When the Hard Times Come – You Are On Your Own!

by Earl Griffin

There has been a lot of attention paid recently to the activities of those individuals and families who believe in taking responsibility for themselves. Often they are called “Preppers.” Sometimes they are called “hoarders”, or “crazies.”

Funny; when things go south it’s not often you see those people on television crying, screaming, and pulling their hair because the government isn’t there to help them. That is because they helped themselves before it hit the fan.

I remember when Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. I recall the anger that I personally felt because of the seemingly unmitigated suffering of the people in the aftermath of that storm. Each day the smoldering rage I felt because of the government’s apparent inaction burned hotter and brighter.

It’s been several years since Katrina – things still haven’t gotten back to normal in New Orleans. “Those dang Republicans,” I thought, “callous, indifferent to the plight of those with whom they have lost touch.” Now we’ve had another storm: Sandy.

The weather forecasters were united for a week. “It’s going to be a huge, terrible storm,” they said.

I remember the innumerable jackasses calling the radio station and complaining about the “hype.”

Before long reporters, weather forecasters, and government officials were making public service announcements to assure the public that this storm was not being “hyped.”

Everyone had a week’s warning!

The “crazies,” aka people who believe that it is their responsibility to take care of themselves and their own family no matter what, started getting ready as you can see: here, here, and here.

When I asked people, “What are you doing to get ready for Sandy?” A few people listed their preparations. However the majority of people just laughed at me and joked about, “Milk, bread, and toilet paper.”

Maryland was spared much of the terrible wind damage. However New Jersey and New York were not. Funny – at first there wasn’t a lot of coverage about the looting and panic people were experiencing. However, Barking Window did cover these things and more in Sandy’s aftermath.

We learned some startling truths. For instance FEMA simply isn’t ready for large disasters and it is Europe and not the U.S. that leads in weather forecasting.

The Republicans are not in charge this time around – instead it is a Democrat who sits in the White House. What difference did it make? It made no difference at all. People in those areas hardest hit by Sandy are all crying and begging for help – when they aren’t dumpster diving for food!

So the Republicans failed after Katrina and the Democrats have failed after Sandy.

There is an important lesson to learn from this: Reliance upon government is not a good idea during an emergency. People – all people – should prepare for hard times and emergencies within their means to do so! Even the poor can do something to prepare.

Prepare for the storm but also be mindful of your preparations for after the storm. You will have to look after yourself, your family, and even your neighbors. You will also have to be prepared for those who are up to no good.

There are a lot of people who will go on after this storm without having learned anything – don’t be one of them.

If you have not already done so, begin to develop a philosophy of self-reliance. Be careful though; don’t fall into the “me against the world,” snare that many others get caught in. Prepare for yourself and your family but don’t forget your neighbors. I don’t mean to suggest you should do their work for them, but I think it is important that we remember that we are not islands. We are members of a community. Reach out to those in need and be a leader in your community.

More @ http://thesurvivalplaceblog.com/2012/11/06/when-the-hard-times-come-you-are-on-your-own/

Hurricane Sandy Changes Coastline in New Jersey, NASA Photos

On October 29, 2012, lives were changed forever along the shores of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and in the two dozen United States affected by what meteorologists are calling Superstorm Sandy. The landscape of the East Coast was also changed, though no geologist would ever use the word “forever” when referring to the shape of a barrier island.

Photo of the New Jersey coastal town of Mantoloking, just north of where Hurricane Sandy made landfall, taken on October 31, 2012 shows the damages caused by Hurricane Sandy.

Credit: Aerial photography courtesy of the NOAA Remote Sensing Division.

Two aerial photographs show a portion of the New Jersey coastal town of Mantoloking, just north of where Hurricane Sandy made landfall. Both photographs were taken by the Remote Sensing Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The after image on October 31, 2012; the before image was acquired by the same group on March 18, 2007. The images were acquired from an altitude of roughly 7,500 feet, using a Trimble Digital Sensor System.

Photo of the New Jersey coastal town of Mantoloking taken on March 18, 2007

Credit: Aerial photography courtesy of the NOAA Remote Sensing Division.

The Mantoloking Bridge cost roughly $25 million when it was opened in 2005 to replace a bridge built in 1938. After Sandy passed through on October 29, 2012, the bridge was covered in water, sand, and debris from houses; county officials closed it because they considered it unstable.



On the barrier island, entire blocks of houses along Route 35 (also called Ocean Boulevard) were damaged or completely washed away by the storm surge and wind. Fires raged in the town from natural gas lines that had ruptured and ignited. A new inlet was cut across the island, connected the Atlantic Ocean and the Jones Tide Pond.

Mike Carlowicz
NASA’s Earth Observatory

FEMA Disaster Centers Shut Doors 'Due to Weather'

TOTTENVILLE — They fly into disaster areas, but flee from raindrops.

