Do you have a disaster plan?

emily · September 2005

Most cheerful thread ever! Yikes, I'm going to flee back to the hipster-mocking thread now.

alex · September 2005

Medusa wrote: I think the whole Indian Point thing could be a real disaster in that
a) an accident really could happen ('cause that place sucks)
b) people would panic
c) all of Long Island would try to run away from Indian Point
d) they'd all run though here (unless they crossed the Sound by boat)
e) then we'd have all these crazy, freaked out Long Islanders in their SUVs on our highways (note photos of Texas traffic jams) and then out into the streets.

Sounds like a recipie for chaos. Of course there'd be close to jack you could do about your exposure, but people would still run away.

Equally, an epidemic (asian flu, SARS) would cause chaos and mass exodus. Any time millions of people try to leave, it can get ugly.

That being said, I'm too disorganized to have a plan or water. I do have many batteries, but that's just a coincidence.

Nuclear power plants are actually very safe these days. It's unlikely, if not impossible that anything dangerous will ever happen at Indian Point or any other reactor in this country unless there is a terrorist strike against one.

daveb · September 2005

t-fal wrote: the worst disaster i saw on the east coast was the ice storm in upstate/vermont/and canada back in 96 or 97. i was working in a photo lab in syracuse where many of the insurance adjusters developed their photos. apparently they had to come to syracuse because the storm had just devastated everywhere else. imagine spending the entire winter up there without electricity or heat other than what you could get out of a generator. that's what happened, but people survived it somehow. i guess i don't really have much of a plan, because given the climate, the disasters you can plan for, are pretty weak. and the ones you can't plan for, well you can't plan for them.

escape route? hmm... i'd take the route with the most toll roads and bridges. even in the face of certain doom, you can always count on people to look for a bargain in ny.

and if it were a nuclear holocaust, i'd rather just die.

Seriously... I rode that storm out in Burlington and it was plenty surreal shit. Up till five in the morning at my bedroom window watching the powerlines explode and arc in the air like fireworks. Trees falling, neighbors running around screaming. Some people had no power for over a month. I also heard a million head of cattle froze to death in Canada.

My friend's sister had a tree branch fall on her during that storm. She had serious amnesia for quite some time. My buddy had to bring in yearbooks from her school to show her who her friends were.

cupcake · September 2005

My Disaster Relief Plan:

1. Log on to Daily Heights Message Board
2. Await Instructions from Site Admin

Are you saying that is not sufficient?

jack · September 2005

Actually I have an idea that might be corny, but might work. How about a Dodgeball-like service for emergencies?

stacey · September 2005

Cupcake wrote: My Disaster Relief Plan:

1. Log on to Daily Heights Message Board
2. Await Instructions from Site Admin

Are you saying that is not sufficient?

I though number 1 would be Stock up on cupcakes

daveb · September 2005

My disaster plan:

1. Me

2. A whole mess of alcohol

3. A pair of Jesus Pants

4. A couple of sheep that happen to be in heat

5. A quiet and romantically secluded barnyard

6. Barry White's Greatest Hits

Now that is a recipe for disaster.

queen_of_pies · September 2005

daveb wrote: My buddy had to bring in yearbooks from her school to show her who her friends were.

My Disaster Kit:

1. Yearbook with pictures of all the cool kids circled; after disaster amnesia I'll still remember they were cool but will forget that they never talked to me.
2. Fake (long) list of things I accomplised in life.
3. Phony newspaper dated last november with different president on page 1 .

cupcake · September 2005

Here is my real disaster evacuation fear: what if the state where my family lives has to be evacuated?

My whole family lives in Rhode Island. Their whole family lives in Rhode Island. Everyone they know, lives in Rhode Island. If the state of Rhode Island was evacuated ... I would have a lot of confused Guido family drama sleeping on the floor of my studio apartment.

Just the thought of my father staying as a long term guest in my apartment, long term in this case being anything over an hour, has me hyperventilating under my desk.

t-fal · September 2005

oooh, that would be the anti-wicked pissah.

carnivore · September 2005

Medusa wrote: I think the whole Indian Point thing could be a real disaster in that
a) an accident really could happen ('cause that place sucks)
b) people would panic
c) all of Long Island would try to run away from Indian Point
d) they'd all run though here (unless they crossed the Sound by boat)
e) then we'd have all these crazy, freaked out Long Islanders in their SUVs on our highways (note photos of Texas traffic jams) and then out into the streets.

Indian Point is north of the city. If the L.I folks wanted to run away, they'd probably be best running further out onto Long Island.

Here are good maps showing Indian Point's location precisely:
http://eyeball.sabotage.org/ipngs-eyeball.htm

Comforting that that's out there, huh? :x

captain m · September 2005

Indian Point is north of the city. If the L.I folks wanted to run away, they'd probably be best running further out onto Long Island.

The general wind pattern for the area is to blow east and slightly north, for stomrs that come to NYC from the atalntic they blow in a northerly direction. That said if Indian Point blew we are fairly safe from the fallout, going farther out LI might actually be bad.

Did anyone notice that the day of 9/11 the wind was blowing all the fallout right over our neighborhood?

cupcake · September 2005

Carnivore wrote: And don't forget the mega-tsunami that will one day wipe out the entire east coast!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2000/mega_tsunami.shtml

I appreciate how the total destruction of the entire East Coast elicits a "very sad" emoticon.

what would the destruction of the West Coast elicit?

