Thinking About the Unexpected

In this post, I want to ruminate around the topic of being prepared for the unexpected.  Just recently, many people in the East Coast, and New York area experienced what it means to not be prepared, and/or to have ignored warnings.  For many of them, their lives have been decimated.  (The definition of, "decimated," actually has to do with having an affect on every tenth one, however, if statistics are ever compiled on the tropical storm, Sandy's, devastating effect it might come out to that.) 

For me, it was very weird to look at pictures of the area after the storm had moved on, and see a large number of people in New York City carrying on as usual, being tourists, socializing, etc., while there were others, in the same area, whose lives had come to a screeching halt, and still not to have recovered.  Elsewhere, currently, the West Coast has been experiencing a deluge of rain, causing major flooding in many areas. That major storm seems now to be heading East.  Having once lived in that West Coast area, and experiencing what that flooding was like, I feel for them, as well as for those in the East.

Unfortunately, despite all the official denials as to the possibility of an increase in such weather-related hazards in the near future, it seems to me that anyone who does not consider the possibility that their normal lives could be disrupted at any time, proverbially, have their heads in the sand.  Those who have equipped themselves with some essential supplies and have basic living skills are much better prepared to survive such devastating eventualities than those who have invested everything in nothing changing. 

Looking at the pictures of New York and the East Coast, of the Police trying to get people who were out in the streets just before the storm's force hit, to get inside, was mind boggling.  And, again, in the aftermath, pictures of women, among many others, in spike heels walking across Brooklyn Bridge to go to work, because there was no transportation, indicates how ill-prepared most modern humans are for any sudden change affecting their lives.

There are now many individuals, being called in derision, "Preppers," who have been making some effort to be prepared for whatever might cause our lives to not proceed as normal, by having supplies on hand, etc., just in case.  Having been born and lived many years in Minnesota, and survived those Winters when tires would freeze flat, and such, I find it hard to believe the number of people who get in their cars and drive around in blizzard conditions without coats, or any other basic equipment.  Ditto, those in other areas near water who crowd onto smaller boats, way beyond its capacity, without, apparently, a thought as to their own welfare.

Another recent, to me bizarre, situation was that there were so many people wanting to climb, I think it was, Mt. Everest, a few months ago, that the smaller groups had to wait in line to climb, with the result that a number missed the weather window to climb and lost their lives.

When the unexpected strikes, and no one can help you, because most are experiencing the same difficulties one has only oneself to depend on in the struggle to survive.  As is the current situation on the East Coast, in the devastated areas, so to the situation, in recent years, for those who live in Tornado zones, just how vulnerable we are is exposed for all to see.  In many of these cases, there is little one can do to prepare, other than to move somewhere else.  After the fact, sadly, frequently one can only try to cut their losses.

For those whose lives were recently devastated on the East Coast, as they were in the New Orleans Katrina Hurricane, lives have been rent asunder never to be the same again.  It seems to be only prudent to seek some wisdom from those kinds of events, and to give some thought to the possibility of the unexpected happening to one's own life, even if one does not live in obviously, sometimes precarious places, such as the slopes of a Volcano,  Tornado Alley, or Earthquake Rift Zones as do so many.  

One example of the unexpected possibly happening, is that most have an absolute dependence on electricity to be available, and are not prepared even for it to be disrupted for hours, as it was here recently, because a transformer burned out and had to be replaced. All of us are susceptible to having the aging electric grid go down.  Another such example, was, here in New Mexico, where there is little apparent danger to our lives, when a couple of years ago, we experienced the effect of an under-30-degree-below-0 freeze which caused major disruptions across the State for a large number of individuals, businesses and Governmental Agencies, brought about by frozen/broken, exposed pipes and the gas having to be turned off and back on again.

More and more of us, in the modern world, live in households consisting of only one adult member having responsibility.  This, unpreparedness problem, also applies, however, to those who are members of larger family and neighborhood groups.  To me, giving some thought to basic preparedness seems the rational thing to do, and not next month; now.

With that idea, I end this blog.

Shirley Gallup