Hey ya’ll, I think it’s time for a new thread! Lone Star II is here.
OK, intrepid investigators, time to keep your ears to the ground (or the radio station as it may be). I caught the tail-end of a PSA on the radio tonite (but was flipping around and not sure which station). It was seeking public input on improving evacuation routes along TX roads, went on about it being a big part of emergency preparedness, etc. Made me think of EnoughAlready’s stories of fleeing Rita last year on the back roads.
I thought they said the website was greattexasroads.org but can’t find anything like that (have tried the .com variations, TX instead of Texas, good instead of great, but no luck, nothing on Google that I can find). It may also be that it’s so new the bugs haven’t gotten worked all the way out, either. There is a texasroads.com site but doesn’t look like what the PSA was covering.
Anyway, it really caught my attention, even over the kids in the car, lol. I was going to come post the site for you but at this rate it’s going to be on the rumors page instead. ;o) Let me know if you hear anything about it so I know I’m not going crazy (at least in this one facet of my life, lol).
Hi,
I just decided to quit lurking and start talking. I live on the High Plains not too far from Lubbock. I’ve be prepping for a couple of years now.
Is anyone else form this area? What are you doing about water?
My greatest concern is water. Anyone that’s been to Lubbock can understand that. I bought some aqua tanks (2–350 gallon & 1 150 gallon) and hope to buy a larger storage tank in the future. But, even that doesn’t give me much comfort. The water table here is at 150 to 180 feet. Not going to pump that without power. And Lubbock gets most of it’s water piped in from 60–120 miles away.
Without electrity, there’s not going to be any water.
I can see the 400,000 people in this area running out of water in days if the grid goes down. And then, I visualize all of them taking to the road in search of any surface water all at once. SIP will not be an option. Nightmare.
Hi Abraxas_ I have two boys at Texas Tech that live in a house in town. Their house has two water heaters, so that is some water, and they do have a small lake at the end of their street as well. (It does seem that Lubbock proper, does have a lot of small neighborhood lakes around.)I made sure they both have Katadyn water filters so that they will at least have enough water to drink to stay alive. Hopefully, they will be able to make it home, before TSHTF. :)
Petticoat- I did do some looking and your best bet would probably be to search under Public Service Announcements for your county. I did find this…but I’m not sure exactly what you are looking for.
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/dem/hurricane.htm
Here is the tinyurl for the site: http://tinyurl.com/yg7o2e
Welcome Abraxas!
Snowhound, thanks for looking. I checked out the PSA’s last night to no avail, but it’s a new campaign so who knows. I think I can narrow the stations down to two possibilites, so I may call and see if either has more info.
It makes sense given the Rita mess last year and I know there was just a huge study released that graded cities across the US on their evacuation abilities (made me VERY glad I don’t live in the middle of Boston anymore!!). But it was just so unlike anything I’d heard before, and was actively seeking public input, that it really caught my attention.
I’ll keep looking and let you know if I find anything.
Hello Abraxas.
I am new to this thread as well. Growing up north of Amarillo 70 miles and graduating from Tech, I understand your water concerns. Sounds like you are moving in the right direction with the Aqua tanks, that is the water storage system I selected. I like the fact they don’t take up much room when you don’t need them.
I took the 10 yr old dd back to the asthma dr yesterday.
Conveniently, there was a magazine put out by a group of asthma parents in his waiting room…the entire thing was on pandemic flu. I took it into the room with us and it gave me a chance to approach him about stockpiling meds.
I told him I was concerned about dd, that if a low-level respiratory bug had thrown her asthma into full flight that PF would dwarf that. Alternately, that even if she didn’t get hit with PF but ‘only’ got a low-level bug but that she wasn’t able to see him because he was so busy with PF patients, that was also not a good scenario.
He gave me an Rx for two rounds of Prednisone, which made me feel better. I asked him about Tamiflu, too. He said that was only necessary last winter when supplies were short, but that they had been assured of enough Tamiflu for this winter. He totally missed what I was saying.
I thought about it on the way home and how I could have rephrased, but during that point in the visit the 1 yr old was fussing, the preschooler had to go to the bathroom, and the 10 yr old was coughing…and I was even missing one, lol. Somehow it was a little hard to think on my feet. ;o)
At least I have the Prednisone, I guess.
Good Work PJ…sounds like you see this doctor frequently…just ask again. As in sales it is a numbers game to motive action. You are on the right track just do it again.
Welcome Abraxas. Since you’ve been prepping for two years, you have a lot of experience and can contribute a great deal to those of us who just started a few months ago.
Petticoat Junction - Hang in there. I have so much sympathy for all the parents with small children. You all have great responsibilities.
No Name - I’m in El Paso, and you may actually be my nearest neighbor! Are you still in Amarillo?
