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People expect help within an hour of a disaster....

K

KDOG

Diamond Member
Wow. Just shows how far the sheeple are disconnected from reality.... its sad really.

Study done by the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and The Children’s Health Fund.

Quote:

...Over one-third of Americans believe that in the event of a catastrophic disaster, help would arrive to assist them within the hour (37%). Some Americans are even more optimistic regarding the speed of first response during a disaster: 55% of African-Americans, 51% of Latinos, and 45% of big city residents believe help will arrive within the first hour after a disaster. Overall, two-thirds of the country believes that help will arrive within several hours of the disaster...

Link to the studies:
http://www.ncdp.mailman.columbia.edu/files/NCDP07.pdf

http://www.ncdp.mailman.columbia.edu/research.htm
 
Or else it shows how few people in the country have had to deal with anything genuinely catastrophic.

For example, I think the worst I was through was a blizzard that dropped about 3 feet of snow. We were stuck inside, no power, so the only water pressure was what was already in the pipes. The wood stove was working though, as it didn't require power. We melted snow for water to flush the toilets, and had adequate food in storage for quite awhile. It amounted to being excessively inconvenient, that's all - nothing at all dire.
 
37% of Americans are fucking whining, sniveling morons then.

Three years ago we had an ice storm that took out power to our house for six days. My wife gave birth on day two. My two younger daughters stayed at our friend's house, also with no power and slept in sleeping bags on the floor at night and hung out by the fire place during the day.

I wouldn't even call us "prepared" for that event, but we survived just fine. What sucked was throwing away $150 worth of food that went bad that we just bought two days before the ice storm.
 
During a widespread disaster I expect to be on my own for at least a few days. I've actually been meaing to pull together a duffel bag with everything I'd need for 3 days, food, a change of clothes, etc. I guess pulling together all that is a good goal for this month.
 
MarkXIX said:
37% of Americans are fucking whining, sniveling morons then.

Three years ago we had an ice storm that took out power to our house for six days. My wife gave birth on day two. My two younger daughters stayed at our friend's house, also with no power and slept in sleeping bags on the floor at night and hung out by the fire place during the day.

I wouldn't even call us "prepared" for that event, but we survived just fine. What sucked was throwing away $150 worth of food that went bad that we just bought two days before the ice storm.
Click to expand...

You had an ice storm but couldn't keep your food cold?
 
Where I live there are few potential disasters. Ice storms are the greatest. The area was without power for 11 days. We have a generator which should last for two weeks without refueling. If that doesn't make it, I have the Zombie Survival Guide 😀
 
What's wrong with the statistics in the OP?

I sincerely believe that in the event of a natural disaster, help would arrive within the hour. It's called neighbors helping neighbors and everyone around here would pitch in to help each other out. Of course, we're fairly immune to natural disasters in this area. Hurricanes: nope. Tornadoes: rare & small ones when they do occur. Earthquakes: no major faults that would affect us. Blizzards? Wait, we're talking about natural disasters, right? Blizzards are just inconveniences. Ditto ice storms - we'd be without power. Big deal.
 
DrPizza said:
What's wrong with the statistics in the OP?

I sincerely believe that in the event of a natural disaster, help would arrive within the hour. It's called neighbors helping neighbors and everyone around here would pitch in to help each other out. Of course, we're fairly immune to natural disasters in this area. Hurricanes: nope. Tornadoes: rare & small ones when they do occur. Earthquakes: no major faults that would affect us. Blizzards? Wait, we're talking about natural disasters, right? Blizzards are just inconveniences. Ditto ice storms - we'd be without power. Big deal.
Click to expand...

You and I happen to be in one of the safest places in the nation. Consider a Katrina scenario or when (not if) San Francisco gets an 8 to 9 magnitude earthquake.

Far more likely than a nuke is a massive geomagnetic storm .

One like the solar storm of 1859 would without doubt bring civilization as we know it to a screeching halt and not enough money exists to fix the damage.

Likely? No, but neither is any major catastrophe.
 
I weathered Ike on the North side of Houston. I expected to never see the government so I prepared my house and yard to limit the damage. I had a small generator to run only to cool the refrigerator every few hours and dinner time, 25 gallons of fuel in cans, all cars full of gas, all propane bottles filled, plenty of food, bottled water, several large coolers full of ice, several large coolers full of water, my lantern, battery operated radio and TV, all timber clearing tools ready, first aid supplies, and ammo and guns just in case.

