A few days ago there were some massive storms that rolled through the greater Chicagoland area on Monday night. At the height of the storm over 500,000 homes were without power. In Northwest Indiana we had tornadoes devastate a few neighborhoods (Munster to Griffith) but most of the problems were downed trees blocking off access and lack of power. The water supply was also interrupted in some communities, boil orders issued.
So my brother and I were talking. . . he and I have some different views. He lives in Munster but lives in a part of town that was not affected by the tornado, I moved out and live 20 miles south on some rural land.
I have 7 family members who live in Munster, IN. 4 of them lost power, had serious issues with downed trees (landing on their homes), etc. All 7 had no drinkable water. My brother was one of the lucky ones who had power and zero damage, but he had no water. So he tried to help out the 4 who were most affected, and I give him credit.
BUT . . . the 4 who had issues, none of them had a generator. None of them had even a gallon of water. None of them had a chain saw. None of them had given much thought to anything!!! Nor had my brother. But my brother did have a generator, it came with the house when he bought the house. The people who owned the house HAD actually given this stuff some thought. They bought a modest sized portable generator, they installed a jumper-wire connector to power the house from the generator, they even put a small concrete pad outside the garage to sit the generator on top of during a power outage and they installed a heavy steel "D" loop to the side of the house and had a heavy chain/padlock to lock the generator to the house so nobody could steal it. Of the 7 relatives living in that city, he was the only one with a generator at his home.
So my brother is 1/16-th prepared for a minor problem. My other relatives are apparently hopeless.
He takes his generator to one of the other relatives homes, but not until after he calls me to get instructions on how to use it! He could not start it. Apparently he didn't know about the fuel cut off valve under the tank Anyway my brother and the other relative are all freaked out because there were 'looters' in the area, and generators were a prize they rarely passed up!!! No I did not offer to lend him a gun, he is dangerous to himself and his family with anything more mechanical than duct tape, besides he believes my guns should be banned.
So seriously, am I expecting too much out of people to believe that they should be able to 'survive' for 72 hours?
So my brother and I were talking. . . he and I have some different views. He lives in Munster but lives in a part of town that was not affected by the tornado, I moved out and live 20 miles south on some rural land.
I have 7 family members who live in Munster, IN. 4 of them lost power, had serious issues with downed trees (landing on their homes), etc. All 7 had no drinkable water. My brother was one of the lucky ones who had power and zero damage, but he had no water. So he tried to help out the 4 who were most affected, and I give him credit.
BUT . . . the 4 who had issues, none of them had a generator. None of them had even a gallon of water. None of them had a chain saw. None of them had given much thought to anything!!! Nor had my brother. But my brother did have a generator, it came with the house when he bought the house. The people who owned the house HAD actually given this stuff some thought. They bought a modest sized portable generator, they installed a jumper-wire connector to power the house from the generator, they even put a small concrete pad outside the garage to sit the generator on top of during a power outage and they installed a heavy steel "D" loop to the side of the house and had a heavy chain/padlock to lock the generator to the house so nobody could steal it. Of the 7 relatives living in that city, he was the only one with a generator at his home.
So my brother is 1/16-th prepared for a minor problem. My other relatives are apparently hopeless.
He takes his generator to one of the other relatives homes, but not until after he calls me to get instructions on how to use it! He could not start it. Apparently he didn't know about the fuel cut off valve under the tank Anyway my brother and the other relative are all freaked out because there were 'looters' in the area, and generators were a prize they rarely passed up!!! No I did not offer to lend him a gun, he is dangerous to himself and his family with anything more mechanical than duct tape, besides he believes my guns should be banned.
So seriously, am I expecting too much out of people to believe that they should be able to 'survive' for 72 hours?