PJ: First, drive around your town. Figure out every imaginable way “out.” I mean streets… not just highways. Get to know your immediate area. Next, get an atlas. Find people who have lived there as long as the dirt… and ask them about routes. (For me, that was easy… we live in a hurricane zone AND south of Houston! Everybody with a brain the size of a flea wants to know alternate routes.) Drive through neighborhoods and figure out where they lead, etc. Figure out highways and byways. Try to find “old” roads, not just newer highways. Determine where you might need to go… in every direction… and how you can “possibly” get there. Study the atlas… not just for Texas… but if you had to get out of Texas… the surrounding states.
Take trips… day trips, whatever. Travel the roads. If you see some road not on your maps… stop at a local gas station, etc, and ask locals where it goes. Or how you get from here to “there”.
We have a family password. Even the kids know it. If for some reason we have to meet up, or something happens, the password given by somebody other than a family member means they have had contact with a family member and the info is valid.
Even the best “plans” can end up skewed. It is important not to have all your eggs in one basket.
Communication devices are imperative. Even if SIP. (For example, our hand held short range walkie talkie things- can’t remember what they are called--- were invaluable during Rita.) Unfortunately, nothing else worked(emergency shortwave [we forgot to turn on!], cell phones, portable TV’s and radios)--- we were too remote. Fortunately we were able to hook up with State Troopers and National Guard who gave us info… even during the hurricane. {There was a heartattach and seizure in the vacinity. Point being… communication is so important. Don’t “limit” your “scope” of where it will or won’t come from.
Hope this helps!
I agree with the importance of finding alternative routes out of your area. I know of a half dozen different ways out of my area, all with varying degrees of distance and difficulty but all viable in an emergency. If really pressed, there are a couple more really roundabout ways out involving backroads and what I would swear are glorified ranch roads. Because we made a point of knowing these routes, of actually driving the routes so we could be familiar with them, we won’t be forced to stay on main roads just because we’re unfamiliar with our area.
Make sure, too, that you have more than one destination, just in case your primary destination can’t be reached and make sure everyone knows where they are. Keep them fairly close, just in case someone ends up having to walk out.
I would also add: Keep at least a half tank of gas in your vehicle at all times. You don’t want to sit in line when you should be bugging out.
And never forget your towel…
Thanks for the tip about the walkie talkies. The Army kid said his squad used those when they were deployed and it helped them know where each other was at all times. He said those things saved lives more than once.
EA & TX Rose - I couldn’t agree with you more. Interestingly, I’ve found myself drawn to the back country roads in one particular direction out of here (need to learn the others) and have spent the fall ‘exploring’ with the kiddos - I’m putting things together, mental-map-wise, in a way I’ve not done with TX before. I also got a TX Atlas and have been studying it.
I’m upset at the moment…I’d found a wonderful auction on eBay for a 6-pk of very good walkie talkies (perfect for our family of 6; I was envisioning one in each girls’ backpack) but an urgent issue arose this afternoon and the $ I’d saved up for the auction had to go elsewhere. I felt like throwing up, and I don’t usually respond like that to much, especially buying ‘stuff.’ Then I logged on and read both your posts and felt like crying.
It’s been a long, not-so-great day around here. Not-so-great week, actually. I’m trying very hard to steer myself back to positive ground but just can’t shake this growing and urgent sense of needing to ‘finish up’ and the frustration with not being able to put some of those final key parts, esp water, meds, and communication, into place with how things are right now. Sigh.
Hey, I talked to the program manager at the radio station and he remembered the PSA, too. He sent me the website that went along with it. It does talk about evacuation issues, but is also about the need to improve/increase transportation in TX altogether. Looks like they are pro-TX corridor project; haven’t gone through the whole site yet.
Texans for Safe Reliable Transportation
FWIW.
PJ: Don’t beat yourself up. You do what you can to the best of your ability and circumstances. That’s all you can do.
Every little thing adds up to a big advantage that will buy your family time when the SHTF. That’s no small feat, especially when every thing you do towards prepping means you may have to sacrifice something else you’d rather have.
You’re busting your butt for your family’s safety. That’s worth everything.
Now consider yourself hugged.:)
PJ - I know that feeling of urgently finishing up. I have majorly procrastinated on my final preps for most of the summer. I find myself urgently wanting to finish.
Even DH (retired) has begun picking up preps on sale at the local grocery stores!
Chin up and lots of postive pink and blue thoughts for you.
Well everyone, don’t feel too badly about the situations you find yourselves in. Everything that you have done will end up being invaluable if and when you need it. My problem is that I too have been feeling a greater sense of angst, worry and urgency about what may be coming our way. My big problem is my DH thinks I am totally out of touch with reality. (Like he thinks I have a serious psychosis or a phobia) He thinks that “we” (people on fluwiki) are all some weird fringe group, and that NOTHING is going to happen. Everything I do to prep more, is only met with consternation and belittling. I’m afraid to mention “it” anymore in front of my DH and have decided that I won’t anymore. :( He has already told me that he plans on going to work no matter what, and he expects his people to show up as well. Sometimes he seems more tolerant of me, but then I think he does so because he really does think that something is “wrong” with me. I really feel I am damned if I do and damned it I don’t. I would gladly take a lot less in preps if I had more support at home.
