is it only certain areas or regional, thanks

Good bye.

Yup, tacky.

However, your reference to some old stuff from that OP was nothing more than a not-so-subtle derisive attack. I'm sure you can do better.

My objection has nothing to do with the content of the OP. I have no comment on that.

Some DUers think that suggesting they be prepared and to evacuate a storm surge zone are RW talking points.

FEMA, the Red Cross, and your local EOC are hard right... right wingers...and by that definition so am I, hard core libertarian.

right here in GD all about how one could always find an open restaurant in New York -- that they didn't have to prepare. I just kept thinking, ?

Why I mentioned to these folks Mexico City, before the quake...what need to prepare? Who us? After the quake Mexico has developed a hell of a world class civil defense system, some modeled on FEMA.

That thread was unbelievable.

you couldn't even fit an extra can of tuna in one.

of drinking water. (I live in a condo.) People who have houses with basements and/or attics, spare rooms, or even sizeable pantries and large kitchens, don't get it.

the storm hungry people were dumpster diving in order to find food. Reporter said that all the bodegas & restaurants in the neighborhood were closed. http://www.nbcnewyork.com/video/#!/on-air/as-seen-on/Sandy-Starved-New-Yorkers-Dumpster-Dive/176839571
Just because you were fine in YOUR corner of the city doesn't mean that everyone was. Clearly these people would have been much better off if they'd done some preparation in terms of food.

Newly dumped supermarket food. In a ghetto, that's a windfall!
Two blocks from my friends place. My friend got take out three blocks from the Key Food almost every night last week.

Subways were down but there were lots of places to eat.
Like it or not, people go a little apeshit when the electricity is down and they're not getting paid. They get various shades of grabby. I saw a lot of people who didn't need food at all grabbing free bar b que and even MREs.

Look - I know there are patches that are remote and almost suburban in the outer Boros where a small part of our population lives where'd you feel stranded.But the East Village isn't it.

The news doesn't tell you what everyone in NY knows- there are always dumpster divers, squatters etc in that hood. much like the Haight. It's not some once in a lifetime thing, LOZl.

You know much more about what happened/is happening in the whole city than anybody else.

And on Staten Island, again only 3 days after the storm: Quotes of the Week: 'We Need Food, We Need Clothing' http://abcnews.go.com/US/weeks-best-quotes/story?id=17635120#1

Our local hospital is a mess. But it was before all this.
I love that people are suddenly believing media hype and taking it as gospel. That's pretty funny.

Last edited Tue Nov 6, 2012, 12:18 PM - Edit history (1)

Any one of five other areas.
See how that works- it's not remotely possible for an able bodied person to be stranded there. Perhaps you need to look at Google maps.

Alphabet city has always been a bit rougher that the rest of downtown, full of drugs, squatters and anarchists. Dumpster diving goes on all the time there, LOL. It's ridiculous that this is what made the news.

What my friend and others there were very concerned about was the potential for robbery or physical attack. It's a bit of a crossroads for druggies even though much I really haven't seen that on the news. All I've seen is people grabbing food and puddles.

All of a sudden you're taking sensationalized media reports as bible. Because it suits you to. Malarkey!

Whether you like it or not, the one size fits all recommendations do not fit all. Only people in remote locations- rare in the city - needed extra water or could safely use a generator. That people were on the news crying for food and gasoline the very next morning doesn't change that. They were venting because their lives had been disrupted. They're crying for dry clothes too, but I didn't see anyone here recommend hoarding those.
What people in NY mostly need is warmth safety and light. Too bad you can't stock up on those.

Sigh. I miss NYC.

It's been an eye opener seeing how extra fucked by this crises so many people here WISH we in the city were. How much resentment there is toward city dwellers.
I'm so sorry we're the economic powerhouse that makes their peaceful little lives possible. Just as narrow minded as a lot of red staters who also imagine they are self sufficient. What a joke.

Makes you wonder how happy they could actually be themselves. Sounds kind of antisocial- a sad and lonely life compared to the city.

I have to shake my head at the anger and refusal to accept that things are different here. WTF happened to accepting diversity?

Thank you for reminding all of us that we have to be aware of our needs and our environment at all times. We really don't control everything and can't. But that even though this is our condition, we can still be well-prepared for disasters and we can be prepared to provide long term aid to the victims of disaster.
This is what humans and communities do.

And the best part is that one des not need to be a hard core prepper. Some requires planning, like cycling food and water, but once in the habit, it's really easy.

We are used to disasters happening to others but not us.
As we see more and more extreme weather Americans may get used to preparedness.

Super storm coming.

Get a few cans of pork and beans at least.

A flashlight or two.

Food for the pets.

Meds if necessary.

Maybe now people will pay attention to storms.

The problem is if the "lesson" takes everywhere else.

Having the power return will make life better but will not fix the damage done.

