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Remember Y2K?


JavaJane
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Had a flashback to our Y2K preparations in twi this weekend. Our neighbors belong to a group called IHOP (International House of Prayer). They approached me about a week ago with a pamphlet about emergency preparedness talking about how experts are expecting a HUGE earthquake in the Midwest and we all need to be prepared because we will be overrun by refugees. And then it escalated into the "nuc-u-lar" disaster that could be caused by said earthquakes.

This weekend they were gathering 50 gallon plastic drums for water storage. 2 for each person in the house (they live in community homes around this area near their headquarters - at this particular house it's a minister, his wife, and between 4-6 single women.). It's a lot of water barrels... Anyway, one of the girls keeps trying to witness to me (little does she know my Catholic-Neopagan leanings) - this week her message was about the end of the world.

So, my question is... Am I just freaked out because of the similarity to twi's Y2K prep, or does this sound potentially dangerous to anyone else?

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It sounds a bit extreme, but there's nothing wrong with emergency preparedness. Heck, Mormons stock a year's food away. More power to them. If they fill those water drums, though, I hope they add a little sterilant (like bleach or iodine). Otherwise, they may wind up with hundreds of gallons of bacteria-filled water!

George

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The basis of all this hysteria is the New Madrid fault, running near St. Louis. They've been predicting an earthquake along it since the early 90s.

The last major earthquake was in the 1800s and was so strong it caused the Mississippi to flow backward. It also rang church bells in New England.

For more info:

Wikipedia-New Madrid Zone

Wikipedia-New Madrid Earthquake-1812

Is the New Madrid Coming to Life

SoCrates

Edited by So_crates
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Not knowing the level of paranoia they exhibit - short answer - "no". Not dangerous at all, well advised actually.

People should make whatever catastrophe preparations make sense for their own situations and risk enviornment. Flooding, tornadoes, earthquakes, wuddever. Natural events, weather, etc. can cause disruptions to service and lifestyle anyway - just crank it up a notch.

A lot of people jump hot on somethig like this because of a serious event and then go lax once the immediate distress is over, or off their TV's, whichever comes first. It's amazing to me how people don't even have a contact plan in place for their families should something occur that would require they make contact immediately. Or if they can't how they will meet or be in touch - where to go, etc.

There's heightened interest these last few years in "The Return", apocalypse, "the End" - etc. Some people do feel that they End is near.

If anyone's sure that the World is Ending Soon and would like to leave their home, car or other stuff with someone who would take good care of it can contact me directly at "seeya_socks_gottago_heresmystuff!@NoMoGo.com

And don't rely on the Mormon's example or let the Way's Y2K plan stiff you on having a plan in place in case Chicago becomes the new East Coast or something- a lot of people see them with a bias and figure they're nuts anyway so why follow suit? :)

Learn from the Boy Scout, grasshopper. Be prepared. :)

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Ok. SoCrates, you freaked me out... We need to move. Not that far, just to the next town over because if there is a disaster like that this group is likely to close ranks and possibly blame those outside their group. And in this neighborhood it would be us.

I'm all for being prepared - having extra food and water and knowing how to survive if something bad happens. We have quite a bit of extra food and water around ourselves.

Now if they go out and tell us they bought guns I'm out of here. (Not that guns are bad - I just don't want to live next door to a paranoid member of an end of days cult who has some extra laying around.)

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Heck, Mormons stock a year's food away. More power to them. George

And don't rely on the Mormon's example

The thing that always bothered me about having a year's supply of food on hand is this:

Should something happen, you'd be surrounded by starving people, some of them with guns.

So what's to stop them from, uh, commendeering your food?

JavaJane, my intention wasn't to freak you out. I just thought knowledge was power. The truth will set you free.

SoCrates

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For me Y2K preparation in TWI was just one more reason to leave and move back home. I remember discussing with my husband--if Y2K was real, then why not move back to NW Montana? I am related to Mountain Folk--they already hunt for meat, forage for berries etc, own guns, ammo, hunting dogs out the yazoo, heat with harvested wood, bow hunt, have that 'barn raising' help out the buddy mentality and lifestyle. My sister who lives in the country has an enormous garden cared for by my brothers who both live in apartments.Those good ol' boys will survive.