History Lover
I now live in Dallas.
Snowhound - are you sure you aren’t married to MY DH?
Seriously, what you describe is exactly his attitude for the last several months. I can’t really tell you what has finally gotten his attention. He began last week to talk about stocking up on preps and buying stuff on sale. He even asked me if I had a list of preps!!!
He is now on the “look out” for Owl’s prep list on sale. Is he just bored? Perhaps - he is retired after all.
But something has gotten through to him. He even got his seasonal flu shot AND pneumonia vaccine without me nagging him.
I know you won’t give up your prepping. I use the wikie as my sounding board, too. I think all of us need a reality check once in a while!
PJ= you are the greatest bargain finder I know… & that’s saying something, because I consider myself pretty good at finding deals. I have 3 sets of those short range hand held things. All of them found on clearance isles… a 10 mile range cost less than $7! I picked up a weather & emergency band radio that is battery powered and runs on electricity for about $7. (It is awesome, wasn’t sure what it even was going to do when I bought it.) Just keep praying, and keep your eyes open. You KNOW that bargains have a way of popping up when you least expect it! I did pay full price for the short wave hand held… but it was something I knew we had to have. Hang in there! I even found the TV that plugs into the car lighter, etc, for less than $20 on a clearance isle… at a truck stop! Yes, I even go into truck stops and scope out what they have… because face it, those truckers have to have all kinds of stuff to live in those trucks. And, communication has to be a priority … I’d think.
I have been “trying” to finish up preps too. As best I can. Mostly I have really been organizing and taking inventory. I feel an urgency, too, and have been very busy… but… staying away from this site just to see if I feel less “urgent” not coming here. Nope.
Y’all… in the bf scenario we are looking at, I’m not sure we will be on the move… unless relocating for some reason. IMHO, I’d do that early, before needing emergency routes and communication devices. IMO, a battery operated or hand cranked radio will be the best communication device to have in this situation. Next would be something to pick up emergency frequency channels… like the short wave radios and/or CB radios. CB’s only pick up short range… but the truckers use them… and hopefully they will be “travelling” across the country getting a birdseye view of things… and talking about it.
EnoughAlready - I’ve tried that strategy myself, “staying away from this site just to see if I feel less “urgent”“….not working for me too well either.
Watching in Texas - LOL!! Actually, there is something to be said for taking a ‘break’. On the other hand, it helps me stay focused and get directive coming here.
Hey everyone---I have been hearing an little voice in my head to get ready also. I have done a lot but there is always more to do. But lets face it if this happens there will be something we won’t have, but we can deal with that. But we need to be as prepared aas we can be, just keep making those lists and setting those goals. That is the best we can do. I have the Texas road map and it is great, my husband and I like to drive and take lttle roads just to see it. But the post on planing our back road plan is a good idea,one I need to work on. I live in McKinney and the population has grown by leaps and bounds we now have 110 thousand and Collin Co has 750 thousand. If they all decide to leave at the same time watch out and that is not counting people in Dallas that want to go north. I ahve been having some health problems and I am glad that it is going on now and not SIP. I have to see the doctor this week, I may have to have my gallbladder out, I never thought I would be so happy to have surgery but better now than during SIP. LOL
Hello Love Texas, Good luck with your surgery. Its good that it happens now. You dont want that problem later! :) I am also working on full dental work for myself. Also trying to keep up my immune system now, exercising , sleeping good, minimum stress.How are your preps coming along? My goal is to buy five cases of mre’s and a generator before the years’ end. I am working extra hours and putting some cash away at a time. I have had this little voice in my head for the past few years. Its so strange but I look back at the things I have and think why did I buy a propane stove years ago, or why do I have so many sleeping bags and firearms..I saw all these things in my storage over the weekend. Kinda strange how its all coming together now. Anyway, good luck with your surgery again. :)
FriscoParent---Hi haven’t seen you on for a while, how are you? Yes it is funny how you put some things all together in your mind. I have really been buying a lot of waterfilters and wheat grinders etc. I am now wanting to buy a lot of food this week I mean a lot. I have ordered some dryed food, I think I have enough of that. And I am trying to get in shape myself, the gallblader thing should be easy when we finally get there. What ever happened to the lady that started this thread way back her name was I think belinda?
