Revisiting emergency preparedness

[Korihor]

With the Houston flooding crisis, and the attention surrounding the temple flooding, it turned my thoughts to an old standby - Emergency Preparedness.

How relevant is the traditional LDS concept of emergency preparedness, especially food storage?

I can see arguments both ways. A 72-hour kit could be very beneficial for something like this, but if the house floods, all their food storage could be ruined. I readily admit this is an extreme level of flooding, difficult to prepare for something of this magnitude.

But is emergency preparedness with food storage, bunson burners, etc, the best advice anymore? A Honda generator doesn't work when it's in a garage under 3' of water.
The communication network of church members remains a legacy stronghold for taking care of each other in a situation such as this. What about the Brown Family, The Johnson Family, etc. The active members are very fast to check on each other, and the less active will get help as soon as the actives receive work. But you need to be in the loop to reap this benefit.

Does the church do a good job region specific emergency preparedness, or it is too generic to be of benefit anymore?

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

Daymon Smith's book of mammon has a very interesting section on this topic. Several years ago the church published a phamplet on preparedness that did away with the "one year" requirement and turned it into a more practical "long term" storage. The impetus for this wasn't revelation or direction from leadership. Rather the church took surveys of what members were currently doing for home food storage and discovered the vast majority didn't or couldn't maintain one year of food. So the counsel given in the phamplet was merely what members were already doing. Kinda ironic.

You're right that there are some disasters that are impossible to prep for in a practical manner. Still, some prep seems prudent for more common things.

[Jeffret]

To a reasonable level of your ability to prepare and to predict what you need to prepare for, emergency preparedness is a good idea. It doesn't take any divine intervention to tell you that. Civil authorities will tell you that. When we lived in San Diego, we had the local county emergency preparedness office give a presentation in our ward there. Their recommendations were pretty much in line with what the Church says for short-term emergencies. And no, the county didn't ask Church leaders in SLC for what god wanted them to recommend.

The first step is to identify the likely disasters. In San Diego, that was earthquake. In our particular area, a major earthquake could bring down major bridges causing significant delays in response and particularly delivery of food and water. Primary recommendation was to be prepared to get by for 72 hours till emergency responders could get in. And maybe to evacuate your house if it became dangerous. In San Diego, there isn't much worry about hurricanes. Here in Colorado, we have little worry about hurricanes. Or earthquakes. Localized floods or heavy, widespread winter storms are the likely disasters.

The next step is to figure out if there are reasonable steps that can be taken to prepare. You never know when an earthquake will hit so you have to always be prepared. There's usually some warning for a major winter storm and preparedness isn't too difficult. Another possible disaster here is Yellowstone. If it blows in a serious way, though, there may not be any preparedness possible.

It's always a risk-cost-reward tradeoff. Once you know the likely risks you can compute the costs and the rewards. Blanket recommendations like the Church has sometimes done are of little value.

[Just This Guy]

Reasonable emergency preparedness can be a major benefit. Talk to your local red cross chapter to see what you should be ready for in YOUR area.

A 72 hour kit is a very good way to start in general. From there customize for your area.

Earthquakes are unlikely in my area. Some lower level parts are prone to flooding, but if my house floods, there is something MAJOR wrong. We are more prone to wind and severe snow storms. These can often lead to extended power outages. So for us a generator and a chainsaw are beneficial. As well as an alternate source of heat in the winter.

[Give It Time]

I think reasonable preparedness is the way to go.

I'd rather not survive the events of the second coming.

[Emower]

Rather the church took surveys of what members were currently doing for home food storage and discovered the vast majority didn't or couldn't maintain one year of food. So the counsel given in the phamplet was merely what members were already doing. Kinda ironic.

Behind every good decision is a survey. The church may be the head, but statistics and surveys are the neck that turns the head...

The first step is to identify the likely disasters. In San Diego, that was earthquake. In our particular area, a major earthquake could bring down major bridges causing significant delays in response and particularly delivery of food and water. Primary recommendation was to be prepared to get by for 72 hours till emergency responders could get in. And maybe to evacuate your house if it became dangerous. In San Diego, there isn't much worry about hurricanes. Here in Colorado, we have little worry about hurricanes. Or earthquakes. Localized floods or heavy, widespread winter storms are the likely disasters.

The next step is to figure out if there are reasonable steps that can be taken to prepare. You never know when an earthquake will hit so you have to always be prepared. There's usually some warning for a major winter storm and preparedness isn't too difficult. Another possible disaster here is Yellowstone. If it blows in a serious way, though, there may not be any preparedness possible.

I dont like thinking about the major issues in Phoenix. Not much happens here except for increased heat and running out of water. The running out of water bit makes me nervous.

[Korihor]

I dont like thinking about the major issues in Phoenix. Not much happens here except for increased heat and running out of water. The running out of water bit makes me nervous.

Not likely, the greater phx metro uses less water today than it did 20 years ago. Much less agriculture now.

We're actually OK on water. It's a bit pricey, but we have enough of it

[Mad Jax]

I have MREs and 5 gallons of water along with a change of clothes and that's about it. 6 pairs of socks and three pairs of underwear along with boots, jeans, and a long sleeve shirt. I can't see much more being practical to have when, if it gets to that point, I'm going to be required to be on the move and don't want to get weighed down.

One thing I did for various reasons was rid myself of firearms, but it may be practical to have one I suppose. If things do get really bad.

[Hagoth]

Is anybody else here old enough to remember when it was a TWO year supply? Does anybody want to trade something useful for a storage room full of outdated (and pretty much deadly, based on stories of anyone who has actually tried to use it) PermaPack?

[Give It Time]

Is anybody else here old enough to remember when it was a TWO year supply? Does anybody want to trade something useful for a storage room full of outdated (and pretty much deadly, based on stories of anyone who has actually tried to use it) PermaPack?

I heard one year supply all my life. I thought from the beginning of this counsel. I never heard two year until I met my ex. He maintained that it was two and I maintained that it was one. I'm older than he is. However, I'm from Mormondom Central and he's mission field. In my neck of the woods, we were very much "teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves". When you know that this apostle doesn't always agree with or like that apostle, I think there's more of a tendency to run what the Brethren say through a reality-meter. IOW, the counsel may have been one year's supply and two where possible, but we all ignored the second part because...well...it was stupid and unrealistic.

[achilles]

Bugout Bags. Get them ready. Have them ready to grab and go.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/03/0 ... vival-kit/

[BriansThoughtMirror]

I think emergency preparedness is one of the good, practical things that came out of Mormonism, even though the particulars have not always been helpful. In my area, a lot of people adapt the advice to the most likely situations. I also haven't heard anything about having a two year supply in recent years.

[Thoughtful]

Is anybody else here old enough to remember when it was a TWO year supply? Does anybody want to trade something useful for a storage room full of outdated (and pretty much deadly, based on stories of anyone who has actually tried to use it) PermaPack?

I never heard this in my life, until last month in a talk by a woman whose husband is campaigning for bishop...

[dogbite]

I remember the two year push. You needed two because when crop failure in year one for whatever reason, one year fed you. The second year was to make it to harvest in year two. You have to cover two growing seasons

[BriansThoughtMirror]

Is there a history written anywhere on the LDS teachings about food storage and emergency preparedness? I would love to read that, especially if it was a Dialogue article or something like that!

[Emower]

I remember a push for more than one years supply as well. The thought process behind it was that everybody knows that the mormons are the best prepared people for natural disasters and have tons of food stored. They will come to you for help and you needed to have enough to feed the neighborhood as well. Just another example of mormons taking something 30 steps farther than it needs to go.