Living Off the Beaten Path
“I feel the earth move under my feet,I feel the sky tumbling down” – song lyrics by Carole KingAre humans rational? We’d like to think we are but consider this. When a DISASTER occurs, many people expect that someone will quickly rescue them. (After all – that is what police and firemen do.) But if humans really were rational, they might think about what the word DISASTER means and the consequences thereof. A Disaster is a situation that disrupts everything normal; lines of communication are lost, access routes are blocked, and just moving about can be dangerous.
I was reminded of the consequences of disasters in The Buzz: Quakes, squalls and the Snake which outlines what would happen during a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in the Jackson Hole ski resort area.
The problem with major disasters like an earthquake [or avalanche or snowstorm], is that it could take a few days for large-scale help to arrive because passes, bridges and communication could be shut down, and people might have to hack it for a few days on limited supplies – without any way of communicating with friends and family.If the mountain roads are blocked then the only way in is by air via small planes and helicopters; neither of which can carry large loads and which may be grounded by foul weather conditions.
Bottom Line
Consider how far off the beaten path you live. If you live remotely, or in the mountains, across a bridge, or anywhere restricted by a single road to your neighborhood, THEN expect a long time between a disaster and rescue workers arriving. The old recommendation of 3-days of supplies is NOT for you. You should have at least a week of supplies, preferable more.
Labels: earthquake, Food Storage, Go-Kit
posted by Gary W Kibble at
1:00 AM
1 Comments:
I grew up in Cody, Wyoming. And if there were ever a place off the beaten path, that was it. The reality was that it wasn't just a big disaster that could cut us off from the rest of the nation, but one bad snowstorm could close down the roads for days. People there tend to keep a decent food storage on hand. Generators are common.
One time, when I was a little girl, we had a bad snowstorm that completely covered our lane. It was not paved so snowplows didn't even attempt to clear it. We still had school, so my dad hitched up his team of Percheron horses to our big hag wagon and drove us to the highway where the bus met us.
Talk about adventure.
I have always felt that many people who live in Wyoming are used to more rugged conditions and would probably fare pretty well in a disaster situation, simply because life isn't always easy or convenient in Wyoming.
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