Forum: Any Preppers in the Northern Atlanta Area

Just forming a thread to communicate with someone local. Best wishes in your pursuits.

Yes..I’m here in Lawrenceville. Currently in St Pete at my grandmother’s funeral, but will be back home on Tuesday. A blessing for her and we are happy that she’s at peace….checking news and mail frequently, bit unfortunately cannot reply. I think my son did something to the “thingy”. Lol. I’m a nurse and would love to join the thread.

Hi Zumble. My condolences concerning your grandmother. And i hope things worked out cocerning your son. I live in Kennesaw. Maybe we could meet at some place some time and have a conversation. If not here will do fine. Have to admit it’s good to find some one local who is following this subject. Any way take care and safe travel. Look forward to talking to you in the future.

I am so glad you posted this link. My daughter lives in Lilburn and I cannot get her to listen to anything about BF. Another daughter is moving from Austin up toweard Kennesaw and Canton in April. She is planning to home school the kids when this happens but that’s about all I can get her to commit to….neither will do any prepping. Mom is just over reacting! What is the general feeling in your area, what with the CDC being there and all? Are most people still sticking their heads in the ground? My daughter in Lilburn is a teacher and has kids whose parents work for the CDC at her school, so I am suprised that there isn’t more of an urgent movement about all this.

north of houston, I live on the oppisite side of town from where the cdc is located. So i don’t have any contact with anyone working for them that i know of. But it is as true here as anywhere else that few if any people are takeing this very seriously yet. Most of the time great effort is required to breach the silence on this issue that most people seem confortible with. It’s impossible to be a careing human being and watch as this seems to be unfolding and remain silent. What i have learned to this point is to be carefull of two things, One not to come off as if this is the only purpose in your life, Two that no matter how heart felt your intenions are, And no matter what information you may be able to provide, It would seem that you come to be seen as the representitive of this issue. People will hate you for what you represent more than anything else.

jack walt—thanks for the response. Since I love my children and grandchildren dearly, I will probably keep plugging away. My one bright spot is that both of my daughters will be close enough in distance that they could “humker down” together with their families when this happens. By the way, love your area and am looking forward to getting out there again soon.

Hooray, I finally found this thread again!!! I guess that “search” button is good to use. Hi everyone. I am glad there are some more posts. Jack, I work on the same road as the CDC, and one of our docs is married to another doc at the CDC. My doc says that she feels the bf is a concern and that I know more about it than she does. I try not to pester her on it, but I’d like to talk to her husband. I think that could probably be considered harassment tho. I see her every week, and I generally try to ask quietly if there’s “anything going on”. I don’t know in exactly what department he works. I’d love to talk with you, in RL or virtually, as well as other preppers in our area. Agree with NOH who feels that the “shoot the messenger” attitude is prevalent in our society. One thing I’ve been thinking on is what appears to be many facilities (sorry, spelling) lack of preparedness for the major influx of patients that will come. In doing some quiet questioning around the hospital, I think that all places already have an emergency plan in place. They kind of have to! These plans will be implemented. The problem is, as has been discussed in great detail on this and other forums, is the sheer number of patients. They’ll be stacked in the corridors getting care and comfort only, or sent home. There is no way to prepare health care facilities for a situation of this type. I worry about it. I’m not sure how many of my patients will survive, and I’ll be floated off to the general floors, which I am ill prepared for, having not worked in general areas im many years. And I know darn well just how often we have to order supplies as there is no place to store them. If my clinic were not supplied every other day or so from our warehouse, we’d be in trouble. Our stuff is bulky and heavy. Oh gods, I am rambling! sorry. Hope to see more posts.

Zumble…I just returned from a neighboring city where my mother was hospitalized and had emergency surgery. She was able to get a room on a monitored (as explained to me, one step below ICC) floor but only after someone else was discharged. As I walked the hallways of this large state of the art “commerical” hospital, I tried to envision what it would look like in a pandaminic situation. Since most of the rooms are only equiped for 1 bed, there would be no way to even double or triple-up, as far as I, a non-medical person, could see. Even the hallways seemed so full of equipment, there would be a tight fit for beds. It was a freeky feeling.

Sorry, I meant “corporation” hospitals.

