When I say "apocalypse", please don't misunderstand. I actually meant any kind of destructive force,whether it's man-made or made by the wrath of Mother Nature. If one day, a nuclear holocaust or a super typhoon almost successfully destroy your home town or city, then you will need to do everything you can to survive. If you happen to live near an area where buildings and establishments are dependent on computers and all sorts of high-tech communications equipment, then consider yourself lucky. If you and your group are low on food and water, building your own communications center is a must. You can gather parts and put them together until you've successfully built a radio control device and you can call for help. However, what about those who live in the rural areas? Where exactly do you find such parts?
Actually, this isn't much of an issue anymore. Most data centers and communication centers nowadays
prefer to build their presence in the rural areas. They know for a fact that competition is strong enough in the urban scene, so they usually build and establish their businesses in places (Read more....)
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Weather experts had predicted for decades that New Orleans, Louisiana, was in danger of catastrophic damage and devastation if the city received a direct hit by a large hurricane. Unfortunately, on August 29, 2005, the worst-case scenario that experts had foretold unfolded when Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a strong Category 3 storm and passed just east of the city of New Orleans. The storm left a trail of destruction that is unrivaled in modern times. The damage caused by Katrina can be broken down into several categories.
Lost Work and Productivity
Lost work and productivity are some of the hardest aspects of storm damage to accurately quantify. The fact that many jobs are provided by small businesses and self-employment makes collecting a complete data set difficult. However, the Department of Labor estimates that 230,000 jobs were permanently lost due to Hurricane Katrina.
Lives Lost
Hurricane Katrina’s most tragic statistic is the final total of 1,836 lives lost during and immediately after the storm. Nearly 1,600 were (Read more....)
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Most people will tell you that both flood and earthquake disasters are extremely rare today. Even if this is true, the most recent disasters that have occurred in both the United States and beyond have been extremely devastating both emotionally and financially. If you didn’t have insurance and your house ended up in the middle of a natural disaster, how would you pay for it? Do you think that you would have enough money to potentially rebuild your entire house from scratch? Will homeowners insurance alone be enough to cover you? These are questions that everyone should be able to answer accordingly.
To answer one of the questions asked above, most homeowners insurance will not cover earthquake or flood damage. If a natural disaster occurs in a large enough area, assistance is normally provided through loans or grants by the government. This area will then be classified as a disaster area by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). If this type of scenario concerns you at all, the first thing that should be done is to go over your current insurance plan with your provider to find out what is and what isn’t covered. If you live in an area that is prone to either floods (Read more....)
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Nine out of ten people we've met who expressed an interest in being a survivalist or prepper, frankly, did not know their own mind. Like at the poker table, to win you must either be all in, or don't bother playing. You can't get to home plate if you keep one foot on third base.
Often the problem comes in not with someone's own head, but with the heads of people they are attached to – wives, children, mothers, fathers, pets, friends, bosses, mild acquaintances. We could recount endlessly the amount of times we met people who were conflicted by others, who vainly labored at – or sought others to labor at – convincing their son, daughter, dog, cat, minster, rabbi, imam, boss, wife, husband that they should join in the bug-out.
Truth is, everyone of the aforementioned entities has a strong vested interest in keeping you in the system. It is like asking a butcher if it's good to eat meat. If you discuss with people your desire to drop out of society – those entrenched in society, even those (Read more....)
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For some of you this is going to be critical – those of you who are JIC's (“just in case-ers”) or those of you who plan on bugging-out at the last moment rather than living permanently in your survival location.
I know some of you will be reading this expecting to see things like how to use a condom as a canteen and what to do with a magnifying glass and mirror if you find yourself in the desert. Those are good things to have if you have nothing else, but – the survivalist life style is one of being prepared, not playing catch up with substandard tools or equipment.
A bug out pack is not something you should plan on living from for an extended period of time. It should be relied upon to help you through the time it takes you to get from your “in-the-world” situation to your survival location.
Many survivalist writers like the U.S. Army “Alice pack” type back pack. It is large enough to carry an entrenching tool, a gas mask, a sleeping bag, a medical kit, 200 rounds of ammo, a poncho (sometimes called a “shelter half” – great for using as a shelter), a rifle cleaning kit, a compass, food, two canteens, web gear and much more.
Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 60 to 70 lbs. All good things to have, but unless you are or (Read more....)
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Disaster preparedness is something that all families should talk about regularly. Whether the threat is fire, flood, invasion by an enemy force or any other kind of disaster, being prepared can save the lives of your family members. It also helps to reduce fear and panic when something does happen, enabling your family to respond with intelligence and efficiency.
Preparing Your Children
Disasters can be particularly traumatic for children, many of whom are already beginning to feel that much of the world is outside of their control. When disaster strikes, and it becomes clear that parents cannot always prevent things like fires, floods and earthquakes from affecting the family, they can become especially vulnerable.
That is why it’s particularly important to talk with your children about the possibility of a disaster. Explain to them that a disaster may cause damage or even hurt people. Talk to them about what might happen during an emergency, such as phone and electrical service being shut off. Also, make certain they are aware that emergency personnel are working to help them at all times during a disaster. Help them to understand that firefighters, paramedics and police are (Read more....)
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People have become dependant on data. Some people can’t imagine living without it. Most consumers store photos, school reports and games on their hard drive. Businesses use data to manage their inventory, understand their audience and they keep records of business dealings. Data is a major commodity that has gone from useful to essential. While data is usually safe and secure, there are times when it can be threatened. What happens to your data when there is a natural disaster? It really depends on the disaster and the type of hardware you are using.
Fire
Fire can occur almost anywhere. Most homes and buildings have something flammable, and fire can spread very quickly once it has started. While a computer or server can take a good amount of heat, fire will quickly render the hard drive or device unusable. Your computer might be nothing more than black char by the time the fire is put out.
If this is the case, then your data will be lost. While you might be able to extract some data if the fire wasn’t that bad, it is common for all the data to be (Read more....)
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If you have a bug-out location anywhere preferable, you are most likely entirely too far from the external world to pick up on 3G or T3 internet service. The only option in this idyllic location, is a satellite internet connection. This is at least simple to install and maintain. The downside is the very limited bandwidth this connection is capable of carrying. Let's discuss how to keep your bandwidth to a minimum.
1.Flash Block add-on will stop all flash media, youtube videos, banner adds, etc., from loading on a web page without your permission. These flash files eat up bandwidth and slow the page loading down. A blue .swf icon appears in place of the unloaded flash content and you can click on the flash media that you do want to see. The (Read more....)
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