I found this story while surfing the web and thought it would be very relevant and helpful to my readers. It's from a guy who survived the Tornados in Little Rock, Arkansas this week. Quick read . . .
My City Being Hit By A Tornado Taught A lot About The Limits Of My PREPS
Ok, so we live in Little Rock.
An entire swath of the city from basically the southwest toward the river just looks like a bomb went off.
Been without power since the Tornado struck our neighborhood, luckily for my family, our home was spared any significant damage. Though it was one of the scariest things I've ever been through. There is nothing like holding your wife and daughter in a pitch black bathroom while it sounds like a freight train is barreling through your entire world.
With that said we've been running off preps at the moment and I have learned a lot about things.
1) Bad things happen FAST. It was just a "normal afternoon" and lucky for us we were all home, but within the span of hardly anytime we went from tornado sirens, to all in the sheltered part of our home, to what sounded like the world was being torn apart outside, to no power, no cell service, no nothing within minutes. Having plans of how to get in touch or meet up should we have all been separated are non existent really and I need to make one and improve on that.
2)Ham radio was a lifesaver. Literally. Remember cell service went down instantly here. A tower was crumped like a pretzel and no one could call out or in. I was listening and talking on the 2M repeater here in town right before the storm after the warning went off with storm spotters. After the tornado moved on I quickly began checking on neighbors. Ingress and egress to the neighborhood was blocked by downed trees. Within minutes I was able to get a group of hams from close by and their friends and other neighbors with chainsaws to make quick work of cutting and moving them. This allowed for emergency services to get in quickly and rescue an elderly resident from her home who may have been having a heart attack. Without this kind of ability to quickly coordinate, void of grid comms, I don't know if that would have been so efficient. More people need to at the least their Technician license, and be active on simplex and their local repeaters.
3) You need more gas. I need more gas. I keep two 5 gallon NATO jerry cans USUALLY full. When I fill up our truck I will fill them up also, then have gotten into the bad habit of using that gas and not filling them up immediately. Bad mistake. I had to make a run, after the pandemonium, to a gas station with power. Not smart. This was a failure on my part. Never again will I be without gas on hand for my generator. Also adding two more jerry cans. Keep oil on hand too for your generator and the oil changed. Luckily I done so very recently.
4) Luckily for us the weather is quite pleasant, so our small generator need only run our fridge, freezer, etc. But we are heavily reliant on gas for our cooking and water. Should the gas lines be down (if they need repair) these service would not work. Need more public gas independent methods of doing this things. I have a small camp stove but with limited propane this isn't great. Adding keeping LP on hand and a camp shower and solar shower option.
5) There are VERY FEW PEOPLE PREPARED. It definitely made me aware of how after a few days without supplies people will be coming FOR YOUR SHIT. There is only a handful of people in my neighborhood with generators. We are being generous and allowing people to charge phones, laptops, etc. But at night, when all the lights were out and there was no cell service, It certainly made me aware that my whirring generator and the smell from my neighbors grill cooking steaks, would be a call for starving and desperate in times of need. Definitely makes one consider the bug in / bug out argument. I don't have a definitive response for that at the moment, just making notice. These leftist idiots sayings stupid shit like "why does anyone NEED an AR15?" Well that's why. Your shit will be at the least harder to take if you are well armed and able to defend against MULTIPLE attackers.
6) Candles Candles Candles. Flashlights are good but you need more candles. Buy a big ass pack of tea lights or a few. Buy a case. You need more than you think. Again flashlights are great, definitely headlamps are VERY helpful.
7) Should this event have happened in the bitter cold of winter we can heat our home with wood, and usually have plenty, had it been the 100 degree summer, this would really suck. A small window AC unit is probably a good investment to at least be able to keep one room comfortable. Buying one.
We now have cell service back, though power is still out. It is not estimated to be back on until very late this evening, thought he lineman working our area said that was itself a very optimistic window.
So far, no loss of life that I know of, which is surprising when you actually see the damage this tornado caused.
