Evening gents, I know this post is about 6 months too late, but I just found the survival thread here on ODT tonight, and thought maybe it would be potentially beneficial to a member or two if I shared some experiences. Also, this is honestly me venting a bit because I think it helps me feel better sometimes, and pretend like I might make a difference somehow. I know most of this will be common knowledge to us, but perhaps not others. I welcome all discussion.
For some context, I'm a firefighter in metro Atlanta, been in the job bout seven and a half years. I was "deployed" to south GA after Helene hit, and saw some things first hand that really reiterate the need to be prepared for life to happen. This wasn't in a magazine, or a movie, this is what I saw with my own eyes. So please, just consider what little I have to share in your future preparedness adventures.
1. Power goes out immediately. I mean, immediately. The storm was active in full force, in this particular area for about 20 minutes before the entire area lost power. I don't mean a few houses, I mean the entire county. When we got down there about 24 hours after it stopped raining, there were zero signs of progress to get electricity back up. The roads were so blocked with trees and other debris, that power company trucks couldn't even attempt to access what they needed to. (The trees that were down, were not something a casual chainsaw operator could handle in 5 minutes.) We were there 6 days, and on the 6th day, SOME businesses were getting electricity. Residential areas were not a priority, at least where we were, when it came to electricity. So please, have a generator, know how to use it, keep fuel fresh, treated, and rotated.
2. Food and water. It amazed me how few people had more than a days worth of food in their homes (I'll revisit this in minute.) In the 6 days we were there, we met several families who hadn't eaten in a few days, a lot with kids. We handed out hundreds, if not thousands of cases of these knock off "MRE's" while we were there. It was amazing how grateful these people were for the help, but very few seemed to have had any thoughts before hand on food storage. Back to what I said earlier about having food in the house, some people did have food in their houses, but when a 30" thick pine tree fell in the house, it was all destroyed, or completely inaccessible. So even if they had some supplies, it was destroyed in the storm. Maybe spread some things out, and don't put all your eggs (pun intended) in one basket. As far as water, bottled water is better than nothing. We had thousands of cases of water, and we were giving out more water than anything because they didn't have running water in some areas of the county. We couldn't carry enough water to keep up with the demand.
3. Shelter. We had one family in particular that had their house destroyed, and they had been sleeping outside in a tent for 4 days, and we didn't know about it until the woman came up asking for food and water. They had 6 kids, in a two person tent. I don't know how, but that's what they were doing. The husband was going back into the remains of the house looking for food when they finally ran out, and she came out in search for food. Thankfully, she found us and we helped them immediately. There's no telling how many others like them were there, that didn't find us. We would go out on what we called "patrols" but like I mention, so many roads were blocked, that we couldn't go very far.
4. Delayed 911 response, if at all. The station we were working with, and running mutual aid for, was overwhelmed to put it as politely, and as respectfully as I can. The chief of this particular department, hadn't slept in almost 60 hours at one point. He was a walking zombie. We were getting so many calls, that we would have delayed responses of over an hour. It's not that we didn't care, but we were running into the same problems the 911 caller was, blocked road ways, power lines down, roads destroyed or washed away, etc. That's all when we weren't handing out food and water, so you can imagine the level of exhaustion that accompanies those tasks. Some people later reported calling 911, and not even being able to get a dispatcher to answer the phone. Their 911 center was hit, and half destroyed in the same area as the callers were in. So their power would go out randomly, and they would be in the same boat as the caller. They did have a standby generator, but a pine tree made quick work of that.
5. The emotional and physical toll. The emotional toll is one I was not prepared for, to be totally transparent. The physical toll was a LOT, and really reiterated that just because you have some preps, you won't be sitting around while everyone around you starves to death. Clearing roads, your own land, moving and finding supplies, repairing roofs or windows, and a lot more. It was some of the hardest work I've ever done in my life. I couldn't imagine being out of shape, and trying to do what we did. The emotional toll, was even tougher, however. Seeing so many people desperate, missing loved ones, losing loved ones, truly hungry, dehydrated, exhausted, and homeless, was absolutely heartbreaking. It's easy at times dissociate and say what you'd "say or do" when someone asks you for food or water, but when that stranger is in front of you, it's different. These were not bad people, but people who were legitimately hungry, thirsty, cold, and scared. I saw people come together and help neighbors, and ran calls for people who had been taken advantage of, and violently, because of what resources they had. There were shootings, and looting, but also neighbors helping each other. Hell, even helping us when we needed it. You can make your neighbor an asset, or they can be liability, you get to choose to an extent, so choose wisely.
6. FEMA and the National guard, are as useless as you've heard and fear. They dropped off an 18 wheeler trailer of water and more knock off MRE's, but we were told to not touch it. When they decided they wanted to pick it up, the soldiers that showed up didn't know what they were picking up, where they were taking it, or why. They had no idea on when resources would be dropped off for us, or if any additional help was coming. I don't blame the ground pounders for not knowing the admin and logistics side of things, but they knew nothing about anything. At the time, it was very frustrating.