:evil: :!: :arrow:

carnivore · September 2005

Cupcake wrote: [quote=Carnivore]And don't forget the mega-tsunami that will one day wipe out the entire east coast!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2000/mega_tsunami.shtml

I appreciate how the total destruction of the entire East Coast elicits a "very sad" emoticon.

what would the destruction of the West Coast elicit?

:evil: :!: :arrow:
Maybe the dirty lightbulb?
:idea: :idea: :idea:

ana.log · September 2005

Jack wrote: [quote=ana.log]Actually, I was living on the Jersey shore in 1985 and our house was on the waterfront of a river leading out to the ocean. I woke up the morning after the storm to find our house entirely surrounded by 6 feet of water in every direction. Nothing on the scale of Rita or Katrina of course, but certainly the worse hurricane I've ever seen on the east coast. Depending on where you lived at that time, it was quite severe, and lots of people experienced extensive property damage.

True. People on the shore areas of the region were affected. But in the great scheme of things, relatively minor water damage is not the same thing as the utter destruction that Katrina left in it's wake.

Damage of property is one thing. Complete loss of property and infrastruture. That's a whole other ballgame.

I agree, I wasn't comparing them. Just disagreeing with the comment that that storm was a non-event.

jack · September 2005

ana.log wrote: I agree, I wasn't comparing them. Just disagreeing with the comment that that storm was a non-event.

All understood and such. Some things are worse, but 6' of water is never good.

Oh, and for what it's worth I do also have a Grundig wind-up radio "just in case". I will not be a slave to the battery world if all things go crazy.

medusa · September 2005

Carnivore wrote: [quote=Medusa]I think the whole Indian Point thing could be a real disaster in that
a) an accident really could happen ('cause that place sucks)
b) people would panic
c) all of Long Island would try to run away from Indian Point
d) they'd all run though here (unless they crossed the Sound by boat)
e) then we'd have all these crazy, freaked out Long Islanders in their SUVs on our highways (note photos of Texas traffic jams) and then out into the streets.

Indian Point is north of the city. If the L.I folks wanted to run away, they'd probably be best running further out onto Long Island.

Here are good maps showing Indian Point's location precisely:
http://eyeball.sabotage.org/ipngs-eyeball.htm

Comforting that that's out there, huh? :x
Damn it! I got Indian Point mixed up with Shoreham (which is shut down, but is on L.I).

So now I'm pretty comforted about the Nuclear Plant scenario. I'll focus my late night paranoia on the killer virus exclusively.

alafairnadia · September 2005

In preparation for the coming disaster I practiced shoving my cat and my kitten into the same carrier because, well, it's not like I can evacuate with more than one bag for the pets. sorry girls. they weren't happy about it but whatever. they'd live, ungrateful bitches.

should I know a disaster is coming, and I know my building will probably make it through a-ok -- snow storm, mega rain storm/hurricante -- I'll resume drinking by immediately calling grand plaza liquor store for a case or two of champagne.

if I'm caught by surprise by a disaster, I'm assuming Soda will be open.

otherwise, daveb, expect me to knock and demand that you share your liquor.

t-fal · September 2005

OMG, i really should practice shoving my 3 birds into their carriers. its bad enough getting the 2 bad little cockatiels to the vet every year. UGH, they are so willful! i think the parrot should be easy though. but what if there was a fire? i couldn't leave them to die!

mc · September 2005

The only disaster I plan for is the inevitable cold that will knock me out for a few days. Every year my Mom drives up here from PA with about 10 cans of Campbell's chicken noodle soup. I assure her that they sell the stuff here in Brooklyn, but she remains dubious.
Oh- and I did buy a flashlight after the blackout. So far, it's been very handy for finding shoes & cat toys under furniture.

whyfi · September 2005

mc wrote:
Oh- and I did buy a flashlight after the blackout. So far, it's been very handy for finding shoes & cat toys under furniture.

My purchase was a wind-up radio- it's been nice for picnics...

oiseau · September 2005

Here's my plan - Smoke a fattie and ride around on my bike. Dang, I do that everyday.

jamesondean · October 2005

Subject: Disaster Plan

Last panel.

pete_c · October 2005

Subject: planning

Since nobody will be able to move beyond their immediate surroundings, I plan to be able to stay put for awhile.

That means a few big jugs of Poland Springs (even in the smallest of closets its worthwhile to keep one stashed). Cans of basic foodstuffs (not as disaster prep but just cause, uhm, thats like being a grown-up and everything). Cash on-hand. Matches, band-aids, aspirin and advil and the like. My Leatherman (though that goes with me everywhere). Read an interesting post once about having vodka on hand as you can drink it, disinfect with it, or barter it. Uh... yeah. That's why I've got all that vodka. Bartering purposes.

I do intend to leave backup copies of important documents well out of town, with my in-laws in CT. Can't possibly hurt.

Its not debating whats likely or unlikely, its just covering the possibilities: at the very least, you spend some time & money putting a few things aside, something happens and you've increased your comfort level during the event and its messy aftermath.

Best case, you spend some time & money, and during that messy event it saves your life -- or the lives of your family, your friends, even just your neighbors.

I find it astounding that people who have no trouble at all dropping a hundred bucks on dinner and drinks out get so bitchy at the idea of preparing some basic supplies, if not an entire gotta-go bag (which I don't have but I think I might assemble one). Katrina should've made us pay attention.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to my hardened bunker.

-p

Do you have a disaster plan?

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