Hey LT! Good idea on the waterfilters! Haven’t done that yet! I dont know what happened to Belinda ??? I was wondering the same the other day. Hope she is okay. I think her kids went to Frisco ISD like my son. I am doing good. I have been reading around here, not posting. Then football season started and I found myself cooking for the whole varsity team every other week! Got kinda’ crazy but I have limited myself to the concession stands. Have you noticed anybody else prepping.. neighbors family or friends in the area?? I haven’t. Okay.. take Care!! FP
What happened to those other Texas threads? I can’t find them. Maybe if they were plugged into this thread it would get us closer to the Australian thread numbers! =:0 A-N-D, help us pass Alabama & Arkansas… which are on number 4… or at least catch up to them!
Today is the one year anniversary of Hurricane Wilma. Man, I am so thankful last years hurricane season is behind us and this year has been so calm!
I bought a “tent” to go on the trampoline today on ebay. The reason… it will be off the ground, away from snakes and varmints (like skunks.) I figure the g’kids will get use from it all year long, and I won’t be worrying myself sick over snakes getting into the tent while they are sleeping. Or skunks, possums, etc. Also, I thought it might come in handy in a pandemic. I really like that it is off the ground by about 3 feet!
Has anybody bought a solar battery charger? I think it would be a good idea to have, but I can’t figure out what to buy. I’ve read in books what is suggested, and I’ve tried to figure out what to get by reading the solar thread. I just can’t figure out what to get… or where to get it. Thanks, in advance!
Also, I put some dry ice in a smaller sized mylar bag, that I put into a bucket. It popped. I don’t think it is suppose to do that! Obviously, I did something wrong! The larger sized ones haven’t popped. Thank God!
Hey, are any of y’all reading any of those other state/country threads? They’re kinda cool! Not as cool as ours, of course. Interesting how different some of them are… to be so “the same.” (I have noticed… we seem to be the nightowls!)
EA
I am also working on battery charging solar set up. I want to make sure the panel is enough to charge batteries in a reasonable time. Some of the set ups I’ve seen take 12 to 15 hours to bring a small amount of batteries up to charge…sounds like too long for me. I bought 15 watt panels fron Northern Tool and plan to go to the store and see if they can help.
If you find any solutions I am interested.
Thanks.
I haven’t looked at any solar battery chargers. I have only looked at solar cooking, the kind where you make it with boxes and aluminum :) I haven’t read any of the other state threads. I need to, may get some extra ideas. Take Care.
EnoughAlready---I am not sure about dry ice but I think as it melts it puts off gas so I am not sure it should be in a bag??? But go to Walton Foods on the net and they have info on how to do all of that great site. I think you will find your info there.
EnoughAlready here is the link for using dry ice, I was just there. http://tinyurl.com/vbavd
A few days off the Wiki but not off prepping, lol.
EA - thanks for the nice comments :o)
Snowhound - I am sorry for the situation with your dh re: preps. I can only imagine how difficult that must make everything. Hang in there!
I was thinking about the conversation above on maps and realized our nat’l atlas was out of date. So I got online and found the tourism board sites for all the surrounding states, several states out. Signed up for their free packet which includes state maps for each. Will be nice to have those stashed away…and free preps are always a bonus. ;o)
My other ‘freebie’ prep came in the form of credit at Barnes & Noble. I still have trouble getting my Colorado mind used to gardening in the winter, lol, so I picked up this: Month-by-Month Gardening in Texas.
It covers ten sections from yards to shrubs to veggie gardening (my main interest right now) and literally goes month by month on what to do, what to plant, etc. I’m such a visual learner that it’s been really nice to see it all written down in one format. And since it will work for schooling, too, I got a teacher discount.
I vacillated between that and Barry’s “Great Influenza” but figured for now the month by month gardening was more practical.
PJ at 15:01: You might want to look at amazon.com for the book. It only costs $16.49 there (might save you some money).
I’ve also been off the Wiki for a few days, because a telephone line was down in my neighborhood. It looks as though our home was the only one affected. When I got on-line to check my e-mail and updates on this site, I first read the Harvard study about the public and a possible pandemic. It was disheartening to read that one-third of the people interviewed said they would have to go to work, no matter what. We all know that schools and the workplace are going to be the main vectors for this disease so the idea of people heading to their jobs and risking exposure (although I can certainly understand the financial consequences of not going to work) to this serious illness is absolutely scary.
If we can ever get our cable television bill worked out (the bank says the cable company received and cashed a check, they say they didn’t), we’re going to upgrade to high speed internet. Then I can get on-line occasionally in the evening even when my boys are on the internet.
Thanks De jure. I had credit at B&N plus a discount so that kind of determined my last purchase. It’s times like this that I miss dh’s old bookstore employee discount!
Welcome back, HL - glad they got the lines back up. That makes for a long couple of days, eh?
PJ - It does especially when I cannot read the news threads. I kept casually checking CNN, but they were mostly reporting on the upcoming elections and the war news. I also miss it when I can’t get prepping ideas such as the book you just found and ordered. I think I’m going to get one too.
