Catastrophe in America

by Pete Thorsen

  Their lot was not very big that their house sat on but they talked about maybe trying to grow a garden there anyway. They had both grown up with their folks growing large gardens and thought that they would maybe try growing one here in Arizona. A couple of their neighbors did grow a few garden plants so they knew it could be done here but that it took a substantial amount of watering to keep the garden healthy.

  With their new insight in survival they knew that water could be a real problem where they now lived. There were a couple wells that serviced all the homes in their small community. They had checked into this before purchasing their house and the wells seemed to have little chance of going dry and the water rates were quite reasonable. That was great when they bought their house but now they wondered about what would happen when or if the electric power went down for a time.

  After a lightning bolt took out a large transformer that fed power to all the nearby homes they discovered that their house was lower than one of the large water storage tanks and though they had little water pressure they would still have some water if the power went out again.

  Of course the large water tank would run dry if the power did not come back on in a reasonable amount of time. It had taken the power company about twenty four hours to replace the damaged transformer that time and they still had water at the end but it had only been a rather feeble amount coming out of the faucets by the end of that time.

  So they thought they could count on at least twelve hours of water if the power went out again and maybe up to twenty four hours. They did know that that their water heater did contain forty gallons of fresh water that could also be drained out if needed.

  They had limited room to store water in their small home especially after all the food and other prep items they had already purchased. Their house already had rain gutters on it and they knew they could easily capture that water but they also knew they lived in the desert and months went by without a single drop of rain falling sometimes.

  Pat thought of one answer and that was bugging out. It was a logical answer because no matter how much water they did store without a means of getting more their only option would be to leave. Where to go could be an issue. They were both old enough that tent camping and sleeping on the ground near a water source had little appeal to them. Yes they could do it but neither of them liked that option at all. Even for a short term solution.

  A possible answer was found on a page of the local newspaper. A rancher had passed away and had left his estate to the Arizona Fish and Wildlife Agency. It was in the paper because the state was deciding whether they wanted to accept the donation of the property.

  The stipulation was that the land could not be resold by the state and had to be open to the public to enjoy and the state to use to enhance wildlife in the area.

  It was a section of land (six hundred forty acres) and Pat was familiar with the property. He had often hiked near there because it was reasonably close to their home. Though it was at least ten miles away by road, if you went cross country it was only maybe half of that Pat thought. He also knew that there was a working windmill on the property.

  Knowing how slow the government was about doing anything he figured it would be at least a year before they even decided whether they wanted the property and another year before they did anything with it. That would give them two years of the property sitting vacant for him and Meg to use in case of an emergency.

  They informed their two sons of their plan to relocate there if there ever was a catastrophic situation. Both knew exactly where the place was located because both had hiked near there with their dad on several occasions. It was a plan of sorts but one they never in their wildest dreams thought they would ever have to use.

  Both Meg and Pat thought that the only real major catastrophe that would ever likely happen was a major economic collapse or depression. With the situation of the United States being over eighteen trillion dollars in debt and still spending money like there was no tomorrow meant that at some point in the future something had to give.

  Right now the federal government was paying record low interest on the national debt. If interest rates rose to the more normal rate of five or six percent on the debt the government and therefore all the citizens would be in big financial trouble.

  The interest on the massive debt would at some point use up all the government income and when they could no longer pay the interest the United States would go into default on the debt. It was going to happen at some point. As they say it was not a matter of ‘if’ but a matter of ‘when’ it would happen.

  That scenario was what Pat and Meg (and maybe the two kids also) thought would happen and that was what they were prepping for. The country falling into a major depression would end Pat’s income and having a bunch of food and cash on hand seemed only reasonable.

  The food cost them nothing really because no matter what they would eat it anyway at some point. Bank interest rates were so low that having a bunch of cash at home instead of in the bank cost them very little in loss of interest and gave them considerable peace of mind.

  Chapter Three

  “Pat, your brother Bob is on the phone.”

  “Hey Bob, what’s happening way up north?”

  “We are tired of winter and thought we would drive down and hole up at your place for a few days of winter relief.”

  “You are certainly always welcome here but you already know that. You do remember that we only have that one spare bedroom? I assume the whole family is coming?”

  “It will be fine. The kids can sleep on the floor. It will be like camping out for them. Easter is early this year and we thought we would come down then. The kids have a week off school then and we thought they could maybe miss another couple days. We will have at least four days on the road coming and going but we hope to spend several days with you guys down there.”

  “That sounds great. And the weather here then should be about perfect.”

  “I’ll keep in touch but I wanted just to give you a heads up and chance to beg off if you did not want to put up with us.”

