CCTA SURVIVAL EXPO

SURVIVAL EXPO

Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association

Saturday, August 10

After Action Report

Each of the speakers at Saturday's SURVIVAL EXPO held by the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA) at Highland Park Christian Church in Trent Woods contributed valuable knowledge to approximately forty five attendees.

Stanley Kite, Director of Craven County Emergency Management kicked things off by explaining what to expect from government and what people need to do for themselves when a hurricane on the magnitude of Floyd, or even something worse, occurs. He noted that natural and manmade events could disrupt infrastructure, water, sewer, and supply lines for quite some time. He also noted that the procedure for getting federal assistance by declaring a "state of emergency" involves the Chairman of our Board of Commissioners, the Governor, and the President of these United States agreeing that there is a state of emergency in Craven County. Stanley observed that it takes a minimum of seventy-two hours to accomplish it, and said he's seen it take as long as ten days.

With these things in mind, Stanley recommended that each household have a minimum of enough cash, prescription drugs, and groceries to last one month. He recommended a water supply of one gallon per person per day be kept on hand, and mentioned that rain barrels can be useful in achieving this. He also explained that a few drops of Clorox in a gallon of water could make it safe to drink. The ability to shelter in place for several weeks without a normally functioning sewer was explained.

If you live on any of the beautiful waterfront properties in our area, Stanley explained that, since storm surges can reach nine to fourteen feet, you need to be very aware of storms with that potential and plan to evacuate. He recommended that you not stop until you're west of I-95. He also recommended that you be sure to have ID that ties you to your home address so that police will let you back into your community when you return home.

One very interesting observation that Stanley made was that homes built in our area in recent years are designed to withstand winds of up to 125 miles per hour. That knowledge can lead to good decisions about whether to stay, or evacuate, when a hurricane is coming.

If you decide to ride out the storm at home and you don't have a generator, it's a good idea to have gallon jugs of water in your freezer. They'll keep your frozen food for a longer period of time, and then be a source of drinking water.

Stanley Kite was full of advice for neighborly cooperation, too. He suggested that if your frozen food does thaw, invite the neighbors to a "community dinner at my house tonight." An alternative might be to ask a neighbor who has a generator and freezer space to let you store some frozen items there. Another suggestion is to take any gas you have stored to a neighbor who has a generator so that they can keep it going longer.

If and when a state of emergency has been declared, Points of Distribution (PODs) will be established in various neighborhoods, and food and water will be brought in (by air if necessary). As noted earlier, this can be a slow process, so self-sufficiency is important.

As sad as it is, Stanley noted that the longer the emergency situation goes on, the more you're apt to be accosted by looters. Desperate people "will take you out" to get food. Unfortunately, you need to be prepared to protect your family and your food.

To know what's going on beyond your neighborhood, Stanley recommends that you have a battery operated radio and batteries. A NOAA weather radio is ideal. In an emergency, you'll get the weather, and you'll also get "civil emergency messages" from the local government giving instructions and information. Stanley also mentioned how valuable ham radio operators can be when there is a problem with other commo methods.

Local fire houses will become communication centers even if the buildings themselves are destroyed by the event that caused the emergency, so if you really need information or help, you can go there.

Larry Herwig spoke next. His topic was "Home & Personal Defense - Fight or Flight." Larry noted that the decision to stay or go varied with the situation and the expected duration and how large an area the emergency covered. He said the longer the expected duration, and the more widespread, the more he would suggest that you stay at home, but he says that you always need to have a back-up plan.

Larry agreed with Stanley Kite's recommendations for hurricane preparedness and other relatively short term emergencies, and therefore didn't spend time on that. Instead he focused on how to prepare for, and what to do in the aftermath of, events such as an electromagnetic pulse caused by solar flares or a high altitude nuclear explosion disabling all computers in a large area.

"It's not a pretty picture," Larry acknowledged. Modern vehicles wouldn't start because their computers would be fried. Banks wouldn't work. Distribution would shut down, and stores would empty out. People would be on their own for an extended period of time, and as Stanley pointed out earlier, desperate people become a danger to you, your loved ones, and the supplies you've stored.

Don't prepare for a scenario like this because it's likely to happen; we all hope it won't. Prepare for it because if an event like this happened, you and your loved ones would be unlikely to survive unprepared.

Larry began by discussing the need to have a generator and how to operate it indoors so that it will not endanger linemen when they come to restore power to the neighborhood. The first step is to turn off the main breaker that shuts off all the electricity coming to your house from the power line. Then plug the generator into the outlet your dryer uses.

Larry suggests that you keep at least five 5-gallon cans of gas (without ethanol) on hand and rotate them every 3 to 6 months. That's for the short term.

Longer term, Larry showed us items that he and his wife have home-canned. They included beef, turkey, rabbit, green beans, and tomatoes. They have also dehydrated food, and Larry said that cases of canned vegetables can be found on the bottom shelves of stores like Dollar General for under fifty cents a can. Larry mentioned the value of having a vegetable garden, keeping chickens, using heirloom seeds, and the like. He pointed out that things can be done "on the cheap" instead of buying the more expensive products available via the internet.

When he got on the subject of how to provide water long term if the public distribution system was out, Larry showed us an ingenious system of two buckets with one fitted into the top of the other. The top one held a cone shaped ceramic filter that cost $29.99 fromcheaperthandirt.com. The filter covered a hole that drained to the bottom bucket. The bottom bucket had a spigot on the side near the base. The buckets were relatively inexpensive ones from Tractors Supply. Larry assured us that this inexpensive system could make water from a well, river, or pond potable.

