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Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

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Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#211

Post by ciupicri »

viraptor wrote: post #149
fweespeech wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People's aversion to moving, especially after a major disaster, boggles my mind. Social connections, networks that enable employment, and a lack of serious financial reserves (which will always be true for ~50% of people) are the main reasons. And no area is immune to disaster and lacks challenges. The "low natural disaster" areas have a total lack of warning before disaster strikes, heavy snowfall that can cripple…

Central/eastern Europe is pretty good as far as disasters go. The most likely thing to happen is flooding from the local river and majority of them have designated flood areas. After that it's just heat waves and occasional freezing days. (Mostly affects elderly) No wildlife to worry about. Snow is common enough that a lot of people know to switch to winter tyres and roads are salted and cleared.

Romanian villages and small cities have problems with flooding almost yearly. And there's also the risk of earthquakes.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#212

Post by good_vibes »

guscost wrote: post #189
the_prepared wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the feedback, but why do those seem contradictory? Honest question. As someone else said, very sane people like Musk, Hawkings, and Gates are warning of AI CRISPR. It's not the cliche SkyNet or Ghost in the Shell stuff per se. For example, automation and how it's effecting the economy really does matter, regardless of how much we in the valley would like to avoid that narrative.

> very sane people like Musk, Hawkings, and Gates Ehhhh... those folks are smart but none of them would make a top 10 list of the sanest people according to me. > It's not the cliche SkyNet or Ghost in the Shell stuff per se. For example, automation and how it's effecting the economy really does matter Sure, but this sounds like a cop-out in context.

who does make the 'top 10 list' of sanity for you?

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#213

Post by inborn »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #188
tzs wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What they should have done is learned when to move or when to stay by: 1. Not buying a house in Houston and then 2. Gotten out well before it was imminent. The reports I've seen are describing the Houston situation as a 1 in a 1000 year flood. Does it really make sense to avoid a place based on the possibility of such rare events?

I mean the same areas that flooded now flooded in Ike, Rita and Allison, so yea it does make sense. My family lived through each and I'm not sure why they stick where they are.

from what I can tell, it's healthier to live near the water, especially the ocean. so would you see also having an inland retreat as an appropriate set up?

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#214

Post by yourapostasy »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #174
yourapostasy wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Literally right now, my good friends are being rescued from a rooftop in Houston. No number of bottles of water in their basement or generators are going to help them. Some of this outcome is a direct result of conforming to commercially-fabricated social pressure. In this particular case, floodplain maps are publicly and freely available, so anyone can build structures that rise well above the highest-projected fl…

The classic Queenslander house is built up high so it can stay cool and probably also good for a flooding scenario.

That's fascinating, thanks for the info; the Texas coast has some houses with a similar design [1]. While some use wood stilts, some are going into full fortified designs [2]. Even further afield, using principles established with invisibility cloaking research might offer even more protection in the future [3]. If plasma gasification-produced slag-based pozzolanic concrete can be proven safe and efficacious, then the pillars could literally be partially built out of garbage, co-generating energy and rock wool at the same time.

[1] http://pictures.escapia.com/PTARES/1866960517.jpg

[2] http://www.texasgulfcoastonline.com/News/tabid/86/ctl/Articl...

[3] https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14829-invisibility-cl...

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#215

Post by firethief »

laydn wrote: post #21
DiscoKing wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to leave water in my car, but it gets so hot in there I'm afraid of what is leached into the water from the plastic. I've read a lot of conflicting information about this.

If plastics is the only concern, why not use glass? Make sure to store it in a place where no sunlight can shine on it.

It's both heavy and fragile. I don't trust plastic to drink out of habitually, but there's virtually no risk to expected from short term use of food-grade plastic and it's much more practical in difficult situations.

Plastic also has the advantage that you can use it to sterilize water. Glass blocks too much UV, but a couple of days in the sun will disinfect water in a clear plastic container. You can have safe water indefinitely just by rotating containers (at least here in the Pacific Northwet, where availability of some kind of fresh water is more or less assured).

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#216

Post by guscost »

good_vibes wrote: post #212
guscost wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> very sane people like Musk, Hawkings, and Gates Ehhhh... those folks are smart but none of them would make a top 10 list of the sanest people according to me. > It's not the cliche SkyNet or Ghost in the Shell stuff per se. For example, automation and how it's effecting the economy really does matter Sure, but this sounds like a cop-out in context.

who does make the 'top 10 list' of sanity for you?

