by Ron Foster
First off, the ARkStorm is considered California's other "big one" or greatest threat: Just like earthquakes, storms come in a variety of sizes and damaging effects. There are ordinary storms we experience yearly, just like the small daily quakes that sometimes rumble without much notice at all. Then there are larger storms, such as the ones that cause major flooding and mudslides, just as there are occasional earthquakes that are big, but not that big. And then there are megastorms, which happen rarely, just like the predicted powerful earthquake referred to as "the big one. We all fear in California" Key Takeaway: Just like a devastating earthquake, we must acknowledge the inevitability of the ARkStorm.
Flooding is a very real California problem: Over the years, Southern California's infrastructure has been built up to minimize the impact of storms. Think about the 157 debris basins in the San Gabriel Mountains, or the waterways like the Arroyo Seco, the San Gabriel River and the L.A. River that were channelized for flood control. "Floods are a real issue in Southern California." "No one can engineer away all threats no matter how hard we try or can afford to”. When the state talks about a need for levees, we don't think of ourselves as a place like New Orleans... Many places in California would be devastated without levees but we try to upgrade them over the years for various threats we can perceive." Key Takeaway: Many parts of California are classified as flood zones.
It's the continuous rain that makes the ARkStorm a threat: The 45-day long storm in 1861 and 1862 was not even ARkStorm-sized, but it was big enough to produce a lake in the Central Valley 300 miles long and about 20 miles across that lasted for months. And although it drained pretty quickly, in Southern California a lake formed between the San Gabriel Mountains and Palos Verdes Peninsula Key Takeaway: This is fact not science fiction.
The financial burden would be insurmountable: When all is said and done, the ARkStorm will cost California $1 trillion, five times the estimated cost of "the big one." Break that down and the major costs are $300 billion for flood damage and $600 billion to business interruption. Other costs are attributed to landslides and wind damage. Key Takeaway: Folks need to be thinking do you at least have flood insurance?
There is a certain amount of predictability: Sure, weather forecasters will be able to predict a severely threatening storm a week ahead of time, but to know if it is the ARkStorm is an unlikely scenario. Key Takeaway: Getting prepared for a devastating earthquake should coincide with preparing for the ARkStorm.
“Thanks for making that a bit clearer for me Jack, but I can’t help but feel that prepping for that kind of scenario requires different preps besides what we stock for earthquakes. What does FEMA say we should do to prepare for it?” Mark asked leaning forward in anticipation of the answer eyes all a glitter.
“Well the kicker is even though they acknowledge the threat and are working on drills and evacuation plans etc. they really haven’t come up with anything yet to help the citizens prepare or advise them of precautions they should be taking.” Jack concluded.
“That sounds typical for them. That’s why we prep, eh Jack?” Mark said giving him a high five.
“Indeed my friend! Come on and I will get those MRE brownies I promised you.” Jack replied and they rose to go into the house to get them
“Hey, did I ever tell you about Moms friend Liz in Biloxi, Mississippi? “ Jack said thinking of the feisty older woman.
“No, I don’t recall hearing about her. What about her is she a prepper?” Michael asked.
“Well she is a pretty neat lady, but not much into preparedness; nonetheless she is willing to listen. She is closer to Randal’s age and they are both from the south, so Mom got the two of them together for a chat in hopes he could get her to better prepare for the hurricanes that hit the Gulf coast and so she could maybe evacuate north to his place in Alabama, if she needed to someday.
Randal explained to Liz that she needed to be thinking about that when disaster strikes, it's hard to think rationally or calmly. However, taking time to lay plans in the case of an emergency can help prevent missteps when emotions run high.
Joyce explained to her that a variety of emergency kits for various circumstances - car kits, basement shelter kits, to-go kits etc. might be considered, but Liz got a bit overwhelmed with that and the conversation soured for a bit. Liz explained that she was on a limited budget that consisted of social security and some part-time work; she just wanted to maybe add a few items she had not thought of yet and might need in a short term disaster.
Randal mentioned the dollar store route to Liz and during that conversation he became amazed and humbled by the woman’s ingenuity. Once Liz had the general idea of making a ‘go bag’ or personal emergency kit, she proceeded to tell him her own no cost version she could create.
She simply stated she would get her biggest and lightest cooking pot and put in items like a flashlight, kitchen shears, steak knife etc. The three had a great time discussing all the items Liz had mentioned she was going to put in what Randal started to refer to as her ‘Prepper Pot’.
Liz pretty much had everything she needed on hand already, but she did decide she would go to the dollar store and pick up a few items like an emergency poncho and some zip ties to add to her kit.
Randal really liked her idea of realizing her needs and using her kitchen drawers etc. to meet those needs before she made her laundry list of stuff she might have gotten at the dollar store. She had used ingenuity and wisdom and probably ended up with a better kit than she could have bought.