We were without power for 11 days. I never once saw anyone from the government or any evidence of their presence, unless you include the flights of military helicopters I saw several times. We all banded together in the neighborhood to clear the trees and brush from the streets and houses and all of us that had to go to work on Monday were able to get there just fine.

I also went through Alicia back in 1983. Same scenario. No power for over a week and not a once did I see anyone from the government, yet I magically survived to live through Ike 25 years later.
 
55% of African-Americans, 51% of Latinos, and 45% of big city residents believe help will arrive within the first hour after a disaster.
Click to expand...

So in other words, Democrats?

Yep, I did it. Move it to P&N.
 
We had a hail storm last year that damaged a lot of trees. Several people then got down to the state capitol and staged a protest as why no one had come out to their houses to help them clean up the debris in their yards. They even got on the local TV and were really vocal about their complaints. They spent the whole day there for the protest instead of spending all that time to clean it themselves.

I'm not talking about the old or disabled here. These looked like typical welfare moms that physically could probably clean your house out in half an hour if given the chance. All I could do as I was watching it on the news was laughing at the uselessness of these people. It was the epitome of what is wrong of this country.
 
Binarycow said:
We had a hail storm last year that damaged a lot of trees. Several people then got down to the state capitol and staged a protest as why no one had come out to their houses to help them clean up the debris in their yards. They even got on the local TV and were really vocal about their complaints. They spent the whole day there for the protest instead of spending all that time to clean it themselves.

I'm not talking about the old or disabled here. These looked like typical welfare moms that physically could probably clean your house out in half an hour if given the chance. All I could do as I was watching it on the news was laughing at the uselessness of these people. It was the epitome of what is wrong of this country.
Click to expand...

...

Really?

Kids these days.
 
Ice storm will kill power.

They would have to move the food out of the cooling units and outside (if cold) after 3 days for the refrig (assuming that the kids do not open the door every 10 mintus) - 4-5 times a day quickly will work. Seperate freezer should survive for 1 week if previously stocked and kept close for the most part.

It is possible that the temps then get above freezing the next couple of daya or so, but power is not restored for a week.

I have had that happen in the North East and DC area previously.

Which is why one should invest in a backup generator with 1-2 weeks of fuel.
Run the generator enough to keep the food controlled and ignore the rest of the electrical load.

Also, good to have an extra tank or two of propane.

Prepardness is the key to bad weather!
 
37% of Americans are fucking whining, sniveling morons then.
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This is agreed, especially considering how most people acted following Hurricane Wilma. Most had no power for 2 weeks. That was about it. People acted like the world was ending. We had beautiful weather, no rain, outdoor barbecues (of all the meat that was going to go bad), no work, and nothing to do but read until the power came back on. It was AWESOME. People were freaking. I can't imagine what its going to be like when a CAT2+ comes rolling through here and causes some real damage.
 
Am I foolish to feel like I shouldn't ever expect help and that I need to take care of my goddamn self in the event of an emergency? Honestly I feel like I would be my biggest help.
 
People expect help within an hour of a disaster....
Click to expand...

LOL, most of the people surveyed probably have never been in a real disaster.

After hurricane Rita hit southeast Texas, it took us and hour just to get from the shelter back to our home. It took the power company 18 days to get power back on after Rita. Some places were without power for 3+ weeks. The relief crews had to cut their way through the trees that were blocking the roads before any relief efforts could be brought in.

After hurricane Ike hit Houston, and the storm surge flooded parts of southeast Texas, my mom and dad could not get back to their house for 3 days - due to the flood waters. Its taken our family another 2 years to recover from the emotional toll.

Expect help within hours? Oh boy, their in for a real surprise if anything serious ever happens.

Picture taken in front of my mom and dads house 3 days after Hurricane Ike, the flood waters had already gone down around 6 - 7 feet.

bridge-city-hurricane-ike-450x337.jpg
 
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define "help within an hour."

if a flash flood struck my town, would I expect an airlift off my roof within an hour? no.
would I expect first responders to be aware of the situation and working on it? probably.

fire fighters were on the scene within minutes of the plane hitting the WTC on 9/11. I would consider that to be help arriving within an hour of a disaster.
 
Assuming an attack on national soil type of catastrophic disaster, I would expect retaliation within the hour though... help not so much. 😛
 
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