  “Thanks for the heads up but you know very well you guys can come down when ever you want for as long as you want.”

  “Thanks. I’ll call back again when I have more time and when we know for positive that we are making the trip. Talk to you later.”

  “Bye. Talk to you soon.”

  “Bob and Sue and the kids are coming down over Easter vacation.”

  “That’s great. It will be great to see those guys again. I bet those kids have really grown since we went up there last.”

  “Yeah I bet those kids have grown like weeds. It will be nice to see Bob again. We will have to clean out that spare bedroom some. No more using that for a store room while they are here. We can pack more stuff into the garage. At least on a temporary basis and I’ll move some of the light stuff up to the attic over the garage.”

  “Are we going to talk to them about being prepared?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think they have the mindset for it. We can just play it by ear. If it comes up in the conversation then it comes up otherwise I won’t start a discussion on it.”

  We were both busy over the next couple weeks getting ready for my brother and his family to come and visit. We went shopping one more time just before they came and bought many things we did not normally buy.

  Things that the kids would be more likely to eat and things to make bigger meals for the time we would be feeding seven instead of just us two. The time went by quickly even though both Meg and I were anxious for them to get here.

  Bob was a couple years younger than me and his second wife, Sue was younger yet. Sue looked like a trophy wife but was kind of a paradox. While very pretty and always wearing ‘in fashion’ clothes and such she also went deer hunting with Bob and was not shy about doing hard work.

  She had shot deer a couple of years when Bob had not. She might be beautiful but was certainly not a shrinking violet. La
st fall I remember was the first year his oldest son, Bill was able to go deer hunting though he had not shot one.

  Their middle child was a girl, Debbie, who was one year younger which was about 11 years old. The youngest was another boy, Jon, who was about 5 years old. I admit I had a tough time remembering all their ages but I think those numbers are right.

  Soon it was the day and Bob, Sue, and the three kids showed up at our door. It was amazing just how much baggage they had packed into their vehicle.

  It seemed like we would never get done hauling in the bags and suitcases. I remembered then that Sue never traveled ‘light’. But it was fine and soon they had their things in the spare room and the kids either started watching TV or were on some electronic device that they had brought with them.

  I was a hero when everyone found out that even an old man like me had internet wifi set up in my house and I even knew the password so they could all get ‘on line’. I had never seen so many electronic devices that all of my brother’s family produced out of pockets, packs, purses, and pouches.

  We spent each day doing different things. Meg and I took them out in the hills to pretty spots we had found and often brought picnic lunches with us. One day was spent in Slow Low seeing the sights there and getting in some shopping. One day we spent in the nearby forest so everyone could see that Arizona was not all just desert covered by rocks and sand dunes.

  We had a great time everyday even though their littlest one did do some whining on a regular basis. The older kids always seemed to be on one of their electronic devices playing games or talking/texting their friends. Even the youngest had a couple different electronic games and spent a lot of time playing them.

  There were cords plugged in to many outlets in our house so each device could be recharged as needed. I don’t really know how they kept up with what charger went to what machine but everyone seemed to have no problem, even the youngest.

  I took the time off from my stock trading but I did keep up on the news as much as I could even when we had the company. There seemed to be no big news of any kind just the same old stuff and same old arguments. We had an excellent visit with my brother and his family and I think they also enjoyed their stay at our place.

  Our preparedness for bad times that might be coming never came up in any of our conversations. The closest was when my brother saw all the stacks of totes in the garage and said ‘I thought you guys got rid of most of your stuff when you moved down here?’ I just said that stuff just seems to keep piling up and Bob agreed that it was the same at his house.

  Time flew by and soon it was time for them to depart and make the run back to Wisconsin. It was just another day in Arizona with the morning being bright and clear just like always here in the desert and I was helping my brother’s family carry all their gear out to their vehicle when the power went out.

  Chapter Four

  “Dad my I-pod just quit working.”

  “You can charge it up in the car when we get on the road.”

  “It was charged up; I had it on the charger all night. My phone doesn’t work either.”

  “Here you can use my phone so I can keep loading.”

  “Your phone is dead too.”

  I got a bad feeling and turned to Bob.

  “Try to start your car.”

  “Why would it not start?”

  “Just humor me.”

  When Bob got in he tried but the car did nothing. Knowing it was useless I went and tried our car with the same results. We all went in the house and just to be sure I tried the house land line phone but there was no dial tone. I got everyone in the living to tell them what I thought was problem.

  “Something happened and it fried all the electronics. Cars, phones, microwaves, everything electronic are now dead. I seriously doubt that the electric power will be back on any time soon and maybe not ever.”