FriscoParent
I didn’t build a solar cooker, but I did buy one.
It did work, but took a lot longer than I expected to get it set properly to reach a high enough tempature to cook pinto beans beans. All together I had almost 7 hours invested in my first cooking experience.
And I had to keep an eye on the sun to be sure that the rays were hitting it properly. I had to adjust about every hour or two. Solar cooking is possible, but it’s not going to be easy or convenient.This ain’t no stick the beans in and come back to cooked beans.
Since using this solar cooker, I have dusted off my Coleman kerosene cook stove and I’ve also invested in several different size Dutch Ovens and a Cobb cooking system. Both use charcoal. I’ve had some experience with Dutch Oven cooking from camping trips and like the way a Dutch Oven cooks. But I had thought that it would be impractical to store enough charcoal for this. (I’m trying to plan for at least 1 year) The Cobb cooking system will cook for 3 hours using 8–10 charcoal briquettes. So, now, I’ve stored 650 lbs of charcoal to use these two systems as my main cooking systems.
The solar cooker will be a back up.
Good morning, TEXANS!!
I’ll be back to read this later… after I feed my family and deliver the kiddo’s to school! I glanced over the comments… and I wanna talk about blowin’ up that mylar bag AND about solar cookin’--- I’ve been seriously lookin’ into that too! AND about those solar battery chargers. And… about growing stuff… and cookin’ this stuff we are putting up… and well, heck… a whole bunch of stuff! See y’all later! Y’all have a great morning!
Abraxas – at 17:47 What kind of solar oven did you purchase?
I am going to leave at 6 am tomorrow to spend 3 days with my brother. We will be staying in a hotel, so I don’t know if we will have internet/computer access. He is pretty solar-savy… has his house set up on solar system. He also has an elaborate rainwater collection system. I am going to be picking his brain on those two issues. I have been trying to get him to come to this site. I wish I could divulge where he works, but I can’t. Hopefully, I will have some answers when I return… and I can convince him to find time to come to fluwiki.
Here is my “dream” solar oven: well… the only way I know to link will probably extend the screen to that super wide version… so it is the Sun BD Corp. Tulsi-Hybrid Solar Cooking Oven on Amazon.
What I am probably going to do, in reality (because of the cost of the dream solar cooker) is the Simple Solar Stove for $4.99 plus $2 SH and the basic instructions for building a solar oven at: http://www.surferchef.com/
This looks interesting- http://www.solarcooking.org/soda-bottle-pasteurizer.htm
this site has a lot of info- http://www.solarovens.org/
info- http://www.knowledgehound.com/topics/solarcoo.htm
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/radabaugh30.html (I love backwoodshome!)
http://solarcooking.org/bkerr/DoItYouself.htm
http://www.gaiam.com/retail/SolarLiving
Sounds to me like solar cooking is a lot like crockpot cooking… slow, moist cooking.
bicycle generator- http://www.econvergence.net/electro.htm
http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_experiments_bicycle.html
http://www.los-gatos.ca.us/davidbu/pedgen.html
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question658.htm
Google search on bicycle generator yields a bunch of sites!
I bought GLOBAL SUN OVEN® by Sun Ovens International. I like the box, how compact it is. It folds up and is easy to move and store.
DH and I downloaded instructions on how to build one, and we did build it. It did not work well, was bulky, hard to move. . . etc. Then we bought one.
I don’t doubt that with a lot of fine tuning, we probably could have made the homemade one work, but. . . no time for that.
If you plan to build your own, I strongly suggest that you do it now as to have time to work out all the bugs.
Hey everyone—my boss just called me and said he was watching the news last night and saw a commerical about the bird flu??? He said channel 8 or 11 in Dallas and they gave a web site he did not get. He wanted to know if I saw it well I didn’t. Did any of you?????
Abraxas – at 11:20
How many, and what size, pots/pans does your solar oven hold? Here is a link to that website. I have been looking for the WAPI, BTW!!! The price on your unit isn’t much different than my dream unit from Amazon. Does it seem to be about the same size?
Water Pasteurization Indicator (WAPI) $6.00
The reusable, durable WAPI is a simple device containing a special soy wax that helps users determine when water has reached pasteurization temperatures. Ideal for camping and emergencies.