Godspeed. Stay prepared. Shit goes crazy in a snap. It's never the thing you see coming that gets you.
An entire swath of the city from basically the southwest toward the river just looks like a bomb went off.
Been without power since the Tornado struck our neighborhood, luckily for my family, our home was spared any significant damage. Though it was one of the scariest things I've ever been through. There is nothing like holding your wife and daughter in a pitch black bathroom while it sounds like a freight train is barreling through your entire world.
With that said we've been running off preps at the moment and I have learned a lot about things.
1) Bad things happen FAST. It was just a "normal afternoon" and lucky for us we were all home, but within the span of hardly anytime we went from tornado sirens, to all in the sheltered part of our home, to what sounded like the world was being torn apart outside, to no power, no cell service, no nothing within minutes. Having plans of how to get in touch or meet up should we have all been separated are non existent really and I need to make one and improve on that.
2)Ham radio was a lifesaver. Literally. Remember cell service went down instantly here. A tower was crumped like a pretzel and no one could call out or in. I was listening and talking on the 2M repeater here in town right before the storm after the warning went off with storm spotters. After the tornado moved on I quickly began checking on neighbors. Ingress and egress to the neighborhood was blocked by downed trees. Within minutes I was able to get a group of hams from close by and their friends and other neighbors with chainsaws to make quick work of cutting and moving them. This allowed for emergency services to get in quickly and rescue an elderly resident from her home who may have been having a heart attack. Without this kind of ability to quickly coordinate, void of grid comms, I don't know if that would have been so efficient. More people need to at the least their Technician license, and be active on simplex and their local repeaters.
3) You need more gas. I need more gas. I keep two 5 gallon NATO jerry cans USUALLY full. When I fill up our truck I will fill them up also, then have gotten into the bad habit of using that gas and not filling them up immediately. Bad mistake. I had to make a run, after the pandemonium, to a gas station with power. Not smart. This was a failure on my part. Never again will I be without gas on hand for my generator. Also adding two more jerry cans. Keep oil on hand too for your generator and the oil changed. Luckily I done so very recently.
4) Luckily for us the weather is quite pleasant, so our small generator need only run our fridge, freezer, etc. But we are heavily reliant on gas for our cooking and water. Should the gas lines be down (if they need repair) these service would not work. Need more public gas independent methods of doing this things. I have a small camp stove but with limited propane this isn't great. Adding keeping LP on hand and a camp shower and solar shower option.
5) There are VERY FEW PEOPLE PREPARED. It definitely made me aware of how after a few days without supplies people will be coming FOR YOUR SHIT. There is only a handful of people in my neighborhood with generators. We are being generous and allowing people to charge phones, laptops, etc. But at night, when all the lights were out and there was no cell service, It certainly made me aware that my whirring generator and the smell from my neighbors grill cooking steaks, would be a call for starving and desperate in times of need. Definitely makes one consider the bug in / bug out argument. I don't have a definitive response for that at the moment, just making notice. These leftist idiots sayings stupid shit like "why does anyone NEED an AR15?" Well that's why. Your shit will be at the least harder to take if you are well armed and able to defend against MULTIPLE attackers.
6) Candles Candles Candles. Flashlights are good but you need more candles. Buy a big ass pack of tea lights or a few. Buy a case. You need more than you think. Again flashlights are great, definitely headlamps are VERY helpful.
7) Should this event have happened in the bitter cold of winter we can heat our home with wood, and usually have plenty, had it been the 100 degree summer, this would really suck. A small window AC unit is probably a good investment to at least be able to keep one room comfortable. Buying one.
We now have cell service back, though power is still out. It is not estimated to be back on until very late this evening, thought he lineman working our area said that was itself a very optimistic window.
So far, no loss of life that I know of, which is surprising when you actually see the damage this tornado caused.
Godspeed. Stay prepared. Shit goes crazy in a snap. It's never the thing you see coming that gets you.
