As anyone who lives in the north eastern United States can tell you, it is snowing today. It is snowing a lot. Washington D.C. is predicted to get 24 inches of snow. New York is under a blizzard warning. Virginia has seen over 200 car accidents by the time the first 2 inches of snow fell. Store shelves across the north east are empty as people prepared to be home bound during the blizzard. Panic has stuck the populace.
And all of this is for a storm that will last a few days. Imagine what would happen if the shit really hits the fan. People often mock preppers for being “paranoid”. I live in a state that is prone to weather events, and I have seen first hand what happens when severe storms come to town. Whether it is a hurricane, or a blizzard, most people panic and quickly empty store shelves. If you are not quick, or don’t have the money to buy up everything at the last minute, you may be without essentials for no other reason then that your neighbors didn’t think ahead. (I mean seriously, did people really think New York wasn’t going to have a snow storm in January? Did the already forget about what happened last year?)
If you, like most of us, are a person of limited means, then you need to be prepared ahead of time before everything is gone and price gougers make buying necessities impossible. Wherever you live in the U.S. you will be affected by natural catastrophes at some point. Anyplace in the far north has the potential for a blizzard like the one currently hitting the north east. The south east has hurricane and severe storm issues. The Midwest has tornados, and the west coast faces earthquakes and wildfires. It isn’t a question of will you need to be prepared, it is a question of when will you need to be prepared by.
If you don’t have your food & groceries yet I feel sorry for you. #Blizzard #Jonas #Snow #snowstorm #snowstormjonas pic.twitter.com/APrRNKwoae
— EzLeeInfamous (@EzLeeInfamous) January 20, 2016
We are not just talking about fresh water and food here either. When hurricane Charlie hit Florida a decade ago, some communities were without power for over a week. Florida was never big on gas ranges, so most homes that were without power had electric ovens and ranges. That means no power, no cooking.
So don’t forget to have alternate cooking and lighting available in case of weather emergencies. Hand cranked flashlights, and radios are lifesavers. Solar chargers can keep your phone powered up, and camping stoves or charcoal grills can keep you fed. And let’s not forget about self defense. Because when your neighbors are hungry, and you are grilling steaks on your porch, you might just need to defend your families dinner.
This is what the 17th street Harris Teeter looks like right now. #dcsnow #PANIC. They still have eggs though! pic.twitter.com/svamxlEc3Q
— Maura Judkis (@MauraJudkis) January 21, 2016
If there is a lesson to be learned from the panic and food shortages of snowmageddon 2016, it is that all of this is happening because of a snow storm in New York in January. Imagine for a second how much worse this would be if it was truly a major unpredictable disaster.
Indian Uncle rants about Snowmageddon 2016 Part 2 pic.twitter.com/nhK4Q9LLyM
— Christomas (@BrittoChristo) January 23, 2016
