Individual Responsibility in disasters

[Playa]

A well known Meteorologist tweeted last Thursday “it feels like 5 days before Harvey, but a winter event.” I think we can all agree this was one of the most significant natural disasters to hit Texas, effecting 2/3 of the state.

There is plenty of blame to be spread around, from state officials, ERCOT & SWPP, down to local providers/co-ops. But can we truly depend on utilities during times of natural disasters? What is our personal responsibility?

I take a hard line here. It’s my responsibility to protect my family. To ensure we can survive. That means have the skills and supplies to do so. I believe we have become too dependent on these creature comforts and forget running water central heat and especially electricity are relatively new functions in a home. It might not be comfortable, or fun, but I think we need to expect these failures be that from a winter event, a spring thunderstorm/tornado and certainly the coastal folks know from a hurricane, and be prepared

[Sleepy]

I feel like you nailed it.

[Antlers86]

Well said!

[mrc]

You said it well I'm not a prepper, but I had a propane heater and plenty of gas on hand. It sucks but we were warm and kept the house from freezing and cooked on the grill. The front porch became my freezer and we were comfortable thru this. My diesel pickup has not been turned off in 3 days because I've seen no less than 20 jelled up and not running, I told my wife one more day of this and I will become a mountain man.

[marshman]

Yes sir, you hit the nail on the head.

[hgiles]

Agree. We’ve been lucky and not lost power but did lose water this morning. Had enough drinking water on hand and have been collecting melting snow to use for toilets. I have several 5 gallon jugs and will be making a run to fill them tomorrow, as it could be a while before we get water back (whole neighborhood is out).

It’s amazing though how many people didn’t think ahead, have firewood, or basic supplies. I’ve offered to help as much as I can. Feel bad for the elderly and those with young children who don’t have power or water.


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[Texas452]

Our house is all electric.
I had plenty wood cut for fireplace and a double propane burner to cook on.
Filled the bathtubs up with water good thing we did because we were without water until today.
We probably burned 2 cords of wood.
We made it ok

[14JKURX]

OP
You hit the nail on the head!
We were prepared food, generator, water, fuel “in vehicles and generator “ extra fuel for generator portable stove and we made it without a hitch. Some of my neighbors were not so lucky they never plan ahead .

[BayouCat]

Totally agree. Despite our loss of water and power, we were prepared to the best of our abilities. May have to rough it a bit more than some, but we will survive.

Most weather events provide you with some kind of warning or heads up or you just know to be aware during that particular season. But a lot of that is common sense, and you see how that is lacking in a lot of the population nowdays.

[RiverRat1]

I was all prepared for pretty much anything. Was I supposed to know they would choose to turn my power off (not get knocked out by ice, downed lines etc but turned off) so other areas of the State could have more power?

We made it just fine and know to never depend on "them" again in any way.

[Landrover]

Absolutely agree with protecting my family and always the BUCK stops with me!!! We have been overly comfortable to be honest. Half the time we have no idea that something is going on.
Gonna be a political mess unpacking this ERCOT mess however, seems like a serious dereliction of responsibility so far. We shall see.

[thegrouse]

I have food, gas and a generator. I was prepared, but I still feel our leaders have failed. My family will be fine, but there are many that will not and rely on the utilities.

[UltraMax]

My wood stove has kept my 1500 square ft single wide with add on at or above 65 degrees this whole time and my living room at 75 degrees. My bath tubs are full of emergency water which we are now using sparingly because the co-op water went down. I’ve been lucky as our power has not gone down but we would be just fine without it.

I split a TON of wood every year and fuel my house with it every winter. So I have plenty and have had plenty of wood to burn.

I would hate to know that I had to abandon a half million dollar home in a fancy neighborhood and go to a “warming shelter” because I couldn’t stay warm in it when the power went out.

This week, I’m very thankful for the choices that I’ve made in how I’ve chosen to live.

[BigRed323]

Agreed. Was kind of amazed at the number of sportsmen on some of these threads whining about not having power and whatnot. Yes it sucks, but deal with it.

Heck, some even calling the US a 3rd world country? Yes, lots of problems being discovered with the overall system, but putting the blame on others because you failed to be somewhat prepared to be somewhat comfortable for a few days? I expect that from a lot of city/non-hunting folks, but not here.

[LFD2037]

So you won’t ever call 911? Same concept. The understanding/agreement that a service that is paid for is to be provided during an emergency, wether it be too cold (this storm), too hot (heat waves) someone robbing you or your house on fire. I don’t really see a difference but I’m open-minded to trying to understand it the way you do!