Hello Zumble, Sorry i was away when you posted last. Hope to hear from you in the furure.

Hi all, I live in Midtown Atl. Glad to know we aren’t alone in these parts. I can’t get anyone around here to take this seriously!

I live in Decatur, GA. If this thing hits, I’m headed south, to my great-grandfather’s farm. It’s about 750 acres — located in the middle of nowhere, South Georgia. Lots of game to shoot… guns too! I’m not a hunter, but I’m willing to be! Thank God for my inheritance!!!

Hi everyone, I live in Little Five Points (near midtown Atlanta). I’ve spoken with two aquaintences and a friend about BF.. so far everyone seems to think it won’t affect them. head. in. sand. I don’t know where to go, but I am stockpiling basic medications and foodstuffs. Atlanta doesn’t sound like the place to be when h5n1 → h2hE2 comes.

Other individual preppers looking for company? Have garden tools & seeds, will travel.

interested persons may contact atlanta_little_five_prepper@yahoo.com

To begin with, Hello to little 5 newbie and J Lee. I live in Kennesaw just outside of Achworth. No one seem’s to take this as anything that will affect them or any part of thier lives yet. I think the best thing to do is build your case now for when it gets harder for the sane people you know to keep pushing the snooze alarm. I’ve concluded some people won’t take it as a threat untill it’s to late. Little you can do with such people except supply thier house plants with carbon dioxide. Any way take care. and good luck.

Hi, I am up in Rome. Have begun some preps, not near as far along as I would like. I started with buying some water storage, went to the local WM and bought all that they had in their camping department. Amounted to 57 gallons worth of storage.So, I will have to do more. Got a script for tamiflu from my doctor with no problem, but the pharmacy gave me a hard time about filling it. They eventually did, although I had to pay out of pocket.I am now working on having a food supply for SIP. No one I know is prepping, but my doc said I wasn’t the first patient to ask for a script.

bump

Please explain what “bump” means. Thanks.

Tink -People bump when they want the conversation to be kept open and near the top of discussions (in the forum index). Hope this helps!

anon_in_ga, I too had my doc write a tamilfu script in addition to several months of other meds I have to take on a daily basis. I haven’t tried to fill the tamiflu yet. He also gave me a pneumonia vaccination today.

Like your doc he said a few people have asked for similar things lately. I’m going shopping in the morning and will start with the bare essentials (water jugs, rice & beans).

Still haven’t convinced my doc to write me an rx for Tamiflu yet. I see him next month, and so will try again. How’s everyone in NoGa doing lately???

Well I picked up my daily prescription meds today (enough for 6 months) and began stocking foodstuffs.. Still looking for a better location to SIP, may wind up in south georgia.. who knows. Atlanta probably won’t be the best place to be wtshtf. If other individual preppers read this and are interested in company I check this account every few days: <a href=‘atlanta_little_five_prepper@yahoo.com?subject=fluwikie preppers in north atlanta area’>atlanta_little_five_prepper@yahoo.com</a>.

I’ve tried talking to several friends about this and many of them appear to be in a fog of denial. I worry that when the seriousness of this finally sinks in it will be too late.

I hope and pray the virus holds off for at least another month or two, I still have much left to do.

I am from Tennesse but I contacted TVA to get info on pandemic planning and thought y’all might be interested. TVA services Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. For a map, please see their website at http://www.tva.com/sites/sites_ie2.htm.

I looked up TVA and learned the following from their web site:

They get 30% of their power from nuclear power plants they own. They have some hydro power plants. Most of their electricity comes from 11 coal burning plants. One plant uses burns about 14,000 tons of coal a day, an amount that would fill 140 railroad cars.

There is an article on the TVA site that refers to a problem in “purchased power costs.” While this is not explained, it appears to me that TVA is purchasing power from other power companies. Remember, power generated can not be stored for long and must be used almost immediately. My worry is this may be from the fragile grid system we have spoken about in other threads.

I contacted TVA by e-mail and asked I live in Memphis and my local utility informs me they get all their power from TVA. 1. How many days supply of coal does TVA keep at it’s power plants in case of an interuption in coal supplies/delivery due to a pandemic? 2.What percentage of employees must work in order for a plant to keep functioning in case of a pandemic? 3.Does TVA have a pandemic plan? 4.When TVA refers to “purchased power costs” does tht mean form time to time TVA purchases power from other places/plants? If so, where does the purchased power come from usually and how frequently on average does TVA purchase power?

