{"id":40374,"date":"2018-12-23T08:39:49","date_gmt":"2018-12-23T16:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/?p=40374"},"modified":"2018-12-23T11:39:43","modified_gmt":"2018-12-23T19:39:43","slug":"first-three-days-then-two-weeks-now-six-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/23\/first-three-days-then-two-weeks-now-six-months\/","title":{"rendered":"First three days, then two weeks, now six months<\/em>?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Preps, I mean. Recommended by the fedgov. Six-months of personal preparedness is an extrapolation, not an actual stated recommendation, but read on.<\/p>\n

Via Shel comes news of a recent report (PDF)<\/a> from the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council and the Department of (Achtung!) Homeland Security.<\/p>\n

I haven’t read the full report yet. I’ve skimmed it and run several searches for relevant terms. I’m certainly going to read the rest. The introduction at OffGridSurvival.com<\/a> (which is slightly misleading) begins:<\/p>\n

\nIn a new report from the President\u2019s National Infrastructure Advisory Council and published by the Department of Homeland Security, the government is urging the public to prepare for the up to six months without electricity, transportation, fuel, money, and healthcare.<\/p>\n

DHS is warning that the electric grid is now the \u201cprime target\u201d of terrorists, and says Americans need to be prepared for a power outage of up to six months. The report says that \u201cPeople no longer keep enough essentials within their homes, reducing their ability to sustain themselves during an extended, prolonged outage. We need to improve individual preparedness.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Old timers may recall that you were once a fringeoid nutjob if you did any degree of preparedness. But then, three days worth of emergency preps became the okay, even prudent thing. Because, you know, after that emergency officials would surely ride to your rescue and provide you with all the food, water, shelter, warmth, and medicine you’d need.<\/p>\n

Then came Katrina. And other failures. Maria. Harvey.<\/p>\n

So two weeks of preps became the thing for prudent citizens. But surely, after that much time, FEMA and local government equivalents would save the day.<\/p>\n

Now comes this new report, whose executive summary begins:<\/p>\n

The nation has steadily improved its ability to respond to major disasters and the power outages that often result. But increasing threats \u2014 whether severe natural disasters, cyber-physical attacks, electromagnetic events, or some combination \u2014 present new challenges for protecting the national power grid and recovering quickly from a catastrophic power outage.<\/p>\n

The President\u2019s National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) was tasked to examine the nation\u2019s ability to respond to and recover from a catastrophic power outage of a magnitude beyond modern experience, exceeding prior events in severity, scale, duration, and consequence. Simply put, how can the nation best prepare for and recover from a catastrophic power outage regardless of the cause? <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The report estimates that a major grid-down catastrophe could leave the nation, or large parts of it, without power and other amenities for at least two, and more likely six months — or more<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The article in OffGridSurvival.com is misleading (though only slightly) in that the NIAC report never overtly states that individuals and families should have six months of what you and I think of as preps<\/em>. Nowhere does it say that anybody should store six months of lentils or gasoline or water.<\/p>\n

It assumes that local communities (meaning governments, CERT volunteers, and others with official functions) will take a large hand in this new level of preparedness.<\/p>\n

Yet the need for long-term individual and family preparedness is implicit throughout the report.<\/p>\n

For once, it seems, We the Peasants are considered part of the nation and not just some herd that the real nation (that is, government) is expected to look after. <\/p>\n

That’s a good thing. <\/p>\n

The bad things are twofold (at least):<\/p>\n