Heck our branch couldn't decide if we were storing food for a few days or for eons. Lived in prime garden country, but no one gardened. Big argument about saving canned tomato products since they might not last that long. Well, how long were they supposed to last? A couple months or a couple years?

Plus I knew in a real emergency breakdown of civilization that left me dependent on the HF-- me and my children would be low on the totem pole. We were barely acceptable as 'household.' We ended up leaving TWI before Y2k. If things are going bad you want to be with people who care about you ya know?

I do like to have food stored. I buy alot in bulk so have plenty of tuna, rice, canned and dry beans, flour, cornmeal etc. Also have a good first aid kit. I don't store water though, but I have bleach and iodine. The Brambles don't own a lot of firearms, though.

Edited by Bramble
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SoCrates, I'm not freaked about an earthquake that may or may not happen - if a natural disaster happens, it happens. The town we live in has become the HQ for this church group that has a lot of similarities in their methods to twi. The town's population is exploding from a huge influx of members of this church. While in some ways it is good for our economy in the area, it's a little weird for me since they do so many things the way twi did. The first time I ran into a group of the teenagers they reminded me of Way Disciple/WOW young adult crowd that I used to be a part of.

Do you all think that twi-er's preparations (including so many people purchasing guns) could have gone really badly? Or was it all just silliness?

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at work some folks were talking about emergency preparedness - one guy was really into stockpiling emergency food and supplies; another guy seemed disinterested in the topic - most folks knew he was into hunting and fishing though and maybe a lot of us figured he'd have a few words of wisdom on the subject. someone made a comment to the sportsman on why he didn't seem that into storing emergency food like his co-worker, he said something like "i'm the one with the guns and i know where he lives."

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"Do you all think that twi-er's preparations (including so many people purchasing guns) could have gone really badly? Or was it all just silliness? "

Wasn't in TWI at the time, so can't say.

Reading online though and a few conversations here and there, lof ex-TWI people seemed caught between planning for the worst and expecting the best - wrangling to figure out how to get prepared but not look like they were doing it out of "fear". Mass telecommunications breakdown and worldwide hysteria - at it's worst, yeah you better be getting butterflies in the tummy.

It's never silly IMO to assess risk and prepare for it. Just because it was Wayfers doesn't make it stupid or silly. Had our infrastructure train wrecked it could have gotten ugly quick in a microwave society that can't wait 5 minutes for water to boil. Ws it going to? No - but it took awhile to get that nailed down and there was a level of risk there yes

Guns? I don't trust anyone with a loaded gun, or easy access to one. Too many weirdo's around, in the Way, ex-Wayfers and oh yeah, most of the other few biillion who have never heard of the Way.

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or does this sound potentially dangerous to anyone else?

I dont know where it is like where you are, Im surrounded by farms, know where the fresh water is, live in a good community and think I could pretty much make my way if a disaster did occur.

Personally Id be more concerned living around a paranoid end times cult than I would be about an earthquake.

An earthquake may or may not come, but you have some fearful extremists there already.

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Personally Id be more concerned living around a paranoid end times cult than I would be about an earthquake.

An earthquake may or may not come, but you have some fearful extremists there already.

Exactly!!

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The Japan earthquake/tsunami situation, Glenn Beck, Left Behind movies is fear mongering. Of course if the rapture/gathering together never occurs and everyone , including faithful Christians are murdered and no one survives, will that stop our love for God and Jesus Christ, trusting in him? Remember Romans chapter 8.

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I dont know about these cult people, but people generally come together and help out where they can during disasters. We've had plenty of them in this country, and although its never easy in an emergency for the most part it brings out the better side in people.

Im generally a live and let live kind of guy but am very leery of any group that gets too out of balance or unstable on any issue, or relies on the word of supposed 'prophets'.

