dead. We'll research methods of primitive filtering and masks in future articles.

Water is next in importance. It is recommended that we have 2 liters of water for each person in the household for each day we plan to be on our own.

That's a lot of water if things get really bad. But in a big disaster you're not going to be able to turn on your faucet and get clean, pure water. No elecricity means no pumps (unless you've got an old hand-pump on your well for emergencies).

We'll research water purification methods in future articles. Sufficeth to say now that the best method of purification for ground water is to boil 5 minutes per gallon. That will kill any deadly bacteria and the loose particles will settle to the bottom of the container.

Water purified by boiling won't taste much like the water we are used to drinking. As a matter of fact, it's pretty tasteless.

Another water purification method is to place the water in a clear container, shake it up so as to aerate, and set it in direct sunlight for at least 6 hours. Again, it will end up pretty tasteless; but as with emergency food supplies nourishment, not flavor, is what we need.

We'll research and tell you of other simple purification methods in future articles.

Food is next on our list. As we all know, starvation isn't a pleasant method of dieing. If you go without food for just a few days your body will get so weak that scrounging food becomes difficult. Not only that, but your immunity to infections will decrease dramatically and be dangerously low.

Most folks in the rural Northwest keep food supplies so that they have ample supplies that can sustain them for weeks, even months. We'll research wild foods, how to find them and how to prepare them.

If a major diaaster strikes your locality and your home remains standing, thank the Lord for a great blessing. But should the time come that you have to leave for safety sake, we'll be researching the best "go-sacks", a backpack filled with the necessities for comfortable living in the wilderness or at home in the event of disaster. Also methods of improvising shelter from the elements.

Starting a safe fire and maintaining it we'll cover in future articles as well. Ask yourself now, "If there should be a mega-quake and everything I now have is suddenly gone, can I build a shelter and a fire with what I have on hand?"

As I've already said, fire is necessary for purifying water, preparing food, and to maintain a comfortable temperature in cold weather. In a mega-disaster you won't be able to fire up the electric or gas stove, and inless you have a good fireplace in your home and an ample supply of dry wood, you're going to get awfully cold until you get some kind of fire built.

And if you have to leave home, you'll be wanting fire starting materials in your go-sack.

We'll research and tell you about these things in future articles.

Our prayers are that near-future disasters predicted by so many are only fantasy. But the bottom line is that if we live long enough on this old earth we will eventually be faced with a disasterous time when nature seems to revolt against us. And if not, then our children or our children's children.

So why not be prepared should such bad times come upon us. It doesn't take a whole lot of work to prepare our families for harsh times. We can learn, and we can teach and share with one another the things that can turn a disaster into a great and wonderful adventure.

For now, the simplest advice is to store a bit of water in or near home, buy a few extra cans of nourishing foods when you shop and keep in an emergency supply stash. And discuss emergency plans with neighbors and community leaders so that in times of dire need the entire community might be able to work together instead of against one another for a more sensible and comfortable survival adventure.