Being from the north eastern part of the country where we are used to temporary blackouts (can I still say black outs ?),  hard winter blizzards and ice storms, and seasonal hurricanes, flooding, the occasional twister, and economic down turns,  people up here (at least the older ones) have always by nature have some supplies put aside for such events.
  When I was a kid my parents and grand parents and one of my uncle's family kept a half acre victory garden every year since the big depression and before, they also kept allot of chickens for the eggs and meat, and they often raised a pig or a beef cow for butchering,  so naturally they canned heavily at harvest time and bartered some for bakery and dairy goods, so when ever money was tight or storms blew in we were never without the necessities, and from the time I was about seven yrs. old I hunted the area woods for small game to add to the pot,   my folks gladly kept me in .22RF ammo when ever I got low.
 Well today the area has built up,  there's a fair sized city not far away,  my small town and others like it haven't grown all that much in population,  but there aren't much left of open woodlands, most are posted and the entrances blocked or chained,  area lakes have become reservoirs and off limits to boating,  swimming, and fishing, and the raising of livestock in residential areas is forbidden, oh you can still have a garden, but you can't use town water to irrigate it, you have to have a well of some kind.
 Funny how things and attitudes change slowly over time, so slowly sometimes that it's not noticeable until you look back,  at one time town water was included in your property taxes, we had cesspools or septic systems for dark water, today I pay about $500.00 per quarter for water and sewer use,  yup. title five, no more septic systems or cesspools.
 No more land fill either,  for a while the town charged for trash pickup after the land fill closed, then the citizens complained about the trash collection costs,  so the town fathers listened, no more fees for trash removal, instead they raised property taxes and went back to "free" trash pick up.
 So for many of us that live in semi rural America and certainly for those who are unfortunate enough to live in the cities the growing and preserving of foods for the average family isn't as practical as it once was,  for most folks who prepare for emergencies these days that means a well stocked pantry for short term events, and a separate area for storing food and supplies for the long term.
 Many of us now who no longer grow and can surplus harvest have to get our emergency supplies from the super market, canned foods with one or more year shelf lives that can be used every day and rotated regularly, dried foods like rice, beans, and pasta,  soup bases and bullions,  and freeze dried prepared meals and sides, powdered milk and other drink mixes for variety,  while it sounds like allot it really isn't when stocked a little at a time with each regular trip to the grocery store.
 What about long term storage, this pandemic and it's year long effect on all of us especially in the beginning with paper goods, cleaning supplies, and empty food shelves have shown us that having to live through a long time event is allot more possible than most of us thought, thankfully the pandemic seems to be winding down and common house hold products and food are back on store shelves.
 But what about the next pandemic, what about a long term electric grid failure, a couple of states have been living with rolling blackouts for several years, what if it failed completely, no power means no communication long distance, manufacturing stops, orders don't get filled, trucks don't roll without fuel, refrigeration is all but shut down, it's happened before for a day or two, a week maybe, a month for some folks in the big Texas Freeze, but what if it's country wide and for a longer period of time, we find ourselves in strange times, with governments spending like drunken sailors and printing funny money to shore up failing economies, what if it all collapses, it's more possible today than it was a few scant years ago.
  How are you preparing for such an emergency, Are you preparing at all ?
           

Welcome back.

Welcome back.

my heart goes out to ya buddy take care and prep.

hi all  it's shakey aka hayshaker, have'nt been on the fourm though in a dogs age,
see a lot of new folks though that's good' saw some interresting topics to read.
just wanted to say it's good to be back. will try to post more