Here is Product Description of my “dream solar oven”: Tulsi-Hybrid - Solar cook beef & pork roasts, whole chickens or cakes, pies and breads. Itll bake whatever you want: Features: Heats up to 400degrees F. Rugged 95% reflective one-piece reflector panel (Higher reflectivity than a standard glass mirror). Double paned oven window instead of the typical single pane (Condensation virtually eliminated). Double rubber oven seals instead of a single seal (Better long term heat retention). Attachable Temp. Booster reflector panels for (Higher Temperature Cooking). Larger internal cooking chamber (Cook 4 different foods at one time). Accessories (Everything you need to get started solar cooking from day one). 24/7 electric back-up system is energy efficient using typically 75% less electrical energy than your standard in-house oven (The cost to operate is pennies). Rugged suitcase design offers clamshell like protection to internal parts. (Sets up in seconds: Simple as opening a suitcase). Portable for easy transporting (Fits in the trunk of your vehicle). Larger cooking range: Canada to the tip of South America (You cannot out travel the Tulsi-Hybrid). Peace of mind: Solar-Electric/Daytime/Anytime (Always in case of an emergency.). : Specifications: Cooker size: 540 x 540 x 200 mm. / 21.25 in. x 21.25 in. x 7.87 in. Material: Molded body made of UV resistant fiber reinforced plastic. Cooking capacity: 2 Kgs. or 6–8 Kgs. per day / 4 Lbs. or 13 to 17 Lbs. per day. Total weight: Approx. 13 Kgs. / 28 Lbs. including cooking pots. Tray material & coating: Aluminum sheet, black painted for high UV heat absorption. Cooking pots w/Lids: 4-Stainless steel pots w/lips, hard black coated for UV heat absorption. Energy source: Solar & electric power for backup. Electrical consumption: Approx. 0.15 to 0.4 KW/h. depending on quantity & ambient conditions. Power source: Solar and backup electric 120 volts / 60 cycles.
I forgot the link to Global Solar OVen
Love Texas – at 11:55
I haven’t seen it, but have read on some thread here where others have seen such commercials and billboards… I think in other parts of the country. Hope somebody did see it!
Reposting for y’all, from the 3rd Mass Fatality Plan thread. Texas state pandemic plan is “still October 24, 2005? (p18; Rrr!)
p 35, gPhases 1 and 2c Health Service Regions and Local Health Departments will cdata collection c to maintain a statewide inventory ofc j. mortuary and funeral serviceshc
gPandemic Alert Period, Phases 3, 4, and 5c ???
(Appendix A; donft see any mortuary group in the PIPG)
Appendix F Phase 5: cpublic gbegin to acquire a 3-month supply of non-perishable foodch
Hospital Bioterrorism fatality plans will not work for a pandemic influenza year.
(At least the Texas Funeral Directors Association website says, in their resource links page, gTexas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Do you want to know what the statefs draft plan for Pandemic Flu is? Click here.h )
If anyone feels comfortable asking, looks like there needs to be questions about how everywhere at once will realistically handle mass fatality surges.
DSHS pdf pandemic FAQ #10. ‘’‘What should citizens expect from their local public health officials to help prepare for and respond to pandemic flu?
People should expect frequent, truthful communication from their local public health officials.
Before an outbreak occurs, people should expect helpful personal and family preparation tips.
During an outbreak, people should get status reports and vaccine and medication information.
People should expect local public health officials to have realistic, comprehensive plans in place to coordinate a response with local emergency management teams including hospitals and with state public health officials.
People should expect that these plans be tested periodically, either by a planned exercise or through real-life events, and that changes be made based on these tests.
People should expect fast response to the initial cases to attempt to control a pandemic flu outbreak.
When antivirals and/or vaccine become available, citizens should expect adequate and organized dissemination of these materials’‘’ “
(wow, I have no idea how I managed to make squares -oops)
Well we got to practice living without power or television on Friday. Due to all the rain (8.5 inches in my area), we had interminent power outages with the “big one” on Friday morning. Cable went out sometime during the night, which is nothing new with our cable company. They go out even when there is no storm or apparant reason.
Since we have an electric cooktop, I could not cook. Morning showers were by candlelight until the sun was up enough to open windows. We got out the crank radio and batteries and listened for news reports. Thank goodness the cool front came through or we would have smothered from the humidity and heat.
One thing I think we will do is try to reconnect a tv to the antennea. We still have it up on the chimney. DH is not sure a newer model can be connected to the main tv but we could possibly hook up an older model. Then as long as there is electric we could stay in touch with what is going on. We did get a cord of firewood this weekend so if worse comes to worse, we can at least cook on the fireplace. We used to do it when the kids were little. Cast iron cookwear is the way to go.
Electric came on about four hours later and cable later in the afternoon.
Love Texas - I did see that commercial here in El Paso. I hope they repeat it frequently. Anything to start some discussion.
To all of you in the Houston area - be careful out there. I have family in Houston, and I pester them constantly during the rainy season to make sure that everyone is all right.
Was there a program on 20/20 about the Bird Flu recently? If so, did anyone tape it?
I took my son to his pediatrician today for his flu shot (they finally got the vaccines!) and decided to ask the doctor if he had attended any pandemic workshops they’ve had in our city. I told him my husband had attended one workshop. He said he hadn’t and asked how it went. I gave him a summary and then told him that if he wanted some news stories I could e-mail him a few (okay a few dozen). He became very interested when I told him that the website I visited had news stories from around the world including the Middle East, his home region. He even wanted the name of the website. So of course I didn’t hesitate to send him the Flu Wiki page and a couple of articles when I got home.