2
ROAD TRIP
Joyce was tooling along down the highway in her older model Mercedes Benz diesel car thinking how appropriate it was for her to be going to PrepperStock in her bug out mobile.
One of Joyce’s main concerns to prep for was an EMP type event and this ride of hers was about as EMP proof as you could get. She had spent a lot of money fixing this thing up, but hadn’t had it out on a road trip of this length before all though she was confident it was a solid dependable ride.
She felt kind of weird not taking her son along for this particular road trip, but his band had a gig to play this week and he couldn’t miss that.
She also felt weird about bringing along a seriously major portion of their “bug out” preps. “Two is one and one is none” is the credo of many a prepper and she believed in that theory. She didn’t want to leave her son short of anything he might need, but she was doing an actual test the preps this staged bugout for her blog and YouTube channel, so some big items actually had to go with her on this trip. She wanted to get some shots of her jewel of a StoveTec stove in use at PrepperStock as a feature item.
She had the deluxe two door metal lined version and loved its versatility because she didn’t have ready access to small branches and used it for cookouts often with charcoal.
She had been saving up to buy a Eco 1 door ceramic stove for a number of reasons as a backup or as a compliment to her two door one, but had not got around to it as of yet.
She had watched LowBuckPrepper use his on many vids, but it was Randal`s explanation of its other attributes that intrigued her the most. The larger 1 door stove combustion chamber is preferred by some cooks, due to the fact it can accommodate irregular pieces of biomass and wood easier than the smaller 2 door stove combustion chamber opening, and it is easier to light and clean. The 1 door stove is excellent choice for gardeners, in locations where the pH of the soil is acidic. The 1 door stove is superior compared to the 2 door stove for converting charcoal from wood or biomass (bio-char) compared to the 2 door stove, which produces only small amounts of ash. Charcoal or bio-char is an excellent soil amendment for optimal plant growth in acidic soil to raise the soil pH. The 1 door stove is superior for charcoal or bio-char production and for the ease of clean out.
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Having the ability to cook and make fertilizer was pretty neat to her. Randal used his one door regularly (he had bo
th) and he grew some amazing vegetables in his raised bed garden because of it. Randal would bring it out to heat up some baked beans or a pot of coffee when doing his cookouts and used pretty much anything he gathered from the forest floor to fuel it. His backyard was a combination of woods and raised bed garden so he rarely even bothered to cut up sticks for it although she had seen stacks of precut sticks he had piled up for his other two door one for more controlled burn times. He had come up with the ideal tool to keep a StoveTec fueled forever with his tree trimmings. He had bought himself an 18v Black and Decker cordless chainsaw that was the ideal tool for the task. The lightweight design and 8 in. cutting bar and chain allows users to prune branches up to 6 in. in diameter. On a single charge, this saw can make up to 150 1-1/2 in. diameter cuts
Randal had the ideal way to keep one of these charged up with his big SUNRNR solar generator that he had solar powered his Prepper Shack with, but that big of an item wasn’t in her budget. Instead she had consulted with him on a good alternative power source to charge it and perform other duties.
He had told her how to have all of the lights, TV, radio and power for her refrigerator or freezer she needed from just her car using an inverter as an alternative. LowBuckprepper.com liked and valued his suggestions so much he made a convenient list on his website so his followers could easily access it and the best prices without having to do all the research and legwork it took to come up with the best products for a buck.
Randal and he had been working with the Prepper community for some time to evaluate the best ways as well as products to keep prepper community out of the dark and fed after a big storm or any disaster kills all of the power.
The simple affordable solution Randal had come up with was an inverter. All an inverter does is change 12v DC to 110v AC. There are many types and sizes of inverters and to listen to Randal he could probably write several chapters on how to use one but he had simplified it for her and told her to just buy one and the type for less than 50 bucks invested.
A little 800 watt inverter that runs at 150 watts through the cigarette lighter or 800 watts when clamped on the battery was the backbone of her system. It only weighed 2.6 pounds and allowed for easy and convenient conversion of the DC power generated by her car's 12-volt battery into AC power.
Joyce ran down mentally her various preps she had with her and felt proud she had so diligently, but ever so slowly, accumulated them over the years.
Various scenarios await the preparedness minded person in the event of a societal collapse and she believed she had most of them covered now to the best of her abilities. She had figured out the need to buy a firearm early on and had become proficient in their use.
Figuring out that most people can only get by without a few days of food before “snap” reactions begin, she had hoped to be long gone and bugged out from LA if any major disaster hit.
Joyce had several exit routes mapped out to leave the city and exit the state. She remembered Randal has often said, “Perhaps something like ONLY 1 to perhaps 1 and 1/2% of the people have stocked up for just such an emergency; and if they had any sense, they would be the first ones leaving town in a convoy with her.
“Speaking of convoys; she needed to call Lowbuck pretty soon and tell him how close she was getting to the rally point for that that anyone close by was invited to and meeting up at to convoy to PrepperStock as a group. Got to love the Prepper community to assemble like this and do a simulated evacuation up to the festivities and back as an educational drill. You couldn’t ask for a safer and more helpful group of people to be traveling the road with,” she mused to herself.