I got this response:

TVA is committed to ensuring the safety of the public and our employees and to providing a safe and reliable supply of electric power. TVA maintains a Continuity of Operations Plan to address various emergencies. In addition, like many other government agencies and private companies, TVA has established a team that is updating our emergency operations plan to address the possibility of a flu epidemic. The team is developing an agency-wide plan to enable TVA to continue to operate during and after a possible pandemic. This includes identifying critical functions, employees, and suppliers necessary to maintain business operations.

The TVA region covers an 80,000-square-mile area that includes Tennessee and parts of six adjoining states — Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. For a map, please see our website at http://www.tva.com/sites/sites_ie2.htm

In response to your question about purchased power costs, TVA does buy some electrical power from other power suppliers. That’s because buying power is sometimes more economical than generating electricity, and sometimes additional power is needed to meet customers’ high demands for power. The power we would buy usually comes from areas within or adjacent to the TVA region. The cost of the power varies greatly with market conditions — supply and demand. Prices are influenced by several factors, including the cost of fuel, such as natural gas, the time of year, and even the time of day. For example, a very hot summer afternoon would increase the need for electricity to power air-conditioning and meet other needs, thus driving up the price for potential buyers. TVA purchased about 9 percent of our power needs in Fiscal Year 2005.

We hope you find this information helpful. If you would like more information on TVA, we invite you to visit our Web site at www.tva.com. Thank you.

here’s the map of TVA’s coverage mentioned above: <img src=>

I used to post here frequently under another name, but I think someone else started using something similar to it so I switched handles. Anyway, I was born in Atlanta, grew up in Kennesaw/Acworth and now live up in the mountains just inside the National Forest. I have been prepping for a year now.

I am also in the Atlanta Area, Douglasville, to be exact.

I will be heading up the Atlanta area region of the American Civil Defense Association.

This organization is broader in scope than just Bird Flu.

I have been into preparedness before Y2K.

Anyone interested can contact me at edhall_consultant@yahoo.com

I had an epiphany yesterday. Oh my God! I have over 300 pounds of rice and over 300 pounds of beans and over 100 pounds of pasta and it NEVER EVEN occurred to me, “will I have enough fuel to cook all that”. I feel so stupid. It never even dawned on me to make sure I had a large quantity of OTC - “out of the can” stuff on hand. For instance, Chef Boy-R-Dee. Cold ravioli is better than raw dried pasta anyday. It just goes to show that no matter how long you have been prepping or how much stuff you have that the simplest ideas sometimes never even occur to you. I was bulk shopping for long term prepping and not thinking on the more simple level. I am glad I thought about this now and not after TSHTF! Have a good one!

Good for you! You know the expression “think outside the box”, well, think inside, outside, around, and pick the box up and look under it.

Tin can “stove” - googling will bring up many easy to make examples — Basically, a small can such as a tuna or cat food can, cotton balls, and 91 per cent alcohol, sold in WM on the first aid aisle.

Sit this can inside a big metal coffee can, with some holes punched in it near the bottom for air. Put your pan of heat’em ups on top, and voila!

Also, there is a very cheap ($19.99) propane grill at WM. Go to the outdoor grill section for it. The camp stoves in the camping section are more costly. The small bottles of propane are around $2.50.

I’ve debated using a bit of charcoal, if I had no other option. The thing about charcoal though, is the odor it gives off, which would let everyone in the vicinity know you are doing something with food. Not good, if the situation has progressed to a certain point.

I’ve thought that 3 or 4 briquets might not be so bad, and give enough heat to warm some canned meals, or heat water up to make rice or pasta. Anyone have any input? A few pieces in a small container of some kind, to concentrate the heat.

Here’s an idea for inspiration—Go to the canned meat section of the grocery store. Take your time and scan along each section of shelf, thinking about what you can do with each item there.

Spam - cubed up with rice and beans, add to veg soup, along with the more usual uses.

Chili - Make cornbread and pour chili over it. Or, masa harina and roll up with chili inside. Chili over rice.

