Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Let this thread be a prepping resource for the future:

What have we learned from the Haitian earthquake of January 2010?

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

#1 Health
#2 Water
#3 Food
#4 Self-Defense

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

loose lips, sink preps...

if people know about a stash of food they will come and try to take it...by looting, force...keep your survival prepping to yourself.

its okay to talk about it on the board, i'm referring to telling people that live close to you cause if they get desparate they're coming to your house...

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

One lesson is to not believe the Tourism Industry when they represent paradise.

:smile:

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Stay far away from cities.

Take the Haiti earthquake, move it to New York City.

It's gonna look an awful lot alike, except NYC will have a lot more gunfire in the background.

Resources will be overwhelmed almost immediately, regardless of location. No system is set up to handle mass casualties in the tens of thousands. Looting has reportedly started in Haiti. Looting in any mojor U.S. city would start in mere seconds. Haitians are looking for food and water. Here, they would be walking off with flat screen TV's and beer.

Any catastrophic event in a major city, be it natual or man-made, is going to be something you want to be as far away from as possible. It's going to be every man for himself . You don't want to be part of that. Rambo only wins in the movies.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Stay the hell out of 'Mason'ary structures!!! Poor people in board and sheet tin shacks did ok in the original quake. It was people in the cement hell that died.


One of my sh!t in my pants moments was being on the ground floor of a 3 story cement building in Anchorage when a 5.6 hit.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

i was only ten years old in 1964, but i remember the good friday earthquake in alaska...a whole lotta shakin' goin' on....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday_Earthquake

The 1964 Alaska earthquake, also known as the Great Alaska Earthquake, began at 5:36 P.M. AST on Friday, March 27, 1964.<SUP id=cite_ref-usgs_1-0 class=reference>[2]</SUP> Across south-central Alaska, ground fissures, collapsing buildings, and tsunamis directly caused about 131 deaths. This Alaskan megathrust earthquake is also known as the Good Friday Earthquake because it occurred during Good Friday, a Christian holy day.
Lasting nearly five minutes, it was the most powerful recorded earthquake in U.S. and North American history, and the second most powerful ever measured by seismograph. It had a magnitude of 9.2, at the time making it the second largest earthquake in the recorded history of the world.

this is a photo of 4th avenue in anchorage, alaska....

......

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

All of the above...

Plus...
Protect your perimeter.
Find a way soon to get off the grid.

What we are seeing in Haiti is my SHTF nightmare. Hungry folks when the power goes out and -- in the case of the US -- when the ATM doesn't work any more, as most folks I encounter tend to be cashless wonders these days. I am counting on the fact that those of us who live off the beaten path will have a much better chance of survival should that day come. The same folks who don't have a stash of FRNs handy for emergencies are also most likely the ones who don't have more than 1/4 tank of gas in their cars and cannot find their way much past the edge of the suburbs.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Please refer back to the above photograph of the city of Anchorage, immediately after the 1964
earthquake.
Notice, if you will, the distinct LACK of machete wielding looters.
There were NONE.
Also not in the historical record is ANY reference to interpersonal violence, famine nor pestilence.
The citizens banded together immediately, gathered and distributed resources, and rebuilt the entire city.
I don't recall any mention of aid received from a foreign country.
It appears times have changed.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

I think self defense comes first on the needs, without it you cant protect the food aand water you have.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

clean water is the new currency ?

for someone with a handfull of gold coins, and a thirsty family
would you trade a gold coin for a gallon of clean water ?

does Haiti have any fresh water inside it's borders ?

http://www.virtualsources.com/Countr...ies/ha-map.gif




i'm interested in what kind of ( gunless ) bartering is going on right now

how much aid supplies are being stolen and put on the black market right now and at what price

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

I saw a report were people in the cities were fleeing to the country.

If you want to be off the grid and alone, make sure no-one wants to be where you are, and be established well in advance.

The country is the first place the people from urban areas are going once initial supplies dry up and violence increases, and they will bring with them the urban mentality too. There will also be more of them than you most likely.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Bug out ASAP. Cities will become infernos soon after TS has HTF.
Your weapons can't protect you from huge angry mobs.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

The lesson? Stay the #$!% out of Haiti!

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Firearms and plenty of ammunition are absolutely essential for protecting one's family and the supplies that will keep one's family alive.

"Haiti" is coming to most of America's minority-infested cities. The same savage behaviors we see right now in Haiti (and we saw in New Orleans) will repeat in every US city...only it will be worse since the US military won't be bringing relief.

In addition to firearms, one will need plenty of food and either potable water or "raw" water with quality water purification systems. The danger of lack of potable water is perhaps the biggest lesson from Haiti. Have enough on hand to last your family six weeks, at minimum.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Been done before
When the ottawa indians invaded west michigan and whiped out the muskagons in 1648 they put their heads on poles along a long long streach of the P.M. river just south of Custer Mi., about an hour north of me. There is a monument there.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

I found the justice exacted upon the looter to be interesting: http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=440680

During the LA riots, Korean store owners did not hesitate to shoot at looters.

But these Haitian stories take the cake.

It's got to be important for families / neighbors to band together and not hesitate to exact swift and even dramatic public punishment upon those who are trying to take what is not theirs.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

watching some of the video footage from Haiti on tv

some of these Haitians are walking/running away from aid supplies with a package the size of a shoebox(?)
how many days are they going to line up for a shoebox sized aid package ? and what happens when there's no aid package(s)

I'M WONDERING IF PREPPERS WILL GET THE IDEA
TO KEEP THEIR MOUTHS SHUT ABOUT THEIR PREPPING ACTIVITIES

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Don't skimp on the rebar!

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Can a pallet of bottled water be purchased from a water distributer?
I have been told that bottled water is "good" for 2 years.
My local grocer sells cases of water for $2.77 each, which comes out to about .11 cents each.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Keep the bottled water out of sunlight, cool, and in a clean place, and it will keep indefinitely. The biggest problem is plastic decay, and keeping it away from UV and heat will virtually eliminate that. The "2 year" date is due to FDA regulations.

Find a distributor that will sell "direct to the public" and you're set. Most only do wholesale, though.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Yeah, I looked and saw zero black person. No, I am not a racist. Blacks are "young souls" they behave differently in these situations, dont judge them to harsly. Times have not changed.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Thanks.
Yes I have a blue tarp to use as a cover to block sunlight.
I read that the plastic used in water bottles lasts much longer than the plastic used in milk jugs.
Also I have been considering a berkey system, or maybe a ecoloblue system.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Get it

Dont delay

If you where in Haiti right now with a berkey system you would weild more power then the Greatest Pharoah in all his splendor.

The power of life and death would reside in your hands.

There are no working phones in Haiti but word would travel quite far if you were the man who could quench thirst.

A decent system can had for a little over 200 bucks.

That is a small price to pay.

Dont delay.


T

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

1. Most prep advice is based on preconceived notions.
2. It's not an emergency until all your preps are wiped out.
3. Your neighbors are either better than your preps or worse than the emergency. Choose neighbors accordingly.
4. The nature of the emergency is unpredictable. Try to prepare for more than one kind of emergency. (See #6.)
5. Timing is unpredictable. Assume you will not be ready when it happens.
6. Get out of an area that is prone to disasters. (If you really think you will need to shoot people, you should move to an area with different people.)
7. Don't assume the disaster will be physical. It might be political, social, or economic.
8. In most cases, family or neighborhood ties will be the most important aspect of survival.

Re: Lessons from 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
 

Already said here in other words, but I'll reiterate.


"The True SHTF will be a sucker punch. It will be totally unexpected."