Have you ever been in an Emergency situation?

[eddiec]

I have been a medic for the past decade, so emergencies just come with the territory. We did, however, have two(f2 and an f3) tornadoes rip through Springfield last year in March. A good chunk of town was destroyed, and we were without power for a couple of days. It was amazing how the town rallied around those who were unfortunate enough to be in the damage path. It's pretty sad, if you think about it, that it takes something like that to kill the apathy, and make people start caring....

[eddiec]

Oh, we also had a blizzard and an ice storm this year!!! Sorry folks...

[nell67]

3 years ago we got 36" of snow over night,we went to bed prying the electric would not go out as that wa the only heat we had,about 2:30 in the morning we woke up to someone beating the heck out of front door,we got up wondering who on earth would be out at that time of night in THAT kind of weather, it was 2 very drunk men,who had driven their SUV off the road because they could not distinguish where the road was,anyway we bedded them down on our floor with pillows from the couch and our dd brought her big comforter in for them to use,they were frozen half to death,but they didnt even realize it until they started to sober up ,they said they were not drunk when they started walking but it had taken them over an hour to walk less than 1/4 mile and they had loaded thier coveralls down with beer and other spirits ,I guess that was the only reason they kept going as they Thought they were warm because of the alcohol. We didnt have a clue who they were,we just knew we could not send them away in that weather,they stayed for 2 days until a farmer cleared a single lane on our road and they were able to walk a mile to the main road where a police with 4wd was waiting to pick them up.

[Sarge47]

I survived Hurricane Katrina.

Later, I researched on the Internet a homemade 12-volt generator made from a lawnmower motor, a car alternator, and on a heavy wood frame. If this happens again, guess who's building it from the 5 HP Weed Eater lawn mower, a couple of pulleys, and the spare car alternator kept in storage for a just in case event?

Yo Bowcatz, so how can we find out how to make that same generator you're talking about?????

[wareagle69]

i was in a little town in northern ontario when a sizable snowstorm hit,now the provicial gornment and hydro one had stoped cutting tree limbs in algoquin park so every time the wind blew it took out more power lines, not to make light of anyones situation ever but for me a week without power wae fun we had plenty of food wood for the stove and great snowshoeing these folks in this town are used to this happening every winter so for them its buisness a usual we did not have to deal with looters or the likes, bowcat you are an inspiration. the only thing i would add to your list would be a few hundred dollars in cash small bills preferably


always be prepared

[lumpy]

I had just spent an hour writing a long post on a canoe trip that turned into a survival situation.It wouldn't post,and I lost it.I'll now give a brief summary and try to post again.
Myself and two others went on a 3 day,2 night canoe trip shortly after H.S.graduation.There were 6 mistakes that were made that cumulatively nearly cost us our lives.
Mistake#1We didn't bring near enough food.
#2Flashlights were inferior and not waterproof.
#3We didn't make it to our first checkpoint,had to set up camp after
dark.
#4Didn't have our sleeping gear protected.Sleeping bags became
waterlogged.
#5Didn't bring tents or any form of shelter.
#6Didn't bring any cold weather clothing or rain gear.

[Sarge47]

I had just spent an hour writing a long post on a canoe trip that turned into a survival situation.It wouldn't post,and I lost it.I'll now give a brief summary and try to post again.
Myself and two others went on a 3 day,2 night canoe trip shortly after H.S.graduation.There were 6 mistakes that were made that cumulatively nearly cost us our lives.
Mistake#1We didn't bring near enough food.
#2Flashlights were inferior and not waterproof.
#3We didn't make it to our first checkpoint,had to set up camp after
dark.
#4Didn't have our sleeping gear protected.Sleeping bags became
waterlogged.
#5Didn't bring tents or any form of shelter.
#6Didn't bring any cold weather clothing or rain gear.

Interesting, where was this at? We got two guys in canada going into the Norther wilds up there with just there knives.

[lumpy]

sarge47,I assume that these two guys you mentioned know what they are doing.The three of us had just gotten out of H.S.We weren't survivalists or even boy scouts.We were just three kids looking for a good time.We were unaware of how serious our lack of preparation would become.Fortunately,we did survive, so it didn't become a news event, like the ones we read about in the newspapers.

[FVR]

Lumpy, that's funny.

After HS, a hunting buddy and I did the same thing. Only, we knew a little of what we were getting into. It was a 4 day trip down the Delaware River. Drove way north, got dropped off and started paddling.

We took our bags in big plastic bags. Took plenty of food, water, and yes, beer. Back then the drinking age was 18.

Shot a few wingdams and the rapids at Trenton. Trenton has a way of breaking conoes. We were in my folbot, wooden frame covered with a thick vinyl. Just bounced right off the rocks.

Now, we almost lost it in Dec. on the Delaware hunting ducks. Had to dodge ice burgs floating down the river.

We were young and stupid.

[Sarge47]

sarge47,I assume that these two guys you mentioned know what they are doing.The three of us had just gotten out of H.S.We weren't survivalists or even boy scouts.We were just three kids looking for a good time.We were unaware of how serious our lack of preparation would become.Fortunately,we did survive, so it didn't become a news event, like the ones we read about in the newspapers.

As for the 2 guys knowing what they're doing......we'll see.

[lumpy]

Fvr,it's comforting to know that there are others out there who were young and stupid.
I have also done a winter canoe trip.Looking back,it was pretty dumb also.

[trax]

Fvr,it's comforting to know that there are others out there who were young and stupid.
I have also done a winter canoe trip.Looking back,it was pretty dumb also.

wasn't the water kind of...hard?

[FVR]

Water was very hard, had to dodge giant ice boulders.

We would paddle in and set up. By late morning the water around us would freeze and we would have to take a paddle and break the ice in front of the boat to get to the decoys.

Easy to find the downed birds, they would hit the ice and just lay there.

We were so stupid, we did not even have life preservers. We wore our tents. My tent was a coat from Siberia. It had a 3/4" thick wool liner and a waterproof canvas outer layer. I could have been nekked under my coat in 0 degree weather and still be comfortably warm.

Ahhhh, memories.

[Fog_Harbor]

I've been through two hurricanes, two tornadoes, and an earthquake or two (just call me 'lucky'), but through all that, The closest I've been to an in-home emergency was the blizzard of '77, but even then with the lights out for two or three days, and no way to get anywhere, we seemed to stay warm, safe and well fed.

[lumpy]

Fog Harbor,I remember the blizzard of '77.I didn't have to go to school for the whole month of January'78.Where were you living at the time?