Reply #158: Start planning what you'd do

[alilenas]

Everyone should have a plan in place for what you would do if the worst happens.

Make sure you have cash on hand, if the government wants to foment panic they could make credit cards and ATMs inactive. Some friends of mine keep some US cash, some Euros and even some silver bullion "hard currency" around.

Make sure you have an escape plan, even for a short time. Identify a place where you could go around 1-2 hours away from where you live, even it is to a friend's house or a hotel. Know where you could go to get away from where you are. One person I know would leave their rural area for an urban one on the assumption that the more liberal urban dwellers would be easier to deal with in a panic. I'm heading to a friend's farm which has a generator and well water sources. Make sure everyone in your house knows the escape plan and that everyone knows where to meet and a couple of routes to get there. Make sure you always have enough gas at all times to do this. Keep about 3/8s to half a tank.

Get a broad band radio that can run on batteries. If we're having a national emergency I doubt the net will be up, or your cell phone network.

Do you have a passport and a birth certificate handy? Have it, know where it is, and keep it close. It'll be harder to get one during and after a panic.

I hope everyone has a storm, flood, whatever emergency kit. I try to keep a small supply of easily prepaired food, a couple of changes of clothes and relevant child care products around.

If there is an attack, real or faked, the 72 hours following it will be the crucial ones. People on other threads have talked about getting weapons and whatever. Some have gone so far to post links to bomb making sites. If there is an attack, legitimate or illegitimate, these precautions will your life a bit more livable. Martial law will probably not by tolerated by the ruling elites, US Intelligence and the military for long. Your plans in place for the 72 hours following an election postponement/implementation of martial law will give you time to sort out what is or is not going on.

Just my two cents worth.