FEMA disaster recovery centers in Hurricane Sandy-ravaged sections of the city that were supposed to provide assistance to hurricane victims went MIA Wednesday morning, posting signs saying that they were closed due to the approaching Nor'easter.

The temporary shuttering of the facilities, which help victims register for disaster relief, as well as city food distribution centers come even as many of those still reeling from the monster storm were not told that they had to leave the battered areas.

On Tuesday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that residents in the low-lying portions of Staten Island, Queens and Brooklyn were advised to leave ahead of the nor'easter, which could hit the city with 60 mph gusts and several inches of rain Wednesday afternoon, but that the evacuation was not mandatory like the one issued for all of Zone A ahead of Sandy.

“We do not believe that it’s necessary to evacuate people,” said the mayor Wednesday.

The move left residents of the storm-ravaged areas fuming.

"The storm is coming. We don't know how hard it's going to hit us," said Jenny Cartagena, 46, who found the FEMA center in Coney Island closed Wednesday when she went there looking for food. "I need some help now."

Because the FEMA centers were located with food distribution and warming services, some residents who arrived there were confused by the closed centers.

The city's food distribution centers, a lifeline for the thousands left without power, heat and water for more than a week, would only be operating until noon Wednesday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced.

And the National Guard, which was handing out food and water in Coney Island also shut down at 1:30 p.m. because of the weather, but continued handing out water to the line of approximately 30 people.

A spokemsan for the New York National Guard, Eric Durr, said that he could not comment on that specific instance but "we instructed our troops to pay attention to the weather and don’t take unecessary risks." Still, he said the guard would continue to provide relief as long as was needed.

In Staten Island, a printed paper sign taped to the front door of on the center at 6581 Hylan Blvd. at 10:30 a.m. read “FEMA Center Closed Due to Weather.”

The front doors of the disaster recovery center, which is housed inside the Mount Lorretto Catholic Youth Organization, were unlocked, but there was no staff anywhere in sight for at least a half an hour.

And a set of buses which served as a pair of warming centers at the site for the past several days were missing, according to non-FEMA volunteers who continued to hand out supplies from a nearby building despite the storm.

Volunteers at a nearby donation distribution center said the buses vanished on Wednesday.

“FEMA packed up and left,” said Louis Giraldi, 47, a volunteer handing out cleaning supplies to victims.

“We don’t know where they are, so there’s nothing here but us.”

The site is listed on FEMA's list of NYC recovery centers, and was supposed to be open from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday. The site was also included in the city's list of warming facilities supposed to open at 9 a.m. on Wednesday at the site.

A FEMA R/V also sat empty next to the recovery center.

A pair of FEMA workers alarmed by a reporter's camera came out of the building at 11 a.m. and took the sign down, saying the center reopen at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The worker declined to give his name and would not explain why the site was closed or why the buses were missing.

FEMA spokesman Carter Langston said that the mobile centers were shuttered and staff moved inland because they were not structurally sound enough to weather the storm, which could put their staff in danger.

"Because these are mobile centers, they were shut down for life safety," Langston said. "As soon as weather permits tomorrow, they’re going to be back in place [possibly by noon]."

The remaining five sites in the city — in Staten Island, Coney Island, the Rockaways and The Bronx — were also closed or in the process of shutting down.

In Coney Island, a sign written in red ink that was bleeding from the rain sat on a police barrier in the parking lot of Our Lady of Solace Shrine Church on West 17th Street and Mermaid Avenue.

"They didn't want to get their precious van wet," quipped a church volunteer.

Cartagena, an asthma sufferer, said she showed up to the site with her home health aide, Camilla Suriel, 49, and her son's grandfather, Nelson Otero, 72 expecting "at least water."

"Something, you know, help," she said.

Volunteers at the church were still giving away water and MTA buses were on site to help people.

Serkan Yalcin, whose apartment in Sheepshead Bay was wrecked by Sandy, had a friend drop him off there.  He applied online for FEMA assistance last week, and came to the center today to follow up with an actual FEMA rep after his wife was not able to get through to reps.

"I would like to know if my application is in the system or not," he said. "Nobody has called or shown up."

The situation was similar in Queens, where thousands remain without power more than a week after Sandy.

At the FEMA site on Rockaway Point Boulevard, near Barrett Street, a sign read: “Operations stop [Tuesday] at 4 p.m. Closed Wednesday 7 Nov.”

The plan was to move the tent to the 99th Regional Support Command Center for Army reservists there, but because the building had no power the move could not be made until Thursday, a rep for the command center said.

Warren Lehner, 57, a project manager, lives right across the street from where the FEMA shelter has been registering hurricane victims the past 10 days, said he will likely need help for his parents, who have up to four feet of flooding in their home.

And he said with the nearly the entire peninsula going on their tenth day without power, food hard to come by, and water not running a large portion of the houses, the FEMA tents draw in much-needed volunteer efforts that established themselves around the relief centers.