I do wonder if some thought a pizza would be delivered during the storm.

Mother nature is nothing to fool with, pay attention.

I didn't realize that so much of the New York area were islands.

Water on all sides.

I am sad for the lives lost.

I knew the subways would flood, we had our tunnels flooded in Houston with Tropical Storm Allison.

Underground parking was flooded, major flooding in the Medical Center.

The generators for the hospitals were in the basement.

We learn our lessons after that.

Houston is a bayou city, downtown Houston located next to a major bayou.

Sometimes it takes something like this to wake people up.

When I asked about disaster planning. I was told...we on't need to imitate gringos.

Well, first San Juanico, and you'd think they found triage on the way to Damascus.

Then the Mexico City quake. They had enough... Me, I started talking disaster planning as soon as I got to Tijuana and modern EMS.

I hope Sandy wakes the rest of the nation, and I won't be too shocked if 72 hours becomes 5 days in dense urban areas.

Ice and water did come but not for a few days.

That is why I keep gallon milk bottles to fill up and freeze.

I think 5 days is about right, maybe even 7 days.

Gas, fill up cans and your car before the storm.

No power, no gas.

I had to drive almost 70 miles to find a gas station with gas after Ike.

Never know what might happen.

Also cheaper to fill up a half a tank then a full tank.

Unfortunately every disaster seems to be just a new lesson.

We never put this knowledge to good use.

In that thread you are referring to. I believe it was taken with about as much seriousness as the captain of the HMS Bounty prior to heading to St Petersburg.

As do I.

As a side note, a friend of mine did the SAR case to the HMS Bounty, he injured his shoulder during the hoist.

from a person who volunteered there today and it's a wreck!

One piece of advise to your friend. Make sure he/she is current with tetanus shots.

have no idea.

It always happens that relief operations take awhile to get through blocked roads and flooded streets. And loss of communications can be a huge problem.

People need to be able to get by for 3-5 days in the wake of a big storm. Even in the middle of a city.

We are more vulnerable than we like to think.

as usual

that it really takes very little money, time, and effort to get ready to survive a few days without help, if you're planning to stay in place and your stuff doesn't get trashed during the storm. It's just not that hard to do for MOST people. There are exceptions, of course.

I know some people on the Gulf Coast who go to the opposite extreme - when a storm is coming, they run out and spend hundreds of dollars they can't afford to buy a bunch of stuff that they don't really need and will probably not even use. That's not as foolish as not preparing at all, but they're creating hardship for themselves, and it's not necessary to do so.

Like a good Coleman stove (still in my list)... But after that, pretty much.

That and a few other things will improve your situation from "surviving" to "relatively comfortable".

And finally get it.

Mine is 20 years old, my parents' one is postively ancient, and they work as well as they did when they were brand new.

if it's survival + reasonable comfort it may cost a bit more.

Living on peanut butter and canned tuna for 5 days won't be much fun. But it'll be cheap. And preferable to the alternative.

to be hungry or thirsty two days after a storm like this. Cold (or hot, in the summer) dirty, and uncomfortable, yes. Hungry and thirsty, no, not unless you're one of the relative few who honestly could not prepare, or who had your food and stored water ruined.

post in Meta was locked. It seemed to fit Meta IMO.

Not a real counter to that.

If you had waded in with the ferocity deserved, it would have not been locked. Aggressive callousness is probably the key factor should you choose to post there again.

I do see that Ms. "NYC has a world class EMS and can handle anything without a bump" has returned. Wonder how that reasoning is going over in Far Rockaway and parts of SI.

Basic prep is very low cost and key items cost effectively nothing. Those barely getting by on government aid have valid reasons for not having supplies and comments that the take out places thrived do nothing for those on EBC etc. And they claim people like you and me are heartless...

I will never understand the hostility some on here feel towards those who argue that everyone who can be prepared for such things should do so.

No one here is saying that they should just be left to die or anything like that but you wouldn't know it from the outraged responses.

/and this is with the acknowledgement that there is a minority of the population that due to disability, age, poverty, extraordinary medical needs etc will never be able to prepare for any sort of disruption.

And every first responder I know, including those in my family, agree with the OP's sentiments. I've in a wildfire prone area, and I certainly get it - it isn't a difficult concept. It is how these things roll. Without exceptions.

It is like those who could prepare but decide not to, don't have the ability to learn from the experiences of others. First hand accounts from various disasters are freaking everywhere, and yet every time I see people act shocked that Mother Nature didn't grant them some exception to the rule. Followed by misplaced outrage by people who either can't comprehend or choose to misunderstand what is being said in the aftermath stage.

Being quick to not comprehend a message or misunderstand it and take offense is an epidemic now days.

those sad folks on TV.

It couldn't ever happen to *me* could it?