Todays issue might be preparing for the end of the world, but what will next months be?

Shooting homosexuals or abortion doctors?

Just my opinion but it doesnt smell good to me

Edited by mstar1
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The average person uses 75 gallons of water a day. (Cooking, cleaning, showers, laundry, etc.)

That, of course, is based on the lifestyle we are accustomed to in the U.S.A. Even when you factor in rationing for the circumstances, how far do you think a 50 gallon barrel of water go?

Edited by waysider
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"You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is THE HOUR.

And there are things to be considered...

Where are you living?

What are you doing?

What are your relationships?

Are you in right relation?

Where is your water?

Know your garden.

It is time to speak your Truth.

Create your community.

Be good to each other.

And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, "This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all, ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

Oraibi, Arizona Hopi Nation

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I dont know about these cult people, but people generally come together and help out where they can during disasters. We've had plenty of them in this country, and although its never easy in an emergency for the most part it brings out the better side in people.

Im generally a live and let live kind of guy but am very leery of any group that gets too out of balance or unstable on any issue, or relies on the word of supposed 'prophets'.

Todays issue might be preparing for the end of the world, but what will next months be?

Shooting homosexuals or abortion doctors?

Just my opinion but it doesnt smell good to me

i agree....but the first time i read your post i misunderstood the part about "Todays issue might be preparing for the end of the world, but what will next months be?" - i actually thought "well, if the end of the world does happen why even worry about next month?"

~ ~

after 9/11 happened i started to take emergency preparedness a little more seriously....for weeks after 9/11 i'd get a thought like this is the beginning of the end...and nowadays besides praying for Japan and feeling so bad for all that's happened to them - every once and awhile i get back into the is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end mode.

~ ~

realistically though - i don't get caught up in the emergency preparedness frenzy - cuz i don't have the funds or facility to pull it off..... being a technician, once and awhile i've gotten involved in a setting up or maintaining emergency back up sites, emergency food and supplies, emergency generators, etc. i'm certainly no expert on the subject - but have garnered just enough info to focus my thinking toward something i can wrap my mind around.....so an end of the world scenario i don't even address.

some folks get into stockpiling MREs, buckets of wheat, sealed 55 gallon blue drums of water treated with a water purification kit good for 5 years.....speak to the folks at Emergency Essentials http://beprepared.com/

and you'll find out MREs are good for 5 years if stored at something like 75 degrees. if it's warmer the shelf life of their nutrient value is shortened dramatically. so if you want to do it right - have a few pallets of MREs you've got to think about having a climate controlled storage site.

~ ~

i think more about a crisis on a small scale: like maybe an extended power outage in my city for say 2 weeks....i plan on getting a portable generator this year. i'm getting some more 5 gallon blue water jugs [blue keeps out light that helps some bacteria grow] to store water in garage. a 5 gallon jug is more manageable than a 55 gallon drum - and i'll water the grass or add water to the pool every month then refill them to keep water fresh. have a few water purification kits on hand and a desalination kit to use salt water out of our pool if needed. we always keep a well stocked pantry with canned goods.

an extended power outage lasting 10 days happened to my parents who were living in Rochester, NY at the time. in the dead of winter. any refrigerated foods mom put out on inner porch of side door. for heat they still had gas and would sleep by the lit oven.

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so what does the storage advantage one..

I mean.. what is it.

one is accustomed to a a slow, painful death vs.

a slower, more painful death?

:biglaugh:

I keep the batteries charged so I can tell your relatives how you are doing here, in face of natural or man-made disaster..

generally, the "health and welfare" information comes out of the effected area, not into it..

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Let's face it folks, someday, we're all gonna wake up dead.

That's my feeling and the older I get the less it bothers me....

Its a natural process. If an emergency happens I have an overall view and some resources but Im not going to go into freakout mode spending my few days here obsessing about it.

Im curious about the first post about the IHOP "Christian" group that wasnt clear to me...

They are preparing to be 'overrun with refugees'. Are they stockpiling food for themselves or to do a christian like thing and feed the hungry?

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