“Now we got another storm coming in, where everyone’s going to be scrambling just to find a place they don’t freeze to death,” Lehner said. “Where are you going to go for a hot meal? It’s coming down to people just trying to survive, and that’s just not how it should be.”

Another location that was listed on FEMA's website on Beach 116th Street and Beach Channel Drive, showed no signs of the agency's presence.

At the city's Miller Field Distribution Center on New Dorp Lane in Staten Island, which houses a mobile FEMA disaster recovery center was also shutting down on Wednesday morning, a police car blocked the entrance at 11:35 a.m.

A cop said that officials were evacuating it because of the storm.

And in The Bronx, a FEMA tent and trailer sitting behind a volunteer firehouse on Adee Avenue in The Bronx was packed up Tuesday ahead of the storm.

"Theres's a ton of equipment you want to protect to make sure it's doing the most good wherever you take it," said Jim Garvey, of the Edgewater Athletic Association, which shares a building with the firehouse.

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20121107/tottenville/staten-island-fema-disaster-center-shuts-doors-due-weather#ixzz2BebwZoFT

Liberal media, White House owes preppers and survivalists a massive apology in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy

If you’re not, ask yourselves why Preppers have been slandered by the mainsteam media for years, slammed for the derogatory “stockpiling” of supplies – which may have kept you from being ready for something like Sandy.

Ask your congressman “Why?” Ask your local newspapers and TV stations, “Why?”

“Natural” disasters are part of life.

But what if the United States Government is preparing for something not not quite so “natural” and want you helpless against it?

You might find one answer in the FEMA” CAMP SYSTEM  set up “to detain US citizens in the event of an uprising or civil unrest” – or anything else we might not be ready for, like Sandy?

Today, the media owes you a massive apology (Hah! Fat chance!) because if the-preppers-are-right, they are the only ones making do  in the wake of superstorm Sandy. 

If anyone asks you what you’re preparing for, just say, “Another Sandy”.

Preppers are the new prophets,, deniers are the new homeless – the tin-foil party hats vs the Lead-lined skullcaps – who survived Sandy?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday, November 04, 2012
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) In the wake of superstorm Sandy, preppers are the new prophets. Those who failed to prepare are the new homeless.

For as long as we can all remember, preppers and survivalists have been derided by the mainstream media, labeled "kooks" and "wing nuts" for stockpiling food, water, ammunition, medical supplies and emergency gear. Only paranoid conspiracy theorists engage in evil preparedness activities, we were told by the sellout mainstream media, and they've convinced many that preppers may even be terrorists.

The very word "stockpiling" has been used in a derogatory manner, as if it's somehow bad for private citizens to stockpile food, medicine and emergency supplies that might save lives in a crisis. Never mind that the government stockpiles all these things for its own survival; citizens are routinely taught that stockpiling is bad!

Suddenly all that has changed. In the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, preppers are the ones who aren't starving, freezing or begging the government to come save them with emergency supplies. Those who failed to prepare are now subjected to the chaotic, incompetent actions of the federal government which is, predictably, operating in a never-ending state of logistical failure.

An one example, in response to the ongoing scarcity of gasoline, New York announced that the Defense Department would be opening up free gas stations near areas hardest-hit, but that residents should stay away and let first responders fuel up ahead of them.

This, of course, set off a wave of confusion. It was then announced that those "civilians" (a derogatory term against citizens, used only in a police state) who were already in line could stay in line, but no "civilians" could join the line. Many people waited up to six hours for gasoline. Tempers flared, fist fights were commonplace, and state troopers had to be sent to gas stations to keep the peace.

Preppers, of course, already stored away spare fuel at home and therefore didn't need to wait in line and subject themselves to the chaos and desperation.

FEMA runs out of water

This one was easy to see coming: FEMA has run out of water to distribute to Sandy victims and is now desperately trying to find a private contractor that will deliver millions of bottles of water to the region.

That this could happen in the aftermath of a storm that everybody saw coming at least a week ahead of time is nothing short of bewildering. How could FEMA, whose only job is to plan for crisis, not have stockpiled some supplies in advance of the storm?

The answer is that FEMA is just flat-out incompetent. As described in an article by Michael Patrick Leahy:

...the agency appears to have been completely unprepared to distribute bottled water to Hurricane Sandy victims when the storm hit this Monday. In contrast to its stated policy, FEMA failed to have any meaningful supplies of bottled water -- or any other supplies, for that matter -- stored in nearby facilities as it had proclaimed it would on its website. This was the case despite several days advance warning of the impending storm.

Once again, preppers who had stockpiled water in advance of all this were sitting pretty, living on stored water supplies. Those who invested in water filters were even able to use water that would not have been drinkable otherwise.

No electricity = no heat for cooking

Even today, the power grid is down in many areas, and for all those residents using electric stoves and toasters, that means no ability cook anything... not even to boil water!

Most people simply have no backup plan for when the power grid goes down. So they become yet another victim who needs to be rescued by a government that has a terrible track record on rescues.

