Real Life Crisis Survival, Part 2
Jun 14th, 2010 | By Editor | Category: Uncategorized | Print This Article
Editor: This article is courtesy of Frank, a consultant from Phoenix who was doing mission work in Guatemala last week when a volcano erupted. Two days later tropical storm Agatha hit, devastating the country.
Last week I mentioned that in the midst of a power outage and a tropical storm, our little “crisis” took an unexpected turn. About 8:30 pm I heard a knock on the front door. It was odd, not just because it was raining cats and dogs, but because the neighborhood was somewhat isolated.
I cautiously answered it and was surprised to find the young man who normally delivers fruits and vegetables from the local market standing in the rain. He explained that the road to his home had been destroyed by a mudslide, and wondered if he could take shelter with me. I thought about it for a moment and then decided the only thing I could do was let him in.
Of course I didn’t realize that what he was really asking was whether his entire family could take shelter. As I opened the door and peered out into the storm, I saw a tiny little pickup truck with a dozen people packed into it. There must have been three generations of his family in that pickup truck, and one by one they filed through the front door, each of them completed drenched.
While I was contemplating the scene, my mind was racing. How could I host 12 strangers when my own house was flooded and I had no electricity? We were struggling to make dinner for our own kids. I also worried about security; other than delivering high quality vegetables whenever I wanted them, I didn’t know this guy, let alone his grandmother, mother, sisters, brother and a few other people I never figured out.
But…they were already inside, and outside it looked like God had sent me a message to build an ark and it had gotten lost in my spam filter. In the light provided by 15 cell phones (you got that, 15 cell phones for 12 people?), I surveyed the crowd. They didn’t look all that dangerous. I decided to give them the grand entryway and the garage, along with access to a bathroom. The women were thrilled at this announcement and within seconds there was a line forming.
We sized up everyone and got them warm clothes while my wife began working on soup. Twenty minutes later she was serving up “Survival Soup”, a concoction of rice, chicken broth and a bunch of vegetables. We pulled a few sheets off beds, stripped all the couches and chairs of cushions, and set them up the best we could.
My own family and the other missionaries had gone to bed early. They were sleeping in beds that were islands in their own rooms, with the water standing throughout the house. I was having a hard time getting to sleep and beginning to worry about just how long the visitors might remain. To be honest, we weren’t really very well prepared to take care of ourselves.
I felt I had done the right thing by giving them shelter, but in my mind I was wondering how long simple things like toilet paper would last. I also began to wonder just how long we would have fresh water. The property had its own well, but it occurred to me the pump ran on electricity. Even if it was solar powered, there wasn’t going to be much sun for the next few days or so.
As I laid there in bed, my mind was racing. I was thinking how ill prepared I really was and wondering how much worse it really could be. I determined when I returned home to Phoenix that I would revisit all of my emergency preparedness plans, including plans to take on friends, family or acquaintances who would inevitably show up in the event of a crisis.
A sinkhole created by tropical storm Agatha covers a street intersection in downtown of Guatemala City.
The electricity eventually came on after about 72 hours, and life quickly got back to normal (for us anyway, although many thousands of people were homeless and hundreds dead). I’m now back in Phoenix living my “normal” life, commuting to the office and worrying about things like the battery going out on my garage door opener and the filter on the pool not working quite as well as I’d like. I haven’t forgotten about my experience in Guatemala, and how quickly things here in America might descend into chaos when a nation that has largely never experienced real suffering is faced with catastrophe—be it natural, economic or terrorist in origin.
One of the greatest lessons I learned from the event was that it is vital to test your preparedness, and the only real way to do this is to go to the main power box in your home and turn it off. You might as well turn off the cell phones as well and live as though the batteries have run down—just as they would after a few days in a real crisis.
You’ll learn all sorts of things, not the least of which is that it is more psychologically and emotionally taxing to live through a minor crisis than you would anticipate. All the little things—the uncertainty, the lights being off, the cold from the leaking water—they all contribute to an emotional weariness. I can’t tell you how many times I looked at the clock on the electric stove (of course it was blank) or tried to turn on the lights when I walked into a dark room. I can only imagine how much more trying it would be if someone was injured, missing, or there was serious damage to our shelter.
I hope my little story is helpful in some way. As Mr. Heid is always saying, “As Christian Patriots we should hope for the best…but plan for the worst.”
Frank, Phoenix, AZ
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Thank you for posting this story. It really helps to put things in perspective. Many Americans have never been outside of the USA and are ignorant to these types of things. I have been preparing but due to lack of funds I am not as prepared as I would like to be. This story was a good kick in the seat of the pants to be even more fervent about being better prepared.
I accidentally hit the “report” button, so I apologize for that. But I do want to reply. Similarly, I’m not in a great position for doing all I want to do for preparedness, but the more you are honed in on doing so, the more opportunities you will see. Extra special pricing on non-perishables, deals on first aid, new methods and equipment for cooking without a working stove etc. As this story illustrates, planning for extra family members, or others who need help will be achallenge, but it has to also be part of the thinking ahead. If this is a priority for you, you will gradually get the hang of it and it will go far beyond extra canned goods, etc. Reading and learning are of utmost importance. It will be too late when the time comes.
One thing that I believe will be helpful if you are gathering information from the Internet, is to know what you would really need to read, review, follow instructions etc and to print it out. Even if your Laptop has a battery that works, your printer most likely does not. We simply cannot retain everything in our heads, but this publication will go a long way toward keeping the information before us. And the more we see it the more of it will stick.
