I'm awaiting the arrival of Sandy, and I've been reading the diaries from people suggesting the various ways to prepare - all of them good. It reminded me of a story from my youth that I never really tied in politically until this year due to you, the Kossacks...so, I thought I'd share.
More below the orange hurricane Sandy-like tracking indicator.
I was canoeing with a friend many years ago deep in the Adirondacks and he wanted to get close to the edge of some nearby waterfalls - I warned him that the current pulls harder the closer you get - I'm a ww kayaker and he's not, so he never learned to read rivers. He tried taunting me into it, so I decided to teach him a lesson and I let us get closer to the edge.
Big mistake. Not to keep you in suspense too long, as he lost control of his end of the canoe and it started slipping over the edge of the falls, he did an amazing thing - he stopped paddling. He didn't dig in, he didn't brace. He didn't push off, he didn't rudder. In fact, he didn't do anything that he'd been taught to do to get himself out of a tight spot. He just plain stopped. He didn't give up, he froze, and it's different. He was one of those people who gets so floored from high stress situations that he just simply froze up. Those of us in my group who do a ton of high-adrenaline activities call it "whiting out" because your vision actually turns a hazy white as this happens - you can train to learn how to deal with it. If I hadn't been closely watching and anticipating that he was about to to something stupid we'd have gotten hurt - not badly, it was only a 10 foot drop and likely wouldn't have been lethal which is why I took the risk in the first place, but still...he was frozen in place and could have split his skull or broken his arm on the way down making recovery more difficult.
I paddled us out of the problem (he caught on and helped pretty quickly) and eventually asked him what he'd thought he was doing. I never did get much of an answer other than a shrug out of him. He'd peed himself as well - your muscles all relax as your body tries its hardest to help you cushion an expected upcoming blow - so, he was embarrassed on top of it and likely demoralized. He never spoke of it - even years later it wasn't a subject I could bring up.
It's funny in retrospect, but really not. I've seen this happen to many different people in various situations where people immediately look for an external source to "save them" when trouble ensues. Here's the catch. They are usually Republicans, and yes, I'm serious. It's similar to how that same RW group tends to blame other people for the very social services that they themselves ask for, use and need. It's a strange mental state that I don't think any of us get - there is pride, selfishness, dependency, and a sense of the fragility of life, all playing against one another.
In terms of disaster prepardness I'd like to reiterate: Run the scenarios in your head. Know if x happens, you'll respond with y. Keep running various scenarios during the emergency. Keep up your mental chatter. Have many plans ready. Be ready to change plans. Don't stop. Don't give up. Don't expect someone to help you. Live.