Preppers, on the other hand, own non-electric cookstoves such as this Zoom Dura cookstove which can burn paper, wood, small branches and almost anything flammable. It boils water, cooks meals, and kills bacteria. No batteries required.

In the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, people who own emergency campstoves or cookstoves have been able to cook meals if they also stored some food. Something as simple as a few cans of chili can be priceless in the middle of a grid down scenario. Or some quinoa, oatmeal, rice or whatever.

I know for a fact that we shipped a large number of 40-day organic survival food pails to the Northeast in the days before the storm hit. Those people have no doubt been sitting pretty with plenty of food to eat, compared to their neighbors who didn't prepare and are therefore starving or dumpster diving for food scraps.

Arming up with bows, machetes, firearms and baseball bats

Looting has been widespread in some areas, thanks mostly to the fact that police are spread too thin and can't cover all the territory. At first, the looting targeted commercial buildings, where looters made off with TV projectors, flat panel displays and valuable electronics, but it soon shifted to the looting of private homes by criminals dressed as Con Edison workers.

Citizens quickly realized they would need to fend for themselves. As the NY Daily News reports:

Ever since Sandy strafed the Queens peninsula and tore up the boardwalk, it's become an often lawless place where cops are even scarcer than electrical power and food. Locals say they are arming themselves with guns, baseball bats, booby traps -- even a bow and arrow -- to defend against looters.

"We booby-trapped our door and keep a baseball bat beside our bed," said Danielle Harris, 34, rummaging through donated supplies as children rode scooters along half-block chunk of the boardwalk that had marooned into the middle of Beach 91st St.

"We heard gunshots for three nights in a row," said Harris, who believed they came from the nearby housing projects.

Preppers, of course, already have firearms and ammo. In fact, many preppers today are investing in firearms proficiency training in order to gain combat skills. I know several firearms instructors, and they tell me their classes are jam packed, with waiting lists increasingly common.

A typical prepper owns not only a handgun, but also a combat rifle (typically an AR or AK) and a shotgun for close quarters defense. In addition, preppers stockpile at least 1,000 rounds of ammo for each. It's not uncommon to talk to preppers who have stored 10,000 rounds of ammo for each firearm they own.

These firearms, far from causing violence, are used in the defense of life and property in communities struck by disaster. People who legally own firearms are law-abiding citizens who typically work with local law enforcement to restore peace and security to local communities and help stop criminals and looters.

That states like New York restrict private citizens from owning firearms is, in a very real sense, denying them the ability to protect themselves during a crisis when the police can't protect them, either. Using machetes and bows is no match for a Glock 17 or an AR-15. While anti-gun people like Bloomberg or Obama like to say that guns "have no place on the streets of America," they are wrong. Firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens are an essential part of restoring peace and order following any crisis. In a disaster scenario, more guns in the hands of responsible citizens really does equal less crime.

It's just common sense: When the cops are nowhere to be found, and the National Guard isn't helping out, and FEMA's lack of preparedness has made the local population desperate for supplies, a privately-owned firearm is the only remaining defense against criminal-minded looters and violent opportunities who try to prey on the weak. That's why I even published a tactical home defense guide designed to stop looters and criminals from targeting innocent victims of superstorm Sandy.

The media owes preppers a massive apology

One of the realizations emerging from all this is that the media's portrayal of preppers has been not just malicious and highly inaccurate. Preppers are not the "kooks" you see on TV shows (which the media admits are laced with pay-for-placement messages provided by the White House); they are intelligent, forward-thinking members of society who are truly a national treasure capable of saving lives in any disaster.

Preppers pick up where the police and the government drop the ball. Preppers provide food, water, emergency medicine and even local neighborhood security. They do it without being paid and without even being thanked for their contributions to society.

In the wake of superstorm Sandy, the national media -- and especially the liberal media which expresses intense hatred for preppers -- owes preppers a massive apology. Preppers create stability, safety and security in any crisis, and they deserve to be portrayed as the upstanding members of society they truly are.

The White House owes preppers a huge apology as well. Preppers and survivalists have, in the last few years, been characterized as "terrorists" by the Obama administration. The message is that anyone with a gun, some ammo and a stockpile of food is somehow "dangerous" or a threat to society. In reality, that person is the guy sharing food with neighbors and helping protect the neighborhood from violent criminal looters.

Famously, a prepper was recently put on a "no-fly list" and stranded in Hawaii because he was classified by the government as a "prepper." So hold on: Stockpiling emergency supplies makes you synonymous with a terrorist now?

Preppers are actually on the target list of the U.S. government. As an active duty National Guard member named "Soldier X" has recently revealed, the Guard is being trained to "treat preppers as terrorists."

