How Helpless are we(Americans)?

[AlexKall]

First aid kits available to the general public in the states are really pretty useless Alex. They are full of bandaids, some alcohol or iodine wipes, an eyewash bottle, scissors and waterproof tape and maybe a cold pack. Pretty useless in a real emergency. More than once I have thanked God for the field expedient training the US Army gives.

Oh thats too bad

 

[5.56X45mm]

A few headlines from Hurricane Wilma caught my eye and made me mad enough to ramble about it here on the forum. The whole issue going down in Miami is getting food, ice and water to the victims of the hurricane. The system of distribution is pretty bad and people are mad. Governor Jeb Bush has taken the heat for the slow response in aid, but took a jab at people by saying, "People had ample time to prepare. It isn't that hard to get 72 hours worth of food and water."

You know what, I agree with him. If I ever lived in Florida, I would have at least 2 weeks of water sitting in my house somewhere. Hell, I live in Tennessee and I have a weeks worth of water just incase the power goes out and I need to sustain myself until the juice comes back on. Down in my basement, I have a propane camping stove and lantern with a few cans of fuel. I do not know about you, but my pantry could easily feed me for 2 weeks. I may not like eating plain pasta or 10 cans of beans, but you do what you have to do to survive. With everything in my house, I will be able to live on my own (quite comfortably too) without crying for government aid for 2 or more weeks. AND the cost of this self sustainment is at the most $200.

How am I suppose to have compassion for those in Florida who could have helped themselves but decided not to? Somebody is going to call me an :cen: hole for saying this, but bear with me. Has our society become so weak that we Americans cannot even take care of ourselves for 2 days in an emergency? Common Sense is becoming such a rare thing. You live in florida and you will get hurricanes, PLAN FOR IT! There was a guy in New Orleans who refused to leave because he had saved up over 3 months worth of food, water and cleaning supplies because of the threat of hurricanes. He is the example for the rest of us to follow. It is better to help your self than to plan poorly and expect others to pick up the slack. I firmly believe that true freedom, liberty and the persuit of happyness lies in ones self and not the government.

Doody

I live in Miami, I just got my internet and power back. And nothing major happened. The water was drinkable from day one. The Mayor of Dade County told the folkson live TV, and I qoute. "Why are you standing in line, if you need water. TURN ON YOUR TAP! The water is drinkable. We are not on a boiled water alert."

People are idiots and morons. There was no gas shortage, no shortage of food and water. And no chaos. I'ved lived trhough more hurricanes than I can remember. And the samething happens all the time. People don't prepare. You get something like a week notice that the storm is coming. You don't have to buy water, you can get some jugs at walmart for $.99 and fill them up at your house for free. You can go to Publix and get canned soup for $.99 each. You can go to home depot and get a 10 gallon jerry can and fill it up with gas. And You can freeze old one gallon milk jugs filled with water.

Did I have a generator. Nope, but I don't need one. I eat all the food that will go bad before the storm. And I cn live without AC and Cable TV. What do I do for light, I have some Maglite brand flashlights, two battery powered colamn lanterns. And one propane coleman lantern. I also have a small mess kit that I picked up at the local army navy store for five bucks and a small propane powered stove that I got at K-Mart for $20.

If you think that it's the government's job to save your ass. You're a idiot. Prepapre for the storm, ride it out. And than go back to your normal life. And if the storm is that BAD. Get out of town. A bus ticket to New York City is $50. And a tri-rail ticket to Palm Beach County Florida is $5. Broward County got hit hard. But that's because they haven't been hit by a major hurricane in something like fifty years. Miami Dade County gets hit with them every year. The building codes are different in both counties. Miami-Dade lived through the worse of Hurricane Andrew. Broward got a rain shower.