As NS1 so aptly quoted from Ovid - “Gutta cavat lapidem”. Dripping hollows the rock. Keep on dripping!
crfullmoon – at 18:34
Thanks! The “What should citizens expect from their local public health officials to help prepare for and respond to pandemic flu?” is especially “rich.” Too bad they arent’ doing any of it.
I can’t find the “resource link page” in the Texas Funeral Directors Association website. I think it may be this, but not sure… http://www.tfda.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=9
Was over at the nearby library to vote when I saw a flyer advertising a pan-flu discussion scheduled for 13 Nov at the same library. It’s the first time I’ve seen any sort of public outreach on AF in our area.
I want to go but right now I have a scheduling conflict.
Texas Rose - Do you think the library would have some materials they’re going to distribute at the discussion? Perhaps they could set some aside for you? I am really interested in knowing who is sponsoring the discussion and what they are saying.
I picked up the flyer and the talk is being presented by Public Health Emergency Preparedness of the San Antonio Metro Health Dept.
I’m working on rearranging my schedule so I can attend. I’d like to hear what they have to say.
crfullmoon – at 18:34 Texas state pandemic plan is “still October 24, 2005? (p18; Rrr!)
Have ya’ll read the draft plan in detail, it is full of typos and repeated responsive actions. I printed it out and read and made notes and it soon became obvious (as has been said on this site numerous times) we must prepare for ourselves and our families separate and apart from any governmental assistance.
Rural Dweller - You are so right about our state plan. Have you posted before? If not, a big Texas Welcome to you!
I went to Sam’s today to pick up some water and noticed people buying an unusual amount of water and canned goods. Never seen that before. Several women had cases & cases of water. North Texas here.
Texas Rose Nov 5th:
Would you mind telling us which San Antonio library will host that Nov 13th presentation? I would very much like to attend. Thanks in advance.
Maury Maverick on the NW side. If you’re not familiar with the area, it’s off Bandera, on Mystic Park(which is just past New Guilbeau, if you’re heading up from LP410).
Yeesh. I forgot to mention the time. The lecture will be at 1830(6:30 pm).
Back in June, I attended a pandemic seminar given by the city of Lubbock, Lubbock County, and University Medical Center (Texas Tech).
Lubbock and the surrounding counties have a population of 500,000. There were about 50 people in attendance. And it appeared that 10 to 15 of these were involved in producing the seminar. So, it was a very disappointing turn out.
Over all it wasn’t bad, but there was not any information provided that’s not commonly found at most of the flu blogs. I’m on the city council and I had thought that this seminar would provide information on who’s going to be in charge of what. None of this was even mentioned.
The speaker that I found most interesting was a historian. His specialty seemed to be yellow fever, typhoid, and cholera and many of the examples that he gave came from these epidemics. 1918 wasn’t even mentioned.
He talked about the epidemics that Texas had had since 1840. It amounted to just about one every two years. He touched on how quickly the rules of law were abandoned during every epidemic. No, he didn’t touch on it, he harped on it.
The hand outs were fairly good so I presented copies to all of council at the next meeting. Total silence. I’ve pushed pandemic so much that when I mention it now, the council members go blank until I’m through with my little presentation.
I live in a city of 1300, and we have NO plans for a Pandemic. Sad.
Abraxas – at 19:32
Thank you for the update on the meeting. It is disconcerting.
If this meeting has been advertised in the local media, I haven’t seen it. If I hadn’t been at the library I wouldn’t have seen the flyer on the bulletin board. It will be interesting to see the turnout, if I can make it there.
For all those who have family and friends who are veterans and for all those who are veterans I would like to extend my grateful thanks for all you do for our country.
My son is an Aggie so I keep up with avian flu news from A & M via the National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense website http://tinyurl.com/ymhnb6. Two items of interest at the site are: Emergency Management of Mass Animal Mortality A Science and Policy Workshop for Carcass Meta-Disposal in Texas and Watch the FAZD Center’s Avian Flu School in action The FAZD is a part of the department of Homeland Security and they’ve really starting their website recently. I thought other Fluwikians might enjoy poking around the site.
What I meant to say was that they’ve recently started beefing up their site in earnest. The Carcass Meta Disposal workshop really caught my eye. Who here knew that Texas had an Avian Flu School? I’ve not watched the video because I’m on dial-up, will have to watch at work.
Thanks, Ruby! This is a cool site. WHOOP to you and your son.
I look forward to the games to get me away from the computer on Saturdays…maybe I need to just stay on the computer. I want my blood pressure to go down when I’m not monitoring the pandemic sites, not up!
