I'm sure I said this before, but when my community was decimated by Ida, I realized the fragility of the system that keeps us alive.

I hope that my experiences might save you from some misery if you should find yourself in desperate circumstances.

Word to the wise: "prepper food" you buy that lasts 20+ years is pretty much useless if you don't have potable water.
Don't take your tap water for granted: if damage is serious enough that power is COMPLETELY out, most of us have absolutely NO running water.

Most people in hurricane-prone areas are familiar with filling the bathtub(s) before a storm and stocking up on bottled water. We tend to cram as many water containers into our freezers as possible so once frozen, they'll keep food cold for days during a power outage.
And that's one way to have potable water on hand should we lose access.

So, people require about a gallon a day to stay healthy (not including cleaning / toilet). (Yes, you can cut back some, but not too much & not for too long.)
So we are looking at about 7 gallons per week; about 28 - 30 gallons per month.

Per person. This does not include for pets, bathing and pot-scrubbing.

60 gallons for a couple, 120 for a family of 4.
Maybe Pelosi has a freezer that big, but me? Not so much.

You could store it in a swimming pool, sure, but how long does it stay potable?
(pool water is great for flushing toilets & some cleaning jobs, though)

So, back to Ida: The damage from Ida was pretty widespread - 10s of thousands of people were without.

There was no bottled water to be found on nearby store shelves.
We had to drive for 2+ hours in each direction to find any. Imagine if the "drought" involved people for hundreds or even thousands of miles?

Driving that distance had its problems, too, since even the pumps and stations that weren't destroyed lacked electricity to run the pumps. Where gas was available, you waited in line much of the day (even after driving a long distance to find a station in-tact enough to be powered by a generator.) Too often, people who had waited hours were turned away because the station ran out.

The gas situation was complicated by the fact that many, many people run gas-powered generators to run some appliances ('fridge, freezer, fans and maybe small-area air conditioners). We don't bother trying to run a microwave oven; they draw too much power. So while people gas up their vehicles, they bring several "regulation" gas cans to fill, too. Because gas is such a rare, valuable and extensibility used resource, people stock up whenever possible.

Some people have set up whole-house natural gas "generators," but at least here, they're pricy and have drawbacks of their own, I'm told.

Anyway, in this time that prices are skyrocketing and shelves are sometimes empty even now, I suspect that an Ida-type event in the near future would be even worse. Probably substantially.

I STRONGLY suggest looking for alternative ways of getting the resources you need now. Better to have it & not need it than need it and not have it.

I'm exploring some other options and I'll probably write about my misadventures and what I see as pros & cons.

I'd love to hear suggestions from others, too.

I want us to survive. I want us to win.

💖 Knowledge is power, but prayer is might. 💖