January 8, 2025
Day 1,195 of the Adventure
I'm watching the news today and see wildfires in the west dominating the conversation on the weather channel. This comes on the heels of a blizzard and ice event across the mid-west earlier this week and devastating floods a couple months ago out east. None of it apocalyptic other than to those experiencing it. Just the same though, to those in the path of these disasters, don't try to tell them it's not that big of a deal. When disaster strikes, it feels very personal.
As we prepared for freezing rain, ice sub-zero cold earlier this week, I sounded a warning that the combination of likely power outages and cold was a potential recipe for a life and death situation. Obviously, I do not have the mouthpiece to warn anyone but a very small circle of followers. None of which really ended up being in the path of severe weather as the track shifted about 150 miles to the north of us. While it all unfolded, there were people trapped in their cars on icy roads. Trapped in collisions. Trapped in their homes with no electricity and no heat. I even noticed that one day into the storm there had been several people in Missouri and Kansas who had lost their lives due to the event.
What does this mean? Well, to begin with. there's never been a time when catastrophic weather events were not present somewhere. Secondly, there's never been a time when each of us would not be subject to some kind of weather event. Whether it be small like a short-term power outage, or large like a massive hurricane making landfall. My father-in-law lived in tornado alley in Iowa. The claim around town was that because of a local river system that flowed through town from the west, tornadoes could not develop or maintain themselves through the unique terrain. That theory held up for decades...... Right up until Memorial Day Sunday of 2008. On that day, we received a call from him declaring that an F5 tornado had just plowed through town completely removing a large portion of it from the face of the planet.
How does one prepare for these catastrophes? I suppose there's no way possible to be prepared for every possible scenario. The best we can do is prepare for the things we know are common to our region. For us here in SW Missouri, we know a few things. Winter ice storms are very common, and tornados are common enough to consider a real threat. Both of these are what drives our "Practical Emergency Preparedness" activities. The ice itself is not the problem, it's the cause of the problems, namely power outages. Our electrical supply is a redundancy of sources including solar with battery storage, grid and a pair of generators. Heat sources include those run by electricity and the main one requiring no power source at all. As far as storm protection, we are without any for the moment and are relying on probability and statistics of dodging tornadoes for now. We are, however, in the process of building a reinforced storm shelter in a basement corner of the house we are currently building. So perhaps by the upcoming storm season we'll even be ready for that.
My point, I suppose, is that each of us can identify the major 2 or 3 threat levels we should be aware of and prepare for. Make it an on-going plan to become as prepared as possible for these. Like my father-in-law used to say. "It can't happen here"........ Up until it did.
Adventure Quote: “Tomorrow’s unknown crisis is not something to avoid in fear. It requires our attention and deliberation. We just need to have the courage to face the truth of our future’s uncertainty. We just need to be prepared.” ― Christopher Manske
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