First off, what’s happened in western North Caroline and Eastern Tennessee in the mountains and adjacent areas is horrific. This will not be a quick recovery and fix.
Two interstates (I-40 and I-26) are basically blocked. Between bridges out and roadways washed away, it will take a while to get them open. Having spent a lot of time in the area I can tell you that there is very limited access even when roads aren’t out. Right now, only one road south out of Asheville is open from the latest reports. This means hundreds of thousands of people are essentially isolated.
It’s worse once you get into the smaller communities. Some have been almost wiped out. Many are completely isolated.
I’ve done a number of after-action reviews after disasters and what I’m hearing echoes the same things, except at an exponential level. Here are key things we can take away immediately for those of us who want to be prepared:
Be prepared for extended power outages. Most people have not experienced an outage longer than a day or two. Hurricane Sandy taught us some hard lessons. There are many things people don’t consider during wide spread outages. Here is a free slideshow
Some keys:
Water isn’t pumping. And what water you do get, after flooding, will be contaminated. Filter/boil ALL water even from the tap. Invest in a water filter no matter where you live. I have links to everything I mention HERE on my freebies page if you click on the red box labels Free Apps, Web Page and Survival Gear.
Keep at least two cases of bottled water on hand for each person in your household. It seems odd, but after a flood, drinking water is a priority. Estimate 1 gallon a day per person. Two cases will last 6 days.
Gas isn’t pumping. One blogger said he saw people lined up at gas stations. And saw them still there the next day. They’re going to be there a while. Keep a minimum of a tank of gas in reserve cans and use Sta-bil to insure it stays viable. I rotate my gas every month, working through that reserve into my tank and refilling it and the reserve cans.
Cash is king. Without power and the internet forget about credit cards. Cash.
Water is powerful. I commanded a scout swim team in Special Forces. Before we went to attend the Danish Fromankorpset Combat Swim Course, we did pre-training off the coast of Maine. To teach us the power of water, my team sergeant, who was dive-qualified, had us try to swim against the outgoing tide. It was a strange experience to “fin harder” trying to go in one direction while actually being moved in the other. A few inches of water can wipe you off your feet. A foot of water can take your car away. East TN where I used to live is rocky. The water didn’t soak in. It followed gravity with disastrous results. If you live near water understand how it works. If you live on the coast understand tides. I have all that in a free presentation on Flooding.
Cell phone service was already spotty in the mountains. I have a satellite messenger that I’ve used in the Smokies. Many cell towers are out with out power. So people have no information. Invest in a small, cheap emergency radio. Link on my page.
Here is a presentation I did in 2023 and remains true today on Things We Wish We’d Had BEFORE The Emergency
Stay safe out there and BE PREPARED.
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