I guess we’ll just have to beat the H#!! outta tu.
:O)
Today’s game was something else!
I guess someone is anticipating large-scale animal mortality in the near(?) future. They anticipate a problem large enough that a workshop has to be held to “evaluate, improve, and prepare for an animal related crisis of mass mortality”.
File this one in the watch what they do, not what they say drawer. It dawns on me that they still think this flu may be more of an “animal” problem than a human pandemic.
I guess if worse came to worse a the same principles would apply to an overwhelming mass mortality in humans.
Y’all, watch the group buys. Even though you think you’re not interested in what’s for sale… it may be a surprise what all can be bought. I wasn’t interested in cheese or butter. Turns out, there is a 21% discount on everything from the distributor! See the group buy cheese, butter & MRE thread for details.
Petticoat Junction posted this on the news thread, and I thought it was worth another posting here.
Petticoat Junction – at 02:54 US Dept of Health and Human Services News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2006 Contact: HHS Press Office (202) 690–6343
U.S. and Mexico Pledge Increased Cooperation in Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Along Border
The United States and México today announced the signing of an agreement to boost cooperation on pandemic influenza preparedness among the six Mexican states and four U.S. states that share the international boundary.
Meeting in Hermosillo, Sonora, México, HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness Craig Vanderwagen and the Mexican Director-General of Epidemiology of the Mexican Federal Secretariat of Health Pablo Kuri signed a joint declaration to strengthen the commitment of the two nations to coordinate preparedness efforts, domestic and international disease surveillance activities, and response planning in the event of an outbreak of pandemic influenza.
“An influenza pandemic knows no political or geographic boundaries and responding to a potential outbreak will demand the cooperation of all nations, especially those that share common borders like México and the United States,” Assistant Secretary Vanderwagen said. “This agreement reflects the strong relationship between our nation and México and is a critical step in protecting our citizens.”
……For more information, please visit Border Health (comment: interesting site; most of the front page is on various pandemic issues right now)
History Lover and Petticoat~~good article.
On another subject—need info! My neighbor has 3 fruit trees (1 tangerine, 1 orange, and 1 lemon) that are so heavy with fruit that they are breaking. Does anyone know of a way to preserve, freeze or store these citrus fruits. The husband has said that we may take as many as we want; however, I don’t want to waste. The fruit is just now turning ripe, so I have a little time to prepare. Anyone have any ideas? Perhaps someone from the valley can help. Thanks!
N of H----I have some great recipes but they are in a box somewhere along with 50 other boxes. Get on line and goggle something like Florida Citrus commison or something like that marmalade, lemon, orange or grapefruit is great ect. Check it out.
Love Texas—Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve got time to research. Marmalade sounds good….hadn’t thought of jellies….I was only thinking in terms of some sort of juice…orange marmalade with peanut butter on home made bread……makes me hungry.
Hi guys, just checking in. Haven’t been on in awhile - haven’t done alot of prep in the last few months either due to getting the 2 youngest off to college (lack of time and $) and caring for my elderly grandmother who had another stroke last month. Things seem to be heating up some and I’m feeling the need to get out my “last minute” lists again and review them. Still need more water storage. I’ve read a bit tonight and sure am missing “the scientists”. Hope you fellow Texans are doing okay.
I’m very happy to announce that all the scientists are still kind enough to engage us via indirect channels.
So if you have questions:
and I’ll get it to the right brain.
Second try on
Centex - I know how you feel. We’re sending our oldest son back to grad school in December, and money just seems to disappear. Sorry to hear about your grandmother.
NS1 - Thanks for everything you do. I was reading your comments yesterday and you do help us laypersons to understand these complexities. Sometimes I feel like quoting Denzel Washington in Philadelphia - “explain it to me as if I were a four-year-old.”
Does anybody have a phone number on the acetaminophen recall? I saw an 800 number somewhere, but can’t find it anyplace. Thanks!
Found it, if anybody else needs it:
Consumers who believe they are in possession of the affected products should discontinue use immediately and call Perrigo’s at 877–546–0454 for further instructions. More info at www.recalls.org
Found another interesting site. This one is on the upcomming Texas Homeland Security Conference being held from Nov 27 to Dec 1 in San Antonio at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center. Topics about pandemic influenza will be presented and discussed.
Folks at Fluwiki would be most interested in Track #6 School Centered Emergency Management and Track #9 Public Health.
Here’s the link in case you want to poke around the site. http://tinyurl.com/y9crrs
I *think* I managed to create a place for TX preppers on the new wiki…come play (if I didn’t mess it up totally, lol)
Got the new one, messed up this one…sigh.
Oh good, the second link works. Please just ignore the one at 02:15. (oops)
PJ - I found the new thread, but I can’t access it. For some reason, my user name isn’t being accepted. I’m waiting for an e-mail to clear this up. But good work!