And as scottyboytx said, know who the people are around you as much as you can. This is more difficult in apartments, but will certainly help if you ever need to know. Personally, I’ve worked in Disaster Planning and I consider it a good idea to know who has certain skills. You have to know people a little more than casually to know that though.
I am shocked and dismayed that the events in Guatemala have not elicited a single peep from our national media. I guess I’m not too shocked… I’ve seen it before… in the early 1990′s I was stationed in Washington DC. My project had some visitors from Canada. The Canadians were having their national elections. There was NO coverage of the Canadian elections at all… in our nation’s capital! Not a peep! They had to go back home to Canada to find out who had been elected Prime Minister!
Now, our national media is so busy with the hand-wringing over what’s going on in the Gulf, they forget there is more news than that going on in the world. Sad.
I too appreciate so much this article calling for all of us to wake-up and smell the roses. My family has about three months supply of food and other staples but we are working on getting more done in this area. I like the suggestion to turn off the electricity and find out what you will need to promote you and your family and friends well-being in such a crisis. It is important to “Hope for the best…but plan for the worst!:” Great advice.
Thanks again for sharing your moving story of survival!
A great web site to find for almost any topic for survival is— http://www.survivaltopics.com/
An excellent article. It was very nice of you to help these people in such a tough time. God Bless you and your family Frank.
I would also plant some berry bushes and fruit or nut trees on your property. These could assist in feeding your family in the years to come. Just hit the local nursery, Home depot or Lowe’s to see what they have.
Blueberry bushes are very easy to grow as well as Raspberry and blackberry.
Ahhh, sir, a most interesting read, you had me there right with you!
i had the pleasure(?) to stay in Galveston for HURRICANE IKE Sept 2008 in my home. For those of you who don’t know, Galveston is an island off the coast from Houston. 3 mi. bridge to get here. Very tropical place, love it, only here for 3 years since i moved here from Austin TX, 4 hrs by car. Well, this place had severe damage, not so much from the wind, as from the flood.
I had elected to stay put, for very many reasons. Only a cat. 2 storm, no big deal. well, it was worse than imaginable because the waters in the Galveston Bay rose 18 feet and flooded us.
And, did not have elec., cell phone, internet, water, gas, cable…..no NOTHING. Luckily i had prepared by parking my bmw in a nearby garage. after the floodwaters subsided 2 days later, i got my car, only to find that I was very unique, besides govt peeps, to have a car. I can tell you all about helicopters overhead all day long and the otherwise sound of silence, and our National Guard Boys handing out MRE’s, newspapers from houston, water, ice, whatever. And i certainly and profusely gave thanks to them, as i was loading up my trunk for friends and neighbors (who had lost their cars.)
What i got out of it (the main point here) is that you 1. must have stores of food and water 2. if you have a propane-fired bbq grille, have extra cans of gas, 3. have a handcrank shortwave etc radio as you may need the only source to the outside, 4. Protection is up to you, not going there here 5. Fig. out who you friends are in advance , 6 keep your car gastank on Full at all times. You never know when you might need it,
7. have an escape plan ( and yeah, i do have one), 6. stock up on sales items of everyday things, which you can use for barter during this time period. I could go on, but…hehe….
And, I lived in L.A. for the 1992 Rodney Kings riots……talk about lockdown on the city. nothing open.
and, then lived thru the 1994 Northridge earthquake in L.A. where all stores were closed, elec off, no traffic signals, scarey times.
My advice: keep your cool, dont freak out. If you are good inside your head, you will fig. it out and do well under any circumstances. If you are not good inside your head about this, find someone who is and stick like glue!! hehe….
So, Mr. Esteemed Writer (saying that with seriousness and respect) I loved the story, you absolutely did the right thing, and God Bless You on that!
cheers, scott
Be prepared…the motto of the boy scouts. doesnt take much time nor money if you do it a little bit at a time.
all good. i truly believe that we are always where we are physically are, at the right moment. So, just act smart in the meantime and not freak!
about 10 years ago due to an ice storm we were without el for 14 days. we learned about helping others and what we still need to do to get ready for what ever God has in plan for us.
Scottyboytx…I love your ideas. especially the “hehe” A sense of humor is the most important part. Now for my parinoid side. I have been thinking about putting in a false wall in my closet. That way if looters show up they won’t find the stash of supplies. I don’t plan on being in the house all the time and that could happen. Also I am thinking about a stash of ammo. You know there won’t be any then either especially during a long haul. Where we live there are deer and rabbits but we have also eaten racoon. It’g good too. ‘Possom is definitly yuk! My son eats rattlesnake and we tried that. It’s good but you have to be real careful how you kill it and not rupture the poisoin sac in the head. Throw it out if you do that because it will poision the meat. Cut the head off back behind it a few inches. We killed two almost 60 incher and one two footer rattlesnakes. And I got a wild food book but it has drawings and not pictures. Well, hehe, thanks for the comments….
forget the closet ! stash your weapons inside the stairs or try installing a second fake watertank. whatever you decide remember your weapon and ammo must be kept clean and dry. i would also store a home defense 12 guage pump with ammo and a good flashlite inside a hollow door to the master bedroom or the den concealed behind a hatch with mirror over. make sure the weapon has a trigger lock. explain to the family that the weapon is not a plaything and no one is to be shown the weapon.
Hi Milly,I was frewaodrd your website from Queenie and was delighted when I opened it up to see your blog. It makes for an excellent read, along with providing fab ideas – especially for school hols and visitors. I only wish I had accessed it a few weeks ago when my family were here! I have frewaodrd your page on to others, as well as my former Kindergarten.Cathy, a neighbour from your street!