What a fun question! You go first, though :D

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#217

Post by aethertap »

rodgerd wrote: post #209
rev_bird wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>if things turn so badly to shit you need a year of food, food is going to be the least of your worries. I don't see why this is the case -- saying "doing X is going to be the least of your worries" seems to imply that there are going to be other priorities and "X" will be ignored -- i.e. "charging your phone is going to be the least of your worries." But food... you _need_ food, even if there are other crazy things…

It's a reflection of the idea that if civilisation collapses to the point you can't obtain food except by pulling it out of your emergency store a year later, you're probably going to have died of disease, injury, thirst, violence or a number of more pressing concerns. Seriously, if the ability to get food to people has been down for a full year, you won't have medicine. You almost certainly won't have fuel, electric…

One thing that I think is frequently overlooked is that a person with a year's worth of food stored up also has enough to feed the whole neighborhood for a week if necessary, which might make a really big difference for a lot of people. Having the goods gives you a lot of flexibility and might take some of the pressure off of emergency relief services. I try to keep far more of the basic things on hand (first aid, food, and water purification stuff) than I think I'll need just because I know most people don't, and I live in a place with a moderate risk of catastrophic earthquakes and tornadoes.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#218

Post by giardini »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #118
ChuckMcM wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a middle ground? My kids went as part of a team to help people rebuild after Katrina and one of the folks they met was rebuilding their house but building it as a boat. They had re-done the foundation so that the house rested on it, and its sewer connection was just the house pipe inset into the city pipe (so it could easily lift out). That, 15' of chain to allow the house to float above the foundation and c…

There certainly is a middle ground - however why stay in the same place and expect a different future? New Orleans isn't that much more prepared for another flood. Houston re-did the entire bayou system about 5 years ago and yet here we are. People's aversion to moving, especially after a major disaster, boggles my mind.

Well, they really didn't "redo the entire bayou system". They considered alternatives and chose the most politically correct one for the parties involved. They knew it wasn't enough for something like Harvey but they didn't think there would be a Harvey( a supposed "500-year event") anytime soon. Black Swan anyone?

AndrewKemendo says: "People's aversion to moving, especially after a major disaster, boggles my mind."

But where do you go to be safe from disasters?

California - earthquakes, mudslides, wildfires, torrential rains, rip currents, and even volcanoes

Gulf Coast - hurricanes

Midwest - tornadoes

etc.

Slate Magazine set out to find where you could live free of potential disasters. See:

"Where To Hide From Mother Nature"

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_gist/200...

Their conclusion:

"Slate's "America's Best Place to Avoid Death Due to Natural Disaster": the area in and around Storrs, Conn., home to the University of Connecticut..."

Read the article to see if you're ready to make the move.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#219

Post by gyello »

rev_bird wrote: post #176
rodgerd wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Food for a week? Good sense, although plenty of people in supposedly rich first-world nations struggle to have enough food for now , never mind a week spare. Food for a month? Maybe if you live in a region that could easily be cut off in the event of disasters. Food for a year? Listen, if things turn so badly to shit you need a year of food, food is going to be the least of your worries.

>if things turn so badly to shit you need a year of food, food is going to be the least of your worries. I don't see why this is the case -- saying "doing X is going to be the least of your worries" seems to imply that there are going to be other priorities and "X" will be ignored -- i.e. "charging your phone is going to be the least of your worries." But food... you _need_ food, even if there are other crazy things…

If food supplies haven't been restored for a year, it means there's probably been some extreme collapse of society and loss of life. Never seeing your friends/family/loved ones again, just surviving day by day for no purpose. I'd rather die quickly in the early stages than survive in such a bleak world.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#220

Post by chrismealy »

novaleaf wrote: post #146

anyone have good book recommendations? specifically looking for wilderness survival, first aid, and edible plants (pacific northwest)

There are ton of great foraging books for the PNW, a lot of them published recently and easy for beginners. All the local bookstores have them. I like the one by Douglass Duer. Langdon Cook's books are also great. Survivalism is totally dumb but free food is fun.
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