/that sentiment has cost untold lives.
//I suspect it is also shared by the majority of the outraged individuals here. Thus the argument that those involved could have done more strikes too close to home as they would like to feel special and safe and under no obligation to prepare because that would be acknowledging their own precarious position (same as the rest of us: at the mercy of nature too often).

Maybe you missed it.
But I said there was no reason in NYC because delis and pizza etc would be back in action the next day. And they were.
Supermarket closed one single day.
Generators and big stockpiles of food don't work as well in small apartments. If you didn't have stuff in the freezer to throw on the grill you could get take out.
Funny how this pisses "well meaning" people off.

which is why some of us, having lived in the large cities love the hinterlands in the US. The sense of entitlement runs way too deep for many of us.

But the reality is- its just there, what we live amongst 24/7 and it's the upside of the overcrowding and bustle those in the hinterlands find so distasteful.

I'm not going to apologize for the shit being there. That's ridiculous. It's the upside of living in a populated place. Get over it.

The high density environment of the northeast is a ecological disaster. In Scandinavia they have gotten past that, but not in the US. LA and San Francisco are no better.

I've lived in NYC, Washington DC, Los Angeles and internationally. Big cities in the US really do suck

The needs and concerns of city dwellers are different. Some fools following the advice here to buy a generator are now dead.
People who stocked up lost everything and it was a waste of time.
So much for one size fits all disasters type solutions.

Thanks for showing your true colors!
Ill lump you in with the lot here hoping to teach us all a lesson. Got it loud and clear- were dirty and crowded, and live in a way that repels you. Because its feasible for everyone to drive everywhere and that's got no connection to global warming. Right.

Much of it comes from historical misuse of the environment resulting in higher levels of toxins and pollution. The models are clear, over time there is going to have to be massive cleanup and areas abandoned. Detroit is coming to NYC, just a question of when.

Due to the NIMBY factor, large cities are able to steal resources from outlying areas and use them as their dumping grounds for their trash. its not just NYC, LA is no better. LADWP created environmental disasters in the Owens Valley and LA exports their trash to the central valley.

Personally I create quite a bit more energy than I consume, even though I do commute on my 60mpg vehicle. Its called solar power, something that is fundamentally untenable in large cities.

I should add, that I lived in NYC for a while and yes I was glad to get out of there to places where the water and air were clean.

Who knew the answer was so easy.
I knew suburban sprawl wasn't as poisonous and mind numbingly boring as I thought at first glance.
Oh wait, it is a boring selfish wasteland.
You can keep it. We're not interested.

past week or so.

But because you agree with them, you overlooked all that. That poster went in to follow me to other threads and hurl insults.
And misrepresent everything I said. Repulsive behavior.

If me telling you that hoarding goods was mostly unnecessary in NYC is obnoxious, then I don't know what to say to you.
Sorry that the truth offends you so much. We need power, security and warmth and her easy answers wouldn't help those effected very much at all. It IS different in the city.
It is what it is. Obnoxious is insisting that a weeks worth of groceries and a generator would be useful.

The poster called you on your idiocy and your reaction to it was little better than juvenile. She advocated following what the city had posted, and you disclaimed that as totally necessary.

Why you all need to believe these situations are one size fits all is beyond me.

And NO, I did not resort to name calling.
But your friend did. Direct and repeated personal attacks. They have nothing to be proud of. Hubris my ass.
Get your shit straight before you post more bullshit.

Mother Nature is a FORCE...that until you meet it face-to-face, it is hard to believe what she can do.

Personally BECAUSE of all of the people and the close proximity, I assumed it would be worse than hitting in the Gulf because there is MORE to be torn up.

Not to discount the part of the country that I live in, but when hurricanes and tornadoes venture through these parts, a significant amount of the cleanup is downed trees. In an area like NYC that has buildings in place of trees...well, it only makes sense to a country girl like me that WHATEVER is in the path...be it trees, buildings, buses, etc....they are going to suffer damage and whatever is in the path is going to have to be cleaned up.

And taking nothing for granted, electricity is considered a luxury when the storms come through. Anyone who has ever been without knows this--and sometimes, it takes a while to get back on.

I have taken weather seriously since Katrina...but even so, watching Manhattan go through that shutdown again...last time I was in it. This time, safe in Bayside on a hill. Never underestimate the value of a hill when choosing your home. Even my Manhattan apt is in the only building on the block with a flight of stairs leading to the front door.

And that is sage advise.

And that refrigerator needed a good cleaning.

I live in CA on top of an active fault. When our disaster comes, there will be no warning. No chance to stay home and gather family members, no chance to stock up, and no chance to think about what may be needed. In SoCal, if you are not prepared ahead of time its really going to suck.

One doesn't need a generator and a basement full of food an water to do basic prep. Comm plan, gathering of documents in one spot, and just thinking about where people might be when it comes cost nothing, yet so few do it. Bring it up and you are vilified...