Why prepare for extreme situations - see what's happening in Thailand

Builderfromhell

Hard to predict when life will suddenly change from normal to very abnormal.
I lived through 3 coups in my life and have seen peoples lives fall apart very fast.
The recent events in Thailand arguably should have been forecast but people were not prepared. This link gives an idea how people are coping;http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/504884-people-are-stockpiling-foods-for-fear-of-bangkok-flooding/

Using the same logic we, in Ireland, should see things in our own country falling apart but are we ready to survive and protect our families.

We may expect an economic collapse but get another severe winter with no money for Councils to grit roads or repair flood damaged roads etc.

Grizzly 45

Trouble is people dont learn..It is all somthing that might happen,or never will happen.Like Christmas ,it comes around every year and there is little or no money to hand.If you chucked a fiver literally every week into an envelope for Xams and forgot about it until mid December you would have 250 quid to use .Not alot but better than nothing.
Same on survival supplies,a few extra cans or whatever in the groceries could make the difference.

eth0

I wonder if we'll see panic buying in Ireland this year once a week of heavy frost and snow is forecast

Grizzly 45

Nope!! Because people have this odd belif that supermarket shelves can magically restock themselves somhow.:rolleyes::rolleyes:
Same as the pipes wont refreeze,and they wont have a water shortage in their city apartments in a severe winter.

TBH folks,the last two Winters weren't by European standards THAT bad.
It was bad because simply Ireland was unprepared for them in both transport and house design,which showed up nicely how badly some people were gypped in buying substandard overpriced"houses"with massive corner cutting in both heating ,piping and lagging.:(

So alot of this culd be sorted out by simply getting a good set of Winter tyres for your survival vechicle,
Buying abit more food if you expect to be cut off somplace[Like where was isolated for over two weeks last year?]
Making sure your pipes are well lagged ,if not have plenty of spare water to drink and wash,and flush the bog once a day.And an alt heating source for warmth and cooking if the power goes out.

We are in Ireland,not Alaska.:D It will last about a week of severe weather[if at all] and be a month of cold weather.Feck it last year by St Stephans day here it was all over down in the SW.

Abit of Prudent Prior Proper Planning Prevents P*ss Poor Performance.:)

William Powell

Another expectation people seem to have is that the Council will clear the roads - they made some valiant efforts on our rural lanes last year but you can't clear half a mile of road with one bucket of salt (True story).

slowburner

eth0 wrote: »

I wonder if we'll see panic buying in Ireland this year once a week of heavy frost and snow is forecast

Yes we will and I'll be one of them

fodda

William Powell wrote: »

Another expectation people seem to have is that the Council will clear the roads - they made some valiant efforts on our rural lanes last year but you can't clear half a mile of road with one bucket of salt (True story).

Try living in the west you will never see the council.

But on this point from a survival point of view.....you simply do not venture out. You should have enough supplies to last you and venturing out in the worst weather is a no-no.

slowburner

William Powell wrote: »

Another expectation people seem to have is that the Council will clear the roads - they made some valiant efforts on our rural lanes last year but you can't clear half a mile of road with one bucket of salt (True story).

From what I see in the local council yard, stocks of salt/grit are more than double what they were last year - hopefully it's the same nationwide
The bad thing abut all that salt, is that it causes vehicles to rust. I sprayed the underside of my old banger with metal paint in anticipation.
Another thing we have to try to remember, is that snow is easily cleared if not compacted by vehicles or pedestrians. Found this out the hard way, last winter. So stay off the snow where you need to drive.

Useful fact no. 357:p
Salt doesn't cause ice/snow to melt if the temperature falls below -10ºC

slowburner

fodda wrote: »

Try living in the west you will never see the council.

But on this point from a survival point of view.....you simply do not venture out. You should have enough supplies to last you and venturing out in the worst weather is a no-no.

What about stir craziness?

William Powell

slowburner wrote: »

Yes we will and I'll be one of them

And the sad thing is even though we have everything we need and my wife will remind me we don't need anything I'll still have to at least try and go and and buy more

I put it down to a warped hunter gatherer mentality.

slowburner

I'll bet if someone were to study the phenomenon, they would find that calorie intake rises significantly when we are snowed in. People eat out of boredom, methinks.

William Powell

slowburner wrote: »

I'll bet if someone were to study the phenomenon, they would find that calorie intake rises significantly when we are snowed in. People eat out of boredom, methinks.

But for some the weight increase comes about after being snowed in

eth0

Salt destroys the underside of your car, better off staying inside. In places where they spray a lot of salt cars last significantly shorter.

Those few trips to get supplies when the roads are covered in salt could be very costly if your car is worth anything and you don't spend the day cleaning the underside

The exhaust on my car was completely rusted through just where the stuff was picked up by the rear wheel, rest of it completely perfect. I'd prefer to drive on the bloody ice than where there's salt spread

Dades

I thought they didn't use salt on the roads here?

slowburner

Yep. They do. Most of it comes from Northern Ireland AFAIK.

Tabnabs

Keep calm and carry on

This video is proving a hit to the bewildered Thais

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8zAAEDGQPM