Anyway, all this to say, it made me take preparations a lot more seriously. Hopefully if nothing else it was an entertaining read. I did take away this lesson: No one is coming to save you, it's up to you. Stay ready friends.
For some context, I'm a firefighter in metro Atlanta, been in the job bout seven and a half years. I was "deployed" to south GA after Helene hit, and saw some things first hand that really reiterate the need to be prepared for life to happen. This wasn't in a magazine, or a movie, this is what I saw with my own eyes. So please, just consider what little I have to share in your future preparedness adventures.
1. Power goes out immediately. I mean, immediately. The storm was active in full force, in this particular area for about 20 minutes before the entire area lost power. I don't mean a few houses, I mean the entire county. When we got down there about 24 hours after it stopped raining, there were zero signs of progress to get electricity back up. The roads were so blocked with trees and other debris, that power company trucks couldn't even attempt to access what they needed to. (The trees that were down, were not something a casual chainsaw operator could handle in 5 minutes.) We were there 6 days, and on the 6th day, SOME businesses were getting electricity. Residential areas were not a priority, at least where we were, when it came to electricity. So please, have a generator, know how to use it, keep fuel fresh, treated, and rotated.
2. Food and water. It amazed me how few people had more than a days worth of food in their homes (I'll revisit this in minute.) In the 6 days we were there, we met several families who hadn't eaten in a few days, a lot with kids. We handed out hundreds, if not thousands of cases of these knock off "MRE's" while we were there. It was amazing how grateful these people were for the help, but very few seemed to have had any thoughts before hand on food storage. Back to what I said earlier about having food in the house, some people did have food in their houses, but when a 30" thick pine tree fell in the house, it was all destroyed, or completely inaccessible. So even if they had some supplies, it was destroyed in the storm. Maybe spread some things out, and don't put all your eggs (pun intended) in one basket. As far as water, bottled water is better than nothing. We had thousands of cases of water, and we were giving out more water than anything because they didn't have running water in some areas of the county. We couldn't carry enough water to keep up with the demand.
3. Shelter. We had one family in particular that had their house destroyed, and they had been sleeping outside in a tent for 4 days, and we didn't know about it until the woman came up asking for food and water. They had 6 kids, in a two person tent. I don't know how, but that's what they were doing. The husband was going back into the remains of the house looking for food when they finally ran out, and she came out in search for food. Thankfully, she found us and we helped them immediately. There's no telling how many others like them were there, that didn't find us. We would go out on what we called "patrols" but like I mention, so many roads were blocked, that we couldn't go very far.
4. Delayed 911 response, if at all. The station we were working with, and running mutual aid for, was overwhelmed to put it as politely, and as respectfully as I can. The chief of this particular department, hadn't slept in almost 60 hours at one point. He was a walking zombie. We were getting so many calls, that we would have delayed responses of over an hour. It's not that we didn't care, but we were running into the same problems the 911 caller was, blocked road ways, power lines down, roads destroyed or washed away, etc. That's all when we weren't handing out food and water, so you can imagine the level of exhaustion that accompanies those tasks. Some people later reported calling 911, and not even being able to get a dispatcher to answer the phone. Their 911 center was hit, and half destroyed in the same area as the callers were in. So their power would go out randomly, and they would be in the same boat as the caller. They did have a standby generator, but a pine tree made quick work of that.
5. The emotional and physical toll. The emotional toll is one I was not prepared for, to be totally transparent. The physical toll was a LOT, and really reiterated that just because you have some preps, you won't be sitting around while everyone around you starves to death. Clearing roads, your own land, moving and finding supplies, repairing roofs or windows, and a lot more. It was some of the hardest work I've ever done in my life. I couldn't imagine being out of shape, and trying to do what we did. The emotional toll, was even tougher, however. Seeing so many people desperate, missing loved ones, losing loved ones, truly hungry, dehydrated, exhausted, and homeless, was absolutely heartbreaking. It's easy at times dissociate and say what you'd "say or do" when someone asks you for food or water, but when that stranger is in front of you, it's different. These were not bad people, but people who were legitimately hungry, thirsty, cold, and scared. I saw people come together and help neighbors, and ran calls for people who had been taken advantage of, and violently, because of what resources they had. There were shootings, and looting, but also neighbors helping each other. Hell, even helping us when we needed it. You can make your neighbor an asset, or they can be liability, you get to choose to an extent, so choose wisely.
6. FEMA and the National guard, are as useless as you've heard and fear. They dropped off an 18 wheeler trailer of water and more knock off MRE's, but we were told to not touch it. When they decided they wanted to pick it up, the soldiers that showed up didn't know what they were picking up, where they were taking it, or why. They had no idea on when resources would be dropped off for us, or if any additional help was coming. I don't blame the ground pounders for not knowing the admin and logistics side of things, but they knew nothing about anything. At the time, it was very frustrating.
Anyway, all this to say, it made me take preparations a lot more seriously. Hopefully if nothing else it was an entertaining read. I did take away this lesson: No one is coming to save you, it's up to you. Stay ready friends.