She voice dialed his number and waited while it was ringing for him to pickup.
“Hello” echoed a voice on her hands free phone set.
“Hey LowBuck! It’s Joyce, how ya doing you old prepper?” Joyce called out to the cars phone mike.
“Doing just fine! You getting anywhere close to us yet?” LowBuck asked.
“I am about an hour out from you. I am going to be getting there a little quicker than I thought. You want to meet at the rally point or your house now?” Joyce asked.
“I got a bit of a late start loading today. Tel you what, since we got lots of time why don’t you come on by the house and we can visit here before its time to go.”LowBuck suggested.
“That will be just fine. I got Jack to plug your house coordinates into my GPS before I left so I should be able to find you pretty easy.” Joyce answered.
“How is my budding rock star buddy Mr. Jack? I sure am disappointed that he couldn’t come with you; he is going to be missing out on lots of fun.” LowBuck replied.
“He is fine. I wish he could have come along also, but you know that band of his is career and money maker so it always comes first.” Joyce responded.
“Oh sure, I can truly understand that. Last time I talked to him he said they might be getting a record deal. How is that going?” LowBuck asked and put his phone on speaker so his wife Cat could listen to the conversation.
“He is ready to sign off on the contract just as soon as his agent irons out all the wrinkles. I am so proud of him!” Joyce gushed.
“I bet you are. We are proud of him too. Hang on a minute, Momma wants to say hi.” LowBuck said passing his cell phone to Cat.
“Hey Joyce! Longtime no see girl.” Cat said excitedly.
“Well I will soon remedy that Cat and will be on your doorstep in about 45 minutes.” Joyce responded with a giggle.
3
OPERATIONS CENTER
Michael McGuire sat in his temporary little 6’x6’ cubicle in the Los Angeles Emergency Management center grumbling to himself and dreading that he had to talk to the Commander once again, because the guy had some problem with the way he was trying to do his research.
Michael was finishing up his Doctorate degree under a fellowship program that paid him a small stipend and he had no choice in the matter where he got assigned too.
He did have a choice in the subject matter and research questions he selected though and pretty much could do it anyway he wanted as long as his doctorial thesis advisers gave it their approval.
There is a big difference in emergency planning in the agency administration, emergency planning in the classroom and implementing emergency planning in the field.
That was the big bone of contention Michael usually found himself attempting to deal with all the time. His college professors either loved him or hated him for questioning the status quo of operations at different levels and his field office bosses often times had the same issues with him.
Michael was pretty outspoken when he had a reasonable doubt or a direct observation that something was wrong with a prescribed emergency management practice or plan and he wasn’t shy about making his views known either.
He had been told by many supervisors to not make waves and present less negative insights in his papers and assessments he offered for them to review. That was the problem with corporate mindset and infiltrated bureaucratic red tape types in emergency management circles.
They wanted everything to appear all nice like we had everything under control and just slip a couple well formulated questions in acknowledging we didn’t have the answer yet for some glaring fault in the plan or procedure he had usually spotted pretty quickly.
His military background said to him that anything affecting the lives of the civilians or the safety of his troops was about life and death; and if you had to demand and raise hell to get a policy or directive changed or explained to save lives, you did it regardless of getting your ass chewed by the brass.
“What’s one more ass chewing more or less, eh Michael? You’re substantially right and if you don’t bitch and point out the flaws in this evacuation plan your reviewing who will? He considered.
He had observed first hand the problems caused in the field when the state or the fed ordered a mass evacuation. Hell, that’s why he was here researching and applying his expertise in contra flow evacua
tions as it applied to the non profit sector agencies like the Red Cross that dealt with the evacuees needs.
Contraflow lane reversal is the altering of the normal flow of traffic, typically on a controlled-access highway (such as a freeway or motorway), to aid in an emergency evacuation. Basically it was making all highway evacuation routes out of a city one way towards safety to relieve traffic congestion and speed up the exodus away from a threat like a hurricane.
A dumpy little fat man named Rob motioned to Michael that the Commander would see him now. Michael didn’t like the old brown-nosier a bit and suspected he was probably the one who had snitched on him for voicing an opinion or took it personally Michael was punching as many holes in the agencies emergency management plan for an ARkStorm as he could.
“McGuire, I hear you having negativity issues again and bothering my staff with all sorts of plan failure questions. I asked you before not to be doing things like that!” Commander Bones proclaimed to Michael as if he had performed the worst possible sort of offence.
“I am just calling it like I see it Commander. It’s nothing personal or a reflection on your agency. I think they did a fine job so far, but there are many gaps in the assumptions; and unless I examine them closely and apply past research, they are going to bite everyone in the butt if an ARkStorm ever does hit.” Michael said with feigned respect for his superior.