Larry next talked about how a well could have a hand pump or a solar pump that could continue to operate when other power is not available.

Using propane, wood, charcoal was mentioned for cooking, and Larry showed us a picture of an old fashioned wood stove that would be useful for both cooking and warming the house. Those are a bit pricy, but Larry mentioned that solar ovens are available online for about $200. Solar ovens require "Grandma's" cast iron pans. If you don't have any, Mitchell's Hardware in New Bern carries them.

The final item Larry covered was the need for protection. One suggestion was not to put all your eggs in one basket. In other words, don't keep all your stored supplies of any one category in one place. Have some things at home and others hidden elsewhere but no farther than you can walk or ride a bike while carrying things. That way, if some things are stolen, you won't be wiped out.

To delay entry into your home by marauders, Larry suggests you pre-cut plywood to fit each window. Then if things get rough, you can screw them to the inside of your window frames making it a lot slower work to get in that way. He also recommends "U" shaped devices to enable you to put bars across the inside of your doors. Again, he says it won't keep determined people out, but it will slow them so you can get into position to shoot.

Larry recommends that you have a good line of site from your house in all directions for a reasonable distance. He also recommends a 6 foot fence and booby traps just inside it - not in place now, but devised and ready for use if needed. He also mentioned various weapons and the situations in which they would be the most useful.

Matt Schwob, our next speaker, talked about "Useful Alliances." What Matt has done in his neighborhood is primarily directed at the aftermath of hurricanes, but could be useful in any other emergency.

Matt has found which neighbors are elderly and might need help and which neighbors are able and willing to offer help by going door to door. He has developed a list of the helpers that includes names, addresses, phone numbers, what water supplies they have available (city only, personal well, etc.), whether they own a truck and what kind it is, what tools they have (chain saw, crowbar, generator, ladder, etc.), and what skills they have (M.D.s, RNs, LPNs, contractors, strong and fit, etc.). In order to protect the security of the people on the list, the list is only shared with people who are on it.

Matt said that his neighborhood is served by two different electric companies, and during hurricane Irene, half the neighborhood had power, and half didn't. The people in the neighborhood who had power and owned a generator loaned them to the people whose power was out who didn't have one.

Matt also reported that a lot of trees came down during Irene, and said he was amazed at how fast they were cut up and things were tidied up.

Matt suggested that many neighborhoods could benefit from organizing in a similar way.

Mark Jones spoke about "Goods to Barter." He grouped items that are likely to be useful in bartering into basic and luxury items, and pointed out that in the most dire circumstances basic items are likely to be the most in demand.

Basic items for barter that Mark mentioned included water, water bottles, and water purifiers. He also mentioned all sorts of food including fresh, canned, MREs, flour, sugar, etc. Medicines like pain killers and antibiotics were on the list. So were cleaning supplies like laundry detergent and bleach, and Mark noted that bleach can be used for water purification, too.

Mark continued with additional items needed in some circumstances like matches, other fire starting devices, candles, blankets, and sleeping bags. He also mentioned firearms and ammunition.

Mark put alcohol, gold, silver, and cigarettes in the luxury category, and he said that one can find many more good suggestions and information by going to survivallife.com.

Don Murdoch abbreviated his talk on "Food and Water" because the subject had made its way into several other presentations, but he did mention 3 online sources he finds to be good. They aremypatriotsupply.com, efoodsdirect.com, and foodinsurance.com.

Don told us there is a cooking stove available that can use charcoal, wood, or propane.

Don also said that an additive called PRIG will keep gas usable for 2 to 3 years. He added first aid supplies, vitamins, and pest control items to the list of what's needed in an emergency, and said that those gadgets that suck the air out of bags in which food is stored will extend the life of rice and dried beans.

Brad Cummings spoke about "Financial Preparedness and Investments." Brad began by saying, "Never invest in things you do not understand." He suggested that every investor should write that out 3 times before making any investment. He said that if you are not an expert at antiques, collectibles, stamps, coins, and the like, DO NOT invest in them.

Brad's next advice was, "Avoid interest rate sensitive investments in an inflationary environment."

Brad then suggested that stocks that are less sensitive to economic upheaval include supermarket chains, manufacturers of toilet paper (add that to the items needed in an emergency list), chains that carry home repair supplies, stocks with a high dividend yield, preferred stocks, and precious metals stocks.

Brad discussed information that can be obtained from the library in publications like "Barrons" and "Value Line," how to figure yields, and things to take into consideration when considering preferred stocks (like whether they pay a fixed dividend, and whether they have a "call" or "conversion" feature).

Brad, a retired mining engineer, followed his own advice about investing in what you know and gave precious metals stocks a lot of his attention. Advice he gave included diversifying by buying stock in no less than 3 different mining companies, sticking to US and Canadian companies, and buying only companies that at least 50% of whose mines are in safe countries (not politically volatile, and not having a history of nationalizing businesses). He also said to consider both the growth potential and the size of dividends, and said to compare "proven and probable" ore reserves of a company you're considering to other possible choices.

Brad mentioned several mining stocks he likes, and finished by mentioning various gold and silver coins and how they might be useful.

Each presenter was introduced by the EXPO Chairman, Hal James. There was a break in the middle to enjoy refreshments and view displays of items being discussed by the speakers.   Hal ended the event by thanking the presenters and those who had worked on the EXPO Committee and introducing our CCTA Chairman, Rick Hopkins, who invited those who weren't members already to join CCTA.

Info provided by Raynor James, CCTA PR Chair