  “That’s crazy. Of course the power will come back on. It is a sunny day so someone likely just hit a power pole with their car or something.”

  “No its way bigger than that. My car and your car and all our phones are dead and they have nothing to do with the power company.”

  “So what do you think happened that made you think the power will never come on again?”

  “I think it is either a CME or what some call a solar flare or an EMP bomb.”

  Bill spoke up then.

  “I watched a show on Nat Geo about that. They said it would be about the worst catastrophe that could happen in the United States and that we might never recover from it. They said if it was nation wide that most of the population would die from it.”

  “That makes no sense. How could everyone die just from the power going out?”

  “With no power there is no water and no sewer in the cities. With no transportation there would be no way to ship any food and no way for farmers to grow more. But the big thing would be no water for anyone. That would kill most people in just the first few weeks or less.”

  Debbie went to the kitchen faucet and water came out the spout.

  “We still have water here. See.”

  “Yes we do but it will only last for a few hours. We have to fill everything we can with water now before it stops.”

  “I still think you are over reacting.”

  “If I am wrong it won’t hurt to fill everything with water. If you want while we are busy doing that you can take a walk and through the community and talk to people to see if they know anything about the power going out.”

  “OK, I’ll do just that.”

  Meg and I had planned for this possible scenario where the power went out and we would have to store water. We went and gathered the containers that we had ready and enlisted the two older kids to help us fill them. Sue was tending little Jon because he was fussing due to the fact his electronic games were not working.

  It was over a couple hours before we had everything full of water and sorted out where we could find room to store it. Some was stored in the two bath rooms to use for washing and then for flushing the toilets. Much of the water was reserved for drinking and for cooking. We had laid light plastic sheeting in the two bath tubs before filling them with water so none could gradually leak out through the drains.

  Our kitchen stove was propane and would still work if we lit it with a match. The oven was not functional without electric power for the electronic controls which were likely fried now anyway. We also had a gas grill on the patio we could cook with and I had plans to use that today because everything in the refrigerator and freezer compartment would have to be used in the next couple days before it spoiled.

  When Bob returned I asked what he found out on his walk in the community.

  “People are in the dark just like us. No one has a running car and no one has phones or power. No one really knows anything and we have no way to get any news. I did hear a couple people talk about the EMP or sun thing you mentioned but no one really knew much of anything.

  There are many cars and trucks stalled on the highway. As I was walking I was thinking and surely the government will activate the military to lend aid to everyone. I’m sure they have plans for this and their vehicles would be protected I’m sure.”

  “I think at least most of the military stuff likely still works and they might even have some plans in place for this event. But think of a best case scenario of the military plans in action.

  First they would declare Martial Law and try to stop the looting and killing in the cities. They would maybe bolster their ranks by commandeering all local police forces. But it would take time to mobilize and I don’t think there are very many military personnel actively stationed stateside.

  One would assume their first priority would be the big cities and the military sent to those places would be a drop in the bucket compared to the population in those cities. I really don’t think they could do any good what so ever.”

  “They could bring in food and water supplies.”

  “Just think how much fo
od and water would be needed even for a smaller big city of only a million people. I think it would be virtually impossible even if the military had access to all the food and water they needed and I don’t think they do. I suppose they could try to contain the people that are in the cities to their fate and try to save some of those in the more rural areas. That might possibly work to some extent.”

  “You mean just let the millions of people in the big cities die?”

  “Basically, yes.”

  “They would never do that.”

  “You just sit and think about how a few thousand soldiers at best would save the well over three hundred million people in the United States from dying of thirst, starvation, and violence without any electric power.”

  “What do you mean by violence?”

  “With no phones or running vehicles there are no police any more. Some people will realize that quickly and start doing anything they want to anyone they want.

  Robbery, rapes, and murders will be the new norm all across this nation in a day or two. When people get hungry or thirsty they will become desperate and do whatever it takes to get food and water. Even normally law-abiding people will kill to keep their families from starving.”

  “The grocery stores are all full of food and that will keep people fed for a long time.”

  “You have seen how the grocery isles look when a big snow storm is predicted back home. The stores empty out of a lot of food in just one day. And that is just the possible threat of a storm that will only last a couple days. That food in all the grocery stores will be looted and they will be completely empty in a couple days.

  Some of the looters will end up with a stock pile to last them awhile if they have the firepower to keep it and a way to cook it. Remember there are no more electric stoves or microwaves working. By tonight all the big cities are going to be in big, big trouble and I feel sorry for those people living in them.”