According to Soldier X, the government is compiling lists of preppers and intends to confiscate their guns and treat them as enemy combatants in any crisis situation. So the very group the government should be thanking for providing local community stability and order is the group being targeted for arrest, detainment and possibly being sent to Obama's secret military prisons under theprovisions of the NDAA.

The federal government WANTS chaos and panic, get it?

The reality of all this is that the federal government is trying to eliminate preppers and survivalists precisely as a way to create more panic, fear and chaos. Why? Because it is from that scenario that the government can justify yet more funding for itself, more police state crackdowns and more dependency among the citizen slaves.

Remember: Every government wants to become like North Korea, where it dominates everything in society, controls all the resources and commands citizens as if they were slaves. The U.S. government is no different: Like every government, it thirsts for unlimited power.

Preppers and survivalists interfere with the growth of government power because they demonstrate the far greater power of individual preparedness. When preppers take care of themselves and don't need to be rescued by the government, they send a "dangerous" message to the rest of society: Emergency preparedness is YOUR responsibility, not the government's.

The White House doesn't like people sending that message. Neither does the liberal media which persistently pushes citizen victimization and government dependence. The very idea of thinking for yourself, taking care of yourself and being self-reliant is alien to the liberal media. And that's one reason why the liberal media is ultimately so dangerous: Many people who followed the advice of, say, the New York Times, are now DEAD in Jersey.

The bottom line: Preppers are the future of human civilization; deniers are dead

Hurricane Sandy was a walk in the park compared to what we'll see in a national grid-down scenario. As I've explained many times here on Natural News, a single solar flare (or a high-altitude EMP burst weapon) could knock out most of the national power grid.

That would thrust virtually the entire nation into the scenario we've recently watched unfold on Staten Island and certain parts of NY. Imagine fuel scarcity, starvation, water scarcity and looting unleashed on a national scale. That's what we will sooner or later face in America (and everywhere else, too).

When that scenario unfolds, it's a simple matter of fact that we're going to see the mass death of liberal media worshippers and Big Government worshippers who refused to prepare. The survivors will, by and large, be the preppers who planned ahead.

It's Darwinism at work, backfiring on people who call themselves "Darwinists" (who almost universally do not believe in preparedness). It's natural selection doing its thing. People who cannot adapt to survive do not tend to reproduce, while those who can adapt and survive are the ones left remaining to repopulate the planet.

In fact, the domination of the planet by the "prepping gene" is one of the most scientific ideas of our time. That's because crisis strikes our planet on a regular basis: Solar flares, asteroids, the spread of infectious disease and even the threat of widespread nuclear war or nuclear facility failures.

Each "wave" of crisis weeds out the ignorant unprepared masses through mass death. While those people may be in a majority right now, they and their lineage have no real future.

Interestingly, modern humanity hasn't faced a real crisis yet. By "modern," I mean the version of civilization that has bet everything on complex electronics, food supply logistics and the continued restocking of the artificial living zones known as "cities." This modern civilization has only existed for about seventy-five years -- a blink of an eye in terms of the big picture. So it hasn't been tested yet with a true global survival scenario. We are one solar flare away from being thrust back to the early 1900's.

Another mass extinction event is inevitable

Sixty-five million years ago, a single rock from space wiped out the dinosaurs. It was the most violent mass-extinction event planet Earth had ever experienced. So far, there have been five mass extinction events in the known history of our planet.

Human beings are likely going to be the sixth, through the careless proliferation of nuclear power plants, the toying with GMOs and the genetic pollution of the planet, or even through the accidental release of a military bioweapon with a 98% fatality rate.

The next mass extinction event will quickly eliminate from the planet all organisms poorly adapted to survive, which includes most New York Times subscribers. It will leave behind only those humans, plants and animals with remarkable survival adaptation skills.

The most likely survivors, it turns out, are going to be well-stocked preppers who have practiced the skills of self-reliance and sustainable living.

Survival resources

If you're serious about survival, here are some resources I recommend:

James Wesley Rawles' Survival Blog:
www.SurvivalBlog.com

I also recommend books by Rawles on Amazon.com.

Joe Nobody:
www.HoldingYourGround.com
Author page on Amazon.com

Lehman's Non-Electric Store:
www.Lehmans.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/037822_liberal_media_preppers_survivalists.html#ixzz2BPNZZMA8

300,000+ Gallon Oil Spill – Staten Island – Hurricane Sandy

As if all the rest of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy wasn’t bad enough, now we learn that there was a 300,000+ gallon oil spill caused by the hurricane with a direct path from the spill location into the Atlantic Ocean.

