Emergency Preparation | Real Life Experience from Hurricane Helene
NATURE OBSERVATION
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For a few years now, I've thought quite a bit about modern humanity's complete dependence upon these massive centralized systems that can very easily break at any given moment.
Our food system, water system, electricity, internet, cell service, all of it just bam, crash at any moment.
During Hurricane Helene, I saw all of those systems break down (excluding food) and they haven't even all come back online almost a month later here in Western North Carolina.
Cell service was super spotty for maybe the first two weeks - I can't remember when it came back. On the day of the hurricane I had to call 911, because I smelled a terrifying amount of natural gas. It was the most scared I was throughout the whole ordeal. It took me 4 tries before I was able to get a hold of anyone. The line was completely dead the first two times I called.
Thankfully the gas smell went away on its own. We realized later that it was likely the propane tanks we saw floating down the river.
As for running water, today is October 23rd, and Helene hit on September 27th. My running water was restored after 17 days without, but it's still very brown and while some people are using it in their homes, I've personally decided not to do so.
According to the county, 80% of Asheville gets their water from the same reservoir, and although it's not a massive city, I just checked the population and it's at just under 100,000 people. That's a lot of people who don't have clean running water almost a month after the hurricane hit.
As for electricity, thankfully I got mine back after 9 days without, but there are still people who don't have their electricity restored yet.
And my internet was out until a couple of days ago, because the infrastructure was so badly damaged. Some people still don't have any internet in their homes.
We have this belief that because these massive centralized systems have always worked for us, that they're solid and strong and that they'll continue working for us, but it's simply not true. They're actually extremely fragile, as I have witnessed, but most people don't recognize that, so they don't have any alternative way of supporting themselves if and when they systems break down.
So many people don't have any idea how to survive without these systems. And that's pretty scary when you think about it. Thankfully here, enough people had water and electricity that they shared, to keep things from getting desperate. We also had tons of supplies and support coming in from around the country and even Canada.
I personally was very prepared for this, but I've learned that there were quite a few gaps in my preparation, and I'm now working to fill those gaps.
Hopefully you're either prepared, or you're now inspired to begin preparing yourself for an emergency. I'm not a prepping pro, at all, I'm just going to tell you how I prepared and what I wish I'd prepared based on my personal experience with Hurricane Helene.
First and most important is drinking water. I actually just got my drinking water situation dialed in earlier this year and I'm so grateful that I did. I had 57 gallons of drinking water stored in my house for me and Maggie when this began, and because I don't know how long this will go on, I've also been buying and also utilizing the free potable water available to us, as I've been drinking through my stash. I use waterbricks as my backup water storage, because they're stackable, or you can slide them easily under the couch.
Medication - I am not personally on any medication, but little Maggie has two life sustaining meds that she takes twice a day. I had a 60 day supply on hand at the start of this.
Next up is food. I didn't go into my food storage at all during this, because I had enough in the house, and eventually I was able to get to the grocery store for fresh food, but I have dried rice and beans and cans of fish for me and dehydrated raw kibble for Maggie. I actually did need to tap into her emergency food, so I was glad I had it there. I use these air tight bags and buckets and oxygen absorbers to prolong the life of my dried food.
You also have to think about how you're going to cook. I have a gas stove and thankfully the gas line was not interrupted through this, so I simply cooked normally, though I needed a lighter to light the stove. I also have a camping stove with backup fuel, and a pot that I can use to cook over fire if needed.
This is more of an investment, but I'm super grateful for my solar powered generator. I didn't have enough sunlight to keep my freezer completely frozen for 9 days, but I lost very little food, while most people either lost, or had to consume all of the food in their refrigerators and freezers.
I wished I had an alternate battery pack with a crank option, just for charging small electronics, so I bought this guy. The solar and crank options basically just keep it from dying completely, so it needs to be fully charged regularly if you want to rely on it for an emergency.
I had just bought myself a bunch of solar flashlights and an emergency radio a couple months prior and I was super grateful I had. If you end up buying any of this stuff, make sure and play with it a bunch before the return window is over, because it's inexpensive, which means it was cheaply made, and unfortunately some things break, but it all worked well while I needed it.
If you don't have a handful of 5 gallon buckets laying around, I suggest you get some. Lids are helpful. I've always been a fan of 5 gallon buckets, but now they hold a very special place in my heart, after this past month. I've used them to hold water for dishes, hand washing and showers, and I've even used them as composting toilets, because without access to water, the flush bucket method was unsustainable.
I recommend baby wipes if you don't have a shower, but even better, if you can get access to enough clean water, a camp shower. And I've had to use a bunch of paper towels, for various cleaning things.
I've also had to use my respirator quite a bit for hurricane cleanup, as things in the flooded areas are very toxic and now moldy.
I didn't need them, but I also have a pretty decent basic first aid kit at my house and I also have some emergency antibiotics and other meds that I ordered from a company called Jase Medical.
The biggest gap I found in my emergency preparation was water for cleaning purposes - for my body, dishes and clothes. I made myself a makeshift water catchment system, but the water coming off the roof ended up being super dirty. I have and have used my berkey water filtration system a lot during this, to filter some of the rain water and also to recycle quite a bit of grey water, but I need a good pre-filtration system, because the berkey filters end up getting pretty clogged.
Another gap was the fact that I didn't have any emergency cash on hand. I used to have cash on hand, but I ended up using it and not replacing it. Thankfully I had everything I needed, but most places were only accepting cash for the first couple of weeks, so I had to wait to buy certain things that I wanted.
The other gap that I had was a go bag. I don't have anything prepared for evacuation. In Colorado, forest fires were such a major issue that I had a list of what I would take if I needed to evacuate and where everything was. I haven't made a new list since moving here and I haven't prepared an emergency go bag. These are now things I'll be working on.
I'm sure there are a million other ways you could prepare for an emergency, but based on my personal experience living through hurricane Helene and her aftermath, this covers everything.
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Hi, I’m Kristen!
I envision a world where you and I rediscover what it is to be human, through connection with ourselves, each other and the natural world around us.