30 days without electric?

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  • DadSmith

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Oct 21, 2018
    22,177
    113
    Ripley County
    Say something happens and the electric goes out for 30 days nation wide. How do you prepare for such an event? Where do you start? How do you survive?
     

    K_W

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    8   0   0
    Aug 14, 2008
    5,385
    63
    Indy / Carmel
    Get away from civilization... food shortages, crime, and disease from corpses will be the biggest issues.

    Hour 1
    Internet goes down
    Stock market closes
    Banks close, for safety
    Credit/debit cards are useless
    Cash is only means of commerce
    Death toll in the 1000's from transportation accidents

    Day 1
    Public services like water, sewer, and gas service will begin to cease
    FAA grounds all civilian aircraft

    Day 2
    Communications will break down after 48 hours as cell tower generators run dry and cellphones die
    Public safety will be overwhelmed as police and fire resort to manual dispatch and hydrants dry up
    Stores close due to lack of restock, inoperative payment and inventory systems
    Looting of luxuries begins
    Fires begin to burn
    Schools closed

    Day 3
    Vital facility backup generators begin to run dry
    Company headquarters close, permanently
    FAA grounds all commercial air traffic
    Looting of daily items begins
    Martial law declared

    Day 4
    Hospitals close as refrigerated medicines and/or sanitized supplies run out and bodies begin to rot in morgues
    Senior homes, prisons, and in-patient facilities run out of perishable food, release residents/inmates
    Transportation will be impossible as roads, air, and sea ports clog with vehicles unable to refuel
    Military bases over run with refugees
    Cities are burning out of control
    Primitive Diseases begin to spread
    Death toll crosses 100,000
    Body collection ceases

    Day 5
    Crime rampant, neighbors turn on each other as trade-able daily essentials and food run out
    Cities out of drinkable water
    US accepts foreign aid

    Day 10
    People begin dying from thirst
    Primitive diseases rampant
    Cholera deaths surpasses crime
    China invades (probably)

    Day 15
    Death toll crosses 1 Mil.

    Day 30
    Mad Max
     
    Last edited:

    Spear Dane

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    Sep 4, 2015
    5,119
    113
    Kokomo area
    Food, water, cash/precious metals, medications, gun and ammo. How do you survive? I would hunker down, going out for no reason short of a life threatening emergency.
     

    Ndavid45

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 83.3%
    10   2   0
    Apr 29, 2019
    452
    2
    Indianapolis
    Load the van with all the dry goods, water, go bags, guns and ammo at night and head to a family members house that is close by. Plans have already been made with that family member. This is the same plan incase of riots in our nieghborhood or any other major disaster for us. Living in an apartment has challenges, those challenges are increased with small children and a nieghborhood that is less than stable on a good day.
     

    churchmouse

    I still care....Really
    Emeritus
    Rating - 100%
    187   0   0
    Dec 7, 2011
    191,809
    152
    Speedway area
    Our plans revolve around a solid 30 days survival. Enough fuel/water/food/defense/etc.
    Freeze dried foods. Plenty of water and I mean plenty.
    Battery's and low output lamps.
    Ample generator power etc.

    Now, that is the really easy part. Post #2 lists the insanity that will ensue. How will you keep what you have and keep your life while defending it. 1 man and his family are no match for a hungry group looking to feed the kids. No match.
     

    patience0830

    .22 magician
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 96.6%
    28   1   0
    Nov 3, 2008
    17,585
    149
    Not far from the tree
    Our plans revolve around a solid 30 days survival. Enough fuel/water/food/defense/etc.
    Freeze dried foods. Plenty of water and I mean plenty.
    Battery's and low output lamps.
    Ample generator power etc.

    Now, that is the really easy part. Post #2 lists the insanity that will ensue. How will you keep what you have and keep your life while defending it. 1 man and his family are no match for a hungry group looking to feed the kids. No match.

    This. You need to be prepared, hard to reach/find and defendable to survive.
     

    churchmouse

    I still care....Really
    Emeritus
    Rating - 100%
    187   0   0
    Dec 7, 2011
    191,809
    152
    Speedway area
    Hard to hide the sound of a generator, the glow of lights, and the smell of food in a quiet, dark, starving, city.

    Yes it is "But" we have given all of that some serious attention.
    Genny's will run in the shop with the place locked up. We have external muffling. It is not pretty but it does work.
    Will run on a schedule.
    Lights will be mostly battery lamps and the windows will be covered.
    The smell thing is just going to be tough. No answer for that but how much smell will come from a freeze dried packet in boiling water. Might be worth a look.
     

    K_W

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    8   0   0
    Aug 14, 2008
    5,385
    63
    Indy / Carmel
    Yes it is "But" we have given all of that some serious attention.
    Genny's will run in the shop with the place locked up. We have external muffling. It is not pretty but it does work.
    Will run on a schedule.
    Lights will be mostly battery lamps and the windows will be covered.
    The smell thing is just going to be tough. No answer for that but how much smell will come from a freeze dried packet in boiling water. Might be worth a look.

    Another angle to worry about... you will very quickly stand out as the only house either being guarded or not vandalized.

    I've been to your house and you to mine... neither of our homes are in a location that survival can be hidden and then defended long term.

    Bug out is our best option. Establish way points and a method of communication and response in the event of trouble reaching them.