How To Prepare For A Hurricane? Some Lessons That Preppers Can Learn From Hurricane Sandy

Here's an article on how to prepare for a hurricane like Sandy. Time to think more about how we can prepare for 2012...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are just starting to prepare for Hurricane Sandy, the truth is that you are already too late.  Most of the essential supplies have already been stripped from store shelves.  If you don't have an emergency generator, you might be without power for quite some time.  It is being estimated that up to 10 million people could lose power during this storm, and it is already being projected that some people may end up being without power for a week or more in the worst hit areas.  Hopefully you have already boarded up your windows.  They can be broken very easily during a hurricane, and you certainly don't want to be dealing with a broken window during the worst moments of the storm.  Those that have prepared ahead of time are likely to be in good shape to ride this storm out, but sadly the reality is that most people have not prepared ahead of time.  Every time a major storm or natural disaster strikes, we always see the same thing happen.  Hordes of half-crazed people storm into the stores hoping to find the things that they need, and many of them end up leaving disappointed because what they were looking for has already sold out.  Thankfully, most of our "disasters" have typically only lasted a few days at most, but what will happen someday if a disaster ends up being permanent?  What if there is a disaster that is so bad someday that things never return to "normal"?  Would you and your family be able to survive on only the preparations that you have made so far?

Hopefully Hurricane Sandy will be a wake up call for a whole lot of people.  It is being projected that this storm will affect about 50 million Americans, and it is already been called "worse than Katrina" by some meteorologists.  It is an absolutely gigantic storm.  It is more than 1000 miles across and it is the largest hurricane to hit the U.S. since records of storm size began to be kept back in 1988.  According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the destructive potential of this storm is rated 5.8 on a scale that goes from 0 to 6.  So needless to say, referring to this storm as "the Frankenstorm" does not quite do it justice.  It is being touted as the worst storm to hit the east coast in 100 years.

According to Stu Ostro, a senior meteorologist at the Weather Channel, this is truly a history making storm...

"History is being written as an extreme weather event continues to unfold, one which will occupy a place in the annals of weather history as one of the most extraordinary to have affected the United States."

So a lot of Americans are about to find out exactly how prepared they really are for a major natural disaster.

High winds of 80 MPH or higher are going to take down power lines all over the northeast over the next few days.  Along the coast, some people could see a storm surge that is up to 15 feet above sea level in some areas.  Other areas will see nightmarish flooding as a result of very heavy rain.

So there will certainly be a lot of challenges.  The good thing about a hurricane is that you typically have at least a few days in advance to make preparations.  Hopefully people have been making good use of the time.

Unfortunately, most Americans do not even have a short-term supply of food and water stored up.  A lot of people run out to grab some food and water from the stores at the last minute, only to find that there is none left.

For example, it is being reported that store shelves all over New York City have already been picked clean of bread and other essentials.

In Arlington, Virginia it is being reported that some supermarkets are already sold out of water.  If the worst happens and some people end up spending a week without tap water they are really going to wish that they had made some preparations ahead of time.

But food and water are not the only things in high demand.

According to CNN, other emergency supplies have been flying off the shelves as well...

Generators, flashlights, water, batteries -- these are just some of the emergency supplies that are running out in many stores in the Northeast.

Nearly a third of the country's northeast is preparing for Hurricane Sandy, which expected to make landfall on Sunday and Monday. Customers who have been flocking to stores may be coming home empty handed.

Fortunately this is only a temporary emergency, but what if we have a "permanent" emergency someday?

What will people do if they can't find the things that they desperately need all of a sudden?

According to Fox News, one store in Ohio is reporting that people are actually calling from other states to see if they still have any supplies...

An assistant manager at a Lowes store in Columbus, Ohio, told 10TV.com that people were calling in from West Virginia and Maryland to ask for supplies.

And in northern Virginia, a cashier at Pitkins Ace Hardware in Dale City said batteries, flashlights and candles were flying off the shelves, PotomacLocal.com reports.

When will people learn?

You don't wait until the last minute to get necessary emergency supplies like plywood, hurricane shutters, tarps, sump pumps, ice chests, candles, flashlights, batteries and battery-powered radios.

For a hurricane, you need to be prepared to be able to survive for at least a week without any help from the outside world.  In the most extreme situations (such as in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina) the state of emergency created by a hurricane can last even longer.

So exactly how should one prepare for a hurricane?

Ready.gov provides the following list of tips...

To prepare for a hurricane, you should take the following measures:

• To begin preparing, you should build an emergency kit and make a family communications plan.
• Know your surroundings.
• Learn the elevation level of your property and whether the land is flood-prone. This will help you know how your property will be affected when storm surge or tidal flooding are forecasted.
• Identify levees and dams in your area and determine whether they pose a hazard to you.
• Learn community hurricane evacuation routes and how to find higher ground. Determine where you would go and how you would get there if you needed to evacuate.
• Make plans to secure your property:
• Cover all of your home’s windows. Permanent storm shutters offer the best protection for windows. A second option is to board up windows with 5/8” marine plywood, cut to fit and ready to install. Tape does not prevent windows from breaking.
• Install straps or additional clips to securely fasten your roof to the frame structure. This will reduce roof damage.
• Be sure trees and shrubs around your home are well trimmed so they are more wind resistant.
• Clear loose and clogged rain gutters and downspouts.
• Reinforce your garage doors; if wind enters a garage it can cause dangerous and expensive structural damage.
• Plan to bring in all outdoor furniture, decorations, garbage cans and anything else that is not tied down.
• Determine how and where to secure your boat.
• Install a generator for emergencies.
• If in a high-rise building, be prepared to take shelter on or below the 10th floor.
• Consider building a safe room.

