This column was originally written for Spotlight Online.
There’s a tradition at Spotlight Online: every afternoon, we take a short break and have a cup of tea with colleagues from our youth magazine, Spot on. We discuss our various travels and the news of the day, and exchange ideas that we can share with you, our readers.
When the tragedy in Japan happened, we couldn’t help noticing that it was only the latest in a chain of disasters that we were able to trace all the way back to January 2010. It started with the earthquake in Haiti. Then there was the earthquake in Chile (February), the volcanic eruption in Iceland (April), the earthquake in China (April), the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (April to July), floods in central Europe (May and June), forest fires in Russia (July), floods in Pakistan (starting in July), more floods in Europe (August), an earthquake in New Zealand (September), the earthquake in Indonesia (October), a locust plague (much of 2010) and floods in Australia (December), severe snowstorms in the United States, floods in Brazil (January), another earthquake in New Zealand (February), and so on.
I’m reminded of that movie in which Demi Moore sees signs of the end times. With each new disaster, I’m all the more grateful that I have an intact apartment in which the heat and electricity work. Maybe you’ve been thinking this, too.
Ready or not?
What would happen if disaster struck near you, and you had to leave your home suddenly? Would you be ready?
As I’ve commented before, Americans have been obsessed with disaster since at least the 1970s. Tornadoes, hurricanes, forest fires and earthquakes are very real risks in large parts of the country. After 9/11, though, an entire industry grew up around disaster preparedness. Midwesterners stocked up on plastic sheeting and duct tape, while New Yorkers asked each other, “What’s in your go bag?”
A “go bag” — also called a “bug-out bag” or “emergency bag” — is a small backpack or suitcase that contains the things you’d want to take with you if you had to leave your home suddenly.
These could include, for example, your passport, a supply of medicine, a bottle of water, a flashlight, a radio, a pocketknife, some bandages, an extra cell-phone battery, and some toilet paper. Depending on the disaster, you could have only minutes or hours to prepare your departure — and it might be days or weeks before you’re able to get home again.
Show me yours, I’ll show you mine
It’s fascinating to read the different websites people have put up, showing what’s in their go bags (examples: 1, 2, 3). I’ve found it important to visit several sites, because each one envisions a different disaster and forgets to include a key item. Soap, a towel, and Imodium seem to be the big things you should never forget.
Hard-core preparedness fanatics can even go to The Ready Store to stock their basement survival shelters. For $3,500 you can buy a year’s worth of freeze-dried food.
Oh, yes: food’s important, too. In the 2005 remake of War of the Worlds, Tom Cruise’s neighborhood is attacked by Martians, and he has minutes to escape. The only food in his house is junk food. He feeds his kids potato chips for three days.
At least take a can opener with you.