    My family has a chain of family properties from Indy to Dunkirk and then a defensible property in rural northern Indiana.
     
    Last edited:

    DadSmith

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Oct 21, 2018
    22,177
    113
    Ripley County
    If you make it to the country.

    What about regular no smell candles if you just need a little light? Maybe stockpile grill lighters.
    A small portable BBQ grill so you can cook.
    Water filtration will be a must or do you take 5 gallon of bleach to help with purifying water?
    If this happens in January or February freezing temperatures would be a problem as well.

    So you need a place that has a hand pump well, or a cistern, or creek, or ponds close by for water supply.

    Is MRE or something similar the only way to go for food?

    Unless we get a lot of feral hogs because deer well be running low within a few weeks because of so many hunting them. Several fishing poles or a trotline might come in handy.
     
    Last edited:

    churchmouse

    I still care....Really
    Emeritus
    Rating - 100%
    187   0   0
    Dec 7, 2011
    191,809
    152
    Speedway area
    Won't the smell of the rotting bodies on the perimeter cover up the food cooking smell?

    Or the pile of rotting bodies at the end of the driveway of failed attempts to take our ****.....:dunno:

    Bug out is an option. Thing is what is the route you can take and how do you stay safe on the route. If you are packing heavy with supply's as we would be is it easier to defend on the move when nothing is working as to traffic/civil citizens. A convoy would draw attention as well. Lots to consider.

    Some good points being made. Yes even staying grey a guarded property would stand out.

    My weakness.........hungry children. Screw mom and dad. Pound sand. Tell me any of you could turn away a hungry child. And if so teach me how to do that.
     

    churchmouse

    I still care....Really
    Emeritus
    Rating - 100%
    187   0   0
    Dec 7, 2011
    191,809
    152
    Speedway area
    If you make it to the country.

    What about regular no smell candles if you just need a little light? Maybe stockpile grill lighters.
    A small portable BBQ grill so you can cook.
    Water filtration will be a must or do you take 5 gallon of bleach to help with purifying water?
    If this happens in January or February freezing temperatures would be a problem as well.

    So you need a place that has a hand pump well, or a cistern, or creek, or ponds close by for water supply.

    Is MRE or something similar the only way to go for food?

    Unless we get a lot of feral hogs because deer well be running low within a few weeks because of so many hunting them. Several fishing poles or a trotline might come in handy.

    Propane gas camp stoves. Bottles of propane.
    We heat mainly with wood so that is covered.
    They make all kinds and sorts of battery lanterns. Get a couple of good ones and stock in batteries. Rotate the stock in daily use but keep the stock full as you can. Hand held flashlights.

    Water. Water is the key.
     

    Leadeye

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    4   0   0
    Jan 19, 2009
    36,686
    113
    .
    I look at Katrina as an example of how things go in the city. People will go to where the government tells them they will get food and care, they will simply die in those locations if the care isn't coming. Leadership and security will move into shopping malls or big box stores and use them as logistical bases so don't expect to be buying much. The rest of the city will be for the most part vacant, or at least absent of law, so looters will be busy where the least resistance is.
     

    K_W

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    8   0   0
    Aug 14, 2008
    5,385
    63
    Indy / Carmel
    If you make it to the country.

    A small portable BBQ grill so you can cook.
    ...
    If this happens in January or February freezing temperatures would be a problem as well.
    ...
    Is MRE or something similar the only way to go for food?
    ...
    Several fishing poles or a trotline might come in handy.

    Or the pile of rotting bodies at the end of the driveway of failed attempts to take our ****.....:dunno:

    Bug out is an option. Thing is what is the route you can take and how do you stay safe on the route. If you are packing heavy with supply's as we would be is it easier to defend on the move when nothing is working as to traffic/civil citizens. A convoy would draw attention as well. Lots to consider.

    Some good points being made. Yes even staying grey a guarded property would stand out.

    My weakness.........hungry children. Screw mom and dad. Pound sand. Tell me any of you could turn away a hungry child. And if so teach me how to do that.

    In the close quarters of a city, cooking food is a invisible bullseye on your house... forgoing the corpses, the smell of heated food travels far. When was the last time you smelled a turkey sandwich 100ft away?... but you always know when a neighbor upwind is grilling.

    Winter is an advantage to food storage, summer a disadvantage to both food storage and disease control.

    MRE are low odor and easy to store, but god help you if you make them your only food source.

    Fish are an option if they are available but the smell travels further and linger longer than regular meat.

    Hogs?... again if available and cooking is risky, salting and consuming "raw" is an option.

    ...

    Bugging out would have to be a decision made fast based on the likely outcome of what ever disaster befalls. Roads out of Indy will clog in a matter of an hour of two if evacuation is the obvious or recommended move.

    Convoy is double edged... attracts attention but also discourages opportunists.

    Other people's kids are other people's kids... Family first. Innocents second.
     

    BiscuitsandGravy

    Future 'shootered'
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    10   0   0
    Nov 8, 2016
    3,900
    113
    At the Ranch.
    At first glance...

    Genny- we would have to ration propane for the standby generator for an extended outage. Not run 24x7 as is currently setup. Its very quiet when running and we are off the road a ways.

    Water- there are 2 hand pump wells within walking distance.

    Live in the sticks. Woods/creek to the north.

    Canned goods.

    Generally plan for the 'ice storm- plus' scenario.
     
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