Chicken - with rice, mushrooms, add to pasta, and so on.

See, you start innovating…

Then, go to the canned vegs and study on them a while. Green peas and black olives would help that can of Chef Boy-ar-dee. So would a can of diced tomatoes.

In fact, one of the things I love is rice, pintos, and diced tomatoes, with a little hot sauce.

Use your imagination, and pick the box up and move it around some, ideas are hiding everywhere!

I don’t know where you live Georgia mountain girl, But here in Kennesaw there is a more than ample wood supply for this use. check out Small easy to make stoves useing twigs for instance. Don’t know of any web sites, But think about coffee cans with nail holes packed with twigs with your cooking pot on top. An easy solution. Anyway, best of luck if this sould turn out badly. Your friend from kennesaw.

GAMTNGIRL—Hey, there are some great threads from early on about making hobo stoves with paint cans, etc. that require very little fuel. Also about making “buddy burners.” Kathy in FL posted some of them…sorry I don’t have the link, but I bet you could find by doing a search of the forum using “hobo stove” and “buddy burner.”

Posting from AL, but hey, I figured we’re all but neighbors so OK to post on the GA thread!

Galt

GAMTNGIRL, I like people from Alabama so much i had them for parents. Don’t worry no ofense taken.

Gwinnett Co. here as well. Good to know there are others in the area taking precautions.

Well, I’ve got family in Gwinnett Cty., so I kind of figured I was “in”.

I’m from/live in North GA too - this is my first post here :-)

I’ve only been prepping for about a month, but I’m lucky that my husband is in agreement, so we are working OVERTIME to get prepared.

We were not clueless, but not aware of the full implications of bird flu until very recently, and we have gone so far as to cancel a cruise we had planned for November (God knows what will be happening then and almost ALL of Holland America’s staff is Indonesian - their staffing/training center is in Jakarta). We really love the wonderful staff, but that was the deciding factor - all it takes is one person who has been home for a few months of shore leave to get on the ship sick and …

In terms of fuel to cook with - my H uses a Coleman Stove in his work, and he can’t afford for one to break down while he’s working (he’s tried cheaper ones, and according to him they are not worth the cheaper price). We bought one at Bass Pro Shop (Gwinnett County off I 85 North of 316) this week for less than $40. We have 2 full propane tanks (the size that would run a typical gas grill) with the proper adapter to use with the Coleman Stove (it will use far less gas than the grill burner).

I don’t know where you live, GAMTNGIRL, but places where I’ve been able to find good prices for canned goods are: Big Lots (actually really good deals), a local grocery store in Gainesville called J&J Foods (sales are good), & Walmart. We also have Sam’s Club and Costco Memberships - there is a brand new Costco in Buford, GA (Mall of GA exit) which is great. There is also a great “salvage” store in my area that sells all kinds of things in excellent condition (everything from first aid supplies to medicine to light bulbs and food items. If you are in Northeast GA, you aren’t that far from me, and I’d be happy to give you directions.

I’ve also done some mail order purchases recently (freeze dried fruit and powdered eggs), as well as some herbs (elderberry - just made my 1st batch of elderberry extract/tincture).

I’ve purchased a number of herbs/vitamins at the Vitamin Shoppe (also across from the Mall of GA off I 85 in Buford). A lot of the things discussed here and on other websites that may be beneficial in fighting the flu.

National Allergy Supply is located in Duluth, GA (Gwinnett County off Satellite Blvd - not far from Bass Pro which is part of Discover Mills Mall). They sell N-95 Masks through their catalog, but my dad went directly to the warehouse and you can buy directly from them - save on shipping if you don’t live too far away.

The thing I am most concerned about (except the flu itself) is water. We’ve bought about 8 water containers from Walmart that are clear and flexible for camping (less than $6 each). We haven’t filled them yet. We also have several cases of bottled spring water (16 oz) that we carry to work, etc. and several 1 gallon containers of sealed drinking water.

CR

If there should be one in your location, Check out Aldi’s. Thier prices on can goods are very reasonable.

