Quote Originally Posted by theGinsue View Post
Use the situation currently going on in the D.C./East Coast area.

A major storm occurs. Are you prepared to be home-bound for an extended stay or will you be trying to brave it through the snow/ice/etc. to get essentials?

The power went out. Do you have anything to keep you warm and/or provide you with light?

The water main broke leaving you without water. Do you have any water stored to give you something to drink or allow basic hygiene cleansing?


Perhaps we should store up a few items "just in case".



Does that help?
I think that's a good approach also. When I lived in Northern VA we saw the mad rush to the stores when ever a storm was coming in or there was a threat of snow. Nothing like CO of course but big for that area. I lived with my sister and we got into keeping a pantry of food items. She cooks a lot and so we had powered milk One storm we couldn't get out of the house for 5 days but we had food.

If you point out the obvious storm/loss of electricity/flood scenario most people could relate.


For the communications, I don't know if big brother can or would shut down cell towers but the problem, IMHO, is overload. If everyone's trying to make a call it will overload the systems (towers, phone lines, data centers)

Back when I used to work for a certain telco, they managed PIN's for emergency responders. People with the pin would have their call placed at the top of the line when dialing a number. While it's important for you to be able to talk to your family the responders are using the call for status reports, coordinate efforts and such (you hope).

I know the GPS satellites are controlled by the military and civilian access can be turned off which is why there was a stink years ago when the Europeans were doing their own version of GPS. US Government can't shut that one down. Maps and a compass baby!

Ham radio's should be fine since they operate on radio waves unless there's a jammer on the frequency. You and the receiver would need power to the equipment but the actually capability would be there.