A recent CNN article included a list of supplies that you should have on hand in the event that a hurricane is on the way...

-- A three-day supply of water, one gallon per person per day.

-- Three days of food, with suggested items including: canned meats, canned or dried fruits, canned vegetables, canned juice, peanut butter, jelly, salt-free crackers, energy/protein bars, trail mix/nuts, dry cereal, cookies or other comfort food.

-- A can opener.

-- Flashlight(s).

-- A battery-powered radio, preferably a weather radio.

-- Extra batteries.

-- A first aid kit, including latex gloves; sterile dressings; soap/cleaning agent; antibiotic ointment; burn ointment; adhesive bandages in small, medium and large sizes; eye wash; a thermometer; aspirin/pain reliever; anti-diarrhea tablets; antacids; laxatives; small scissors; tweezers; petroleum jelly.

-- A small fire extinguisher.

-- Whistles for each person.

-- A seven-day supply of medications.

-- Vitamins.

-- A multipurpose tool, with pliers and a screwdriver.

-- Cell phones and chargers.

-- Contact information for the family.

-- A sleeping bag for each person.

-- Extra cash.

-- A silver foil emergency blanket.

-- A map of the area.

-- Baby supplies.

-- Pet supplies.

-- Wet wipes.

-- A camera (to document storm damage).

-- Insect repellent.

-- Rain gear.

-- Tools and supplies for securing your home.

-- Plastic sheeting.

-- Duct tape.

-- Dust masks.

-- An extra set of house keys.

-- An extra set of car keys.

-- An emergency ladder to evacuate the second floor.

-- Household bleach.

-- Paper cups, plates and paper towels.

-- Activities for children.

-- Charcoal and matches, if you have a portable grill. But only use it outside.

But in the final analysis, preparation is going to look a little bit different for every family.

If you live along the coast, there is a good chance that you will need to evacuate.  If you live farther inland, you will probably be able to hunker down exactly where you are.

Hurricane Sandy will come and go, but hopefully millions of Americans will learn some lessons about preparation from this crisis.  One of these days we may have a disaster that lasts much longer such as a major economic crisis, an EMP attack, a nightmarish pandemic or a major war.  If we cannot handle a disaster that lasts for just a couple of days, what chance are we going to have at surviving something that lasts for months or even years?

That is something to think about.  Hopefully we will all reflect on emergency preparedness over the next few days.  Our world is becoming increasingly unstable, and eventually there will come a point where we will find ourselves totally dependent on the preparations that we have made.

Original article at http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/how-to-prepare-for-a-hurricane-some-lessons-that-preppers-can-learn-from-hurricane-sandy?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-prepare-for-a-hurricane-some-lessons-that-preppers-can-learn-from-hurricane-sandy

How big and serious is Sandy and why?

More at: http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2012/10/30/how-big-hurricane-sandy/

Sandy is now post-tropical cyclone. Regardless its hurricane status, Sandy, dubbed Frankenstorm, is a massive system that will affect a huge swath of the eastern U.S. It is now evident that it may become the biggest storm of century. The circulation of Sandy could cover each of the 26 states east of the Mississippi River by Tuesday! Winds and clouds from Hurricane Sandy could stretch across the eastern third of the United States, according to weather predictions from the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Sandy’s main features

Sandy is morphing from a tropical cyclone to an extra-tropical cyclone which tend to be significantly larger than tropical ones. Extra-tropical cyclones are driven by a difference in temperatures over a wide area— cold air to the northwest, warm air to the southeast, which then swirls together. Hurricane Sandy formed as a tropical cyclone, fueled by warm waters and warm  moisty air. Ample warm, moist air in the western Caribbean allowed Sandy to grow into a tropical cyclone and hurricane shortly after.

Dawn to Dusk: Hurricane Sandy, October 28, 2012, Super Rapid Scan This time-lapse animation above shows Hurricane Sandy from the vantage point of geostationary orbit—35,800 km (22,300 miles) above the Earth on October 28, 2012. Light from the changing angles of the sun highlight the structure of the clouds. The images were collected by NOAA’s GOES-14 satellite. The “super rapid scan” images—one every minute, reveal details of the storm’s motion.

The video above shows Hurricane Sandy’s development on October 29, recorded from 11:15:00 UTC till 21:21:00 UTC.

