Conscious Choice: Be Prepared!

January 1999

Be Prepared!

by Edmund J. McDevitt

First, here are some things not to do on or about January 1, 2000. Don’t fly. Don’t travel to Florida, thinking that at least you’ll be warm, unless you have strong relationships there — people, banks, and everything that you have back at home. You might not be able to get back as readily as you want to.

The crux of the crisis occurs in winter. Many gurus are suggesting that you get a portable heating unit. Not a bad idea if you can find one safe to use indoors, one that does not pose a carbon monoxide threat. A recent article from Nexus, an alternative magazine in Boulder, CO, says, "A wood stove is probably the most reliable source of heat, since that was most successfully used before the advent of electric and gas furnaces." The article notes that installation could be "a sizable investment . . .but it could be a lifesaver." I could not disagree more. My recommendation is not to buy a wood stove, though many people are attempting to do so. Where will you get wood to burn? How will you store it in apartments and small houses in the city? Wood stove popularity has diminished hugely over the last several years, so suppliers have had no incentive to keep sources active. Will everyone be going out to the Forest Preserves and rustling firewood? And what will the air be like when (if) everyone within 100 miles of Chicago fires up a wood stove?

Those are examples of ideas that are not thought through. Many people and organizations have, indeed, given rational thought to what to do. Skip Johnson, Vice President of a different Nexus, a Chicago systems consulting firm called Nexus Unlimited, is a prominent Year 2000 expert. He recommends that the prudent person do several things, including these.

Amass proof that you exist. Have hard copies of important documents on hand, including birth certificates, marriage licenses, social security cards, deeds and titles, mortgages, credit card statements, social security eligibility documents, Medicare and Medicaid eligibility documents. Be able to show who you are and prove it.

Store water. Have plenty of purified water on hand. In today’s world each person uses 54 gallons a day. In an emergency you can get along with 1 gallon a day — and that’s just for drinking and cooking. Get purification compounds such as iodine and chlorine; chlorine can come in the form of non-soapy liquid bleach (5.25% sodium hypochlorite). Fill clean 2-liter plastic soft-drink bottles with tap water and put them aside, sealed as tightly as possible.

Provide for heat and light. Again, especially if you are a city person, don’t depend upon wood as a source of heat. If you buy a gas or kerosene heater, be prepared to find a way to vent it properly. Have a supply of candles, flashlights, light sticks. Get a camping stove and cookware (or use your everyday dishes). Lots of batteries are a very good idea, and get them in various sizes that fit your flashlights, your radios, and your other key equipment that can run without being plugged in.

Store food and household goods. The average person consumes 2500 calories per day. You can get along on 1500 if you want to lose weight (possibly the good side of the Year 2000 problem!). Store canned foods that are nutritious. Store vitamins, pasta products (seal them well against vermin), freeze-dried foods, ready-to-eat meals, seasonings. Make sure you have a good quality manual can opener. Store paper towels and paper plates, plastic utensils. Have lots of matches on hand. Use sealable containers for storage and have some extras available.

Plan for communications. Have one or more battery-operated AM/FM radios ready for use. If you can get them and can operate them, have a short-wave radio and some walkie-talkies in your storehouse. Again: lots of batteries. Remember that you won’t be able to charge up your cell phone except in your car, and then only if you haven’t run out of gas and your car battery hasn’t gone dead.

Get some hand tools and repair items. Even if you are all thumbs, make sure you have a saw, a hammer, nails, pliers, a crowbar, a hatchet, axes, screw drivers, a hand drill. If you can afford it, have a small and a large adjustable wrench and a couple of vice-grips in the collection also. Make sure you have sewing supplies.

Put together a library. Get a first aid/medical emergency book. Accumulate "How To" references. Locate all the instruction manuals for the devices in your house, if you can.

Stock up on necessities. Have a three-month supply or more of your vital prescriptions filled and on hand. Be careful of products that have a short shelf life, such as insulin. Have a three-month supply of other medicines in the cabinet as well.

Cash. If possible, have three to six months of cash available, or as much as you can get together. Start accumulating it now. If everyone runs at the bank at the same time late in December 1999, it will close.

Medical Treatment. Develop alternative ways of getting medical treatment and make sure that your disabled or less-abled neighbors have ways of getting their medicines, their medical care, and other necessities.

Become a community activist. First, make sure that you get as much of your immediate community informed about the problem. In the city in particular, people need to know that elevators might not work, that electricity might be off, that their running water might not be available. Fire engines and fire alarm systems may be out of commission. They need to plan for all contingencies and to have alternatives where alternatives are possible.

It is simply foolish to try to beat this thing alone, though some will try it. Get your street, your neighborhood, your subdivision, together for meetings to make everyone aware. Then develop an action plan. It is amazing what people can come up with together when faced with a crisis.

Plan on a crisis. If it doesn’t happen, at the very least you’ll have a bunch of new friends, and a much closer community — not a bad thing in these parlous times.

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