When New Orleans flooded, nobody was ready, not even the
local National Guard. When Hurricane Sandy hit NY and NJ, some were ready. For
those who didn’t lose their houses, many lost power and running water. But the
ones who survived the power outages were the ones who said “fine, I’ll go
without comforts for a few days.” But did they have adequate clothes? Did they
keep a supply of water? Did they have flashlights?
Before I get into details, let me tell you that this book is
not for the “doomsday prepper.” It doesn’t tell you how to fight off hordes of
flesh-eating zombies, or survive a nuclear holocaust; those things are
unlikely. It does tell you how to prepare your home for a natural disaster,
like an earthquake. You can’t make your home 100% earthquake resistant, that’s
impossible. But what you can do is fasten the boiler to the wall, same thing
with the washing machine and the fridge.
Dr. Bradley covers basic things, like water purifiers, which
everyone should have in their home regardless. Then he covers
geographically-specific things, like having a small boat if you live in a flood
zone. If you live 20 feet above sea level and a mile from the shore, a boat
would be unnecessary, but as we saw in Hurricane Sandy, canoes came in handy for
Breezy Point residents. First aid kits, fire extinguishers, and the knowledge
of how to use them, are essentials not matter where you live.
The chapter that I found most relevant was #13, Financial Preparedness,
because this country has seen a million homeowners get hit by surprise since
2007. Bradley covers the most obvious ways to save money; get rid of cable TV,
quit smoking, buy a used car, drink tap water. All of these things can save you
a fortune. If you’re obese, diabetic, and you need 20 medications, maybe this
is the time to cut processed foods? Can you work out without a gym? Can you
bike to work to save on the gas?
Too often, we seek out creature comforts rather than practical
skills. Before you even think of disaster, think of something more likely, such
as a strike. If there’s a truck driver strike, and bread trucks aren’t coming
in, do you know how to make your own bread from flour and yeast? If the
butchers go on strike, can you butcher a hog yourself? Are you willing to keep
chickens in your backyard when eggs aren’t reaching the stores? After the
threat of strikes is over, can you stand to go without electricity? Can you wash
your clothes by hand, and hang them out to dry? Will you and your kids go crazy
without TV or WiFi?
If you want to be secure in your finances, health, family,
and community, read this book. Don’t bother with Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad”
series, which is all quackery and get-rich-quick schemes. Dr. Bradley give
practical advice on saving money, energy, food, space, and your life. Remember
how the subprime foreclosure crisis devastated whole towns? So many people were
unprepared for that, and I bet it’s the biggest disaster we’ve had since the
Great Depression. People lose homes in hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes,
but the foreclosure crisis hit people no matter where they lived.
Let me finish by saying that on 9/11, the first thing I did
was buy a flashlight. I never needed it, until the blackout of 2003, and on
that, do you know what happened to me? The flashlight didn’t work! I had left
the batteries in there for so long that they corroded. On the one night that I
needed it most, I had no flashlight, and the stores were sold out. I never,
ever, made that mistake again.
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