Sandy is progressing into an extra-tropical cyclone as it gets farther north, and tapping into the power of the jet stream, which ferries air from west to east over North America. The jet stream, like the storm itself, is powered by this temperature difference between air masses, according to  Chris Davis, a scientist with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. Sandy is also deriving power from the movement of warm air to the north and cold air to the south, similar in some respects to the Perfect Storm of 1991. What we are seeing now from Sandy is a rare mix of a hurricane and a cold front jet stream. The upper level wind  is merging with the tropical system creating a “monstrous hybrid vortex” – a combination of a hurricane and a nor’easter according to Weather Channel hurricane specialist Bryan Norcross.

Weather experts agree that there has never been a storm like Hurricane Sandy in the history of modern meteorology.

How big is Sandy?

Sandy’s winds cover an area of more than 1,000 miles (1610 km) in diameter. Sandy now has the largest tropical storm-force wind field of any Atlantic tropical cyclone since 1988, topping Olga when it was a subtropical storm in 2001 according to Dr. Jeff Masters of Weather Underground. Olga’s winds extended out 600 miles (965 kilometers).

Let’s see some peak diameters of large hurricanes and their tropical wind extensions. Probably the largest was Isabel in 2003 which grew up to 575 miles (925 km) in diameter. Isabel’s hurricane-force wind field reached a diameter of 230 miles (370 km) before making landfall in September 2003. Hurricane Ike reached 485 miles (780 km) in diameter in 2008 and devastating Katrina peaked with 435 miles (700 km) in diameter in 2005. Last year, Irene’s wind field extended up to 460 miles (740 km) in diameter. Hurricane Sandy is wider and stronger than Hurricane Irene, which caused more than $15 billion in damage in 2011, and could rival the worst East Coast storm on record. Total damage from Hurricane Sandy may well exceed Katrina’s $96 billion. This could be the first $100+ billion storm in U.S. history.

Comparison of hurricanes Irene and Sandy captured by MODIS satellite

NASA's Terra satellite captured this image of Hurricane Sandy at 12 PM Eastern on Oct. 28, 2012.

Low pressure record

Sandy reached minimum central pressure of 938 mB. If Sandy reaches 934, she will be one of only 19 Atlantic hurricanes to achieve pressure that low, none of which had that pressure north of the Outer Banks. Northwest Atlantic pressure record is set by Hurricane Gladys in 1975, reaching 939 mB. According to AccuWeather Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey would break their all-time pressure records. New York City, Block Island, RI and Nantucket, MA would break their all-time low pressure readings.

“Perfect Storm” of 1991 reached minimum central pressure of  972 mB. Great Blizzard of 1993 reached 960 mB and New England Hurricane, also known as Long Island Express of 1938,  reached 947 mB.

Suomi NPP Day/Night Band and 11.45 µm micron imagery of Hurricane Sandy

Watch here the satellite loop showing a series of full-resolution images taken one minute apart as Sandy approaches the East coast.

“If this all happens as forecasted, and you and your family are stuck in the cold and dark without food and light and communications because you didn’t run to the store and get ready, excuses are going to be spectacularly hard to come by.” – Bryan Norcross, hurricane specialist for The Weather Channel

FORECAST

There will be some far-reaching effects aside from the most destructive impacts of storm surge flooding and high winds in the Northeast closer to the center of circulation. Sandy’s wind field will grow larger as the system begins to interact with a dip in the polar jet stream, deepening low pressure at the surface. It’s expected to change from a tropical storm powered by warm ocean water to something more like a winter storm powered by temperature and pressure differences in the atmosphere. Forecasters say Sandy may actually gain strength slightly as it reaches land, it will remain strong enough once on land to produce strong winds far inland. Wind damage will spread well inland, especially over higher terrain, due to the extremely large size of Sandy. In some areas, sustained winds of 30 to 50 mph could last for more than 24 hours. Gusts may top 80 mph in some locations. Lakeshore flood warnings have been hoisted on parts of the Great Lakes including Chicago.

Cold Arctic air coming south from Canada also is expected to merge with Sandy, which will strengthen the storm further and create winter storm conditions. Sandy will bring cold air and snow as well as wind and rain. Forecasters expect Sandy to meet a mass of very cold air from a winter storm about the time it reaches land. This cold air will be incorporated into the hurricane, which means in some places torrential rains will be followed by temperatures in the 20s. Sandy is expected to produce two feet of snow or even more in parts of West Virginia. So the problems of extreme winter and summer weather will be wrapped into one storm.  The combination of snow and strong winds will damage trees and cause power outages. The heavy, wet nature of the snow could cause some structural damage and roof collapses. The snow will continue for several days wrapping around Sandy’s circulation as it winds down slowly.

Heavy snow and strong winds will cause statewide power outages. Millions of people are expected to lose power at some point during Sandy and many will likely not have power restored for many days. That could be a major concern, especially in terms of heating.

The most recent orbit from NOAA and NASA’s latest weather satellite, Suomi NPP, acquired at 1:35 pm ET on October 29, 2012, shows Hurricane Sandy as it approaches the U.S. coastline. (Credit: NASA/NOAA/VIIRS)