I guess I forgot to fill you guys in on the 150 cans of Spam, chicken and salmon I have already stocked. I definitely do not have enough vegetables though. I am prepping for 2 years. So what I have stocked isn’t enough for 5 people for 2 years, but most people (like my widowed mother) were taken aback when I told her what I have. I do have a coleman stove, but once again, that requires fuel. As far as wood, I had 5 extra loads (making about 7 total) delivered in March when I could get a good deal on them since it was at the end of the season. I definite want to get creative with the different forms of stoves. I am going to make a box oven (from the Girl Scouting days) and I have a couple of dutch ovens. I want to have as many diversified ways of preparing food as possible and various different foods I can cook that do not require the high temperatures of boiling water for extended periods of time, just in case. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best I say, but I definitely want to be able to eat either way. Thanks for all your input. Oh and you can also purchase a box oven that will sit on your camp stove or grill at Wal-Mart too. Those are pretty cool. I will be going to Sams this weekend for another meltdown. I love that place.

P.S. The reason I am prepping for 2 years is so that once TSHTF I can go home and lock the doors and not come back out until the whole thing is over and food is back on the store shelves.

What about canned fruit? Got a good deal on canned pears last weekend at Sams :-)

I’ve never tried freeze dried fruit, but my best friend says it’s really good - so I feel pretty good about that purchase. Freeze dried veggies are supposed to be pretty good too.

CR

I live in the Norcross area. Zimble, I grew up in St. Pete; my condolences on the death in your family.

Tina, thank you for your kind words. we do miss her, but I believe she is happier now.

gamtngirl: I don’t think i could ever get enough fuel, so I got a nice used chainsaw at the buford pawn shop, some gas, and the stabilizer, and I am ready to be a lumberjack. I must have greater than 50 trees of all sizes in my lot, plus all the slash and deadfall. Now, if I could talk my landlord, otherwise known as my brother, into putting in a fireplace, I’m in business. If all else fails, I can make a firepit and use the oven racks.

Hey that sounds awesome. Does anyone know if the Dekalb International Market or Sams is a good place to buy crawfish, crab or other seafood such as fish, shrimp and scallops. I am having a Cajun fettish going on right now and was kicking around some ideas for the pandemic. I wonder if any of the canned crab or shrimp is anygood? Anyone got any ideas?

Zumble - I, too, am sorry for your loss.

GAMTNGIRL – at 21:51

For Crawfish, I have had good luck with Harry’s. If you give them a weeks notice they will get a 50 lb bag of the live ones flown in. Being a displaced mississippian, I get these wierd cravings every spring. I have educated many a georgian on finer things in live such as boiled crawfish and cold beer with a march/april crawfish boil. I have never tried it this late in the year, but they still maybe harvesting them.

anon_in_ga - YOU ARE MY NEW BEST FRIEND!!!!! Have you got any good recipes you can share……please, please, pretty please. :)

GAMTNGIRL – at 16:12

Gamtngirl,

I don’t have my recipe folder here with me at the office, but I will bring one in with me on Monday. I will also put in a call into my ms, la, contacts and find how late in the summer that you can get them. You know, a crawfish boil is the cheapest party you can throw for a big group. When your pinching tails and sucking heads you don’t care the price of the beer you drinking :-]. and if all goes well, the only thing they are going to talk about in the morning is how good the crawfish was the next day. That is if you have the party in N ga. in ms and ls, part of debutant (sp?) is how to hold your beer and crawfish and live to not make the paper next thursday. ;}

LOL!!! :)

Does crawfish freeze well?

I’d also like to know the best brand of canned crabmeat to buy. If the power goes out, the last thing I want to deal with is lbs of thawing seafood to deal with…Would love to meet F2F with local preppers…

I’ve invested in two solar cookers as backups to my propane stove…if TSHTF, fuel may be tough to store & find. Also, wood & coal fires tend to be a more “fragrant” method of cooking, possibly attracting unwanted attention in dire situations. I’ve also invested in a pressure cooker & camping kettle since both use less energy to cook food. Water & energy will be at a premium if utilities go down.

Calandriel in L5P – at 23:35

I’m in SE Tennessee. You?

Jumping Jack Flash - I am in Atlanta. I have relatives in Knoxville. Where are you located? Perhaps we can talk offline…

Jumping Jack Flash - I am in Atlanta. I have relatives in Knoxville. Where are you located? Perhaps we can talk offline…

chattanooga

golfguy37377@yahoo.com