Hurricanes, Tropical Storms & “Swarm Shopping”

Hurricane Hermine struck several states in the lower southeast quadrant of the United States late Thursday afternoon, and continued making landfall throughout Friday. This single storm system was expected to dump massive amounts of torrential rain throughout Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, where an astounding 12” of rain was expected to fall in Fayetteville, a city located approximately an hour and a half inland from the coast.

While Hurricane Hermine was not a very strong storm system, only reaching Category 1 status, it is the first one to hit Florida since 2005, when Wilma made landfall. Hermine caused minimal damage as it made its way across the Florida peninsula, eventually being downgraded to a Tropical Storm. However, it was still powerful enough to leave several hundred thousand citizens without power.

Over 200,000 residents from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina woke up Friday morning to experience power outages. Flash flood warnings for residents living along rivers throughout those 4 states were issued as this storm continued to make its way up the eastern seaboard. Flash floods and power outages often induce localized panic, which in turn, can increase the associated risk of surviving such an event.

Emergency Preparedness, or “prepping” as it has come to be affectionately known, is a philosophy that embodies pure survival through any and all events, at all costs. Adapting your current lifestyle to incorporate the principles of prepping provides the individual with the skills, gear, and knowledge to overcome a multitude of possible life altering events, with a minimal amount of outside assistance; they will become self-reliant and self-sufficient.

Prepping is not a part-time endeavor, at least it shouldn’t be, but a lifelong process that reduces dependency on collapsible infrastructures, while simultaneously increasing an individual’s ability to take care of themselves and their families through such actions as raising their own crops and livestock, being able to forage for wild edibles, hunt, fish, find water, build shelters, and basically live off the land as thousands of past generations did before us in the modern era.

Dependence on collapsible infrastructures, such as the industrial food chain, grid based service providers for electricity, water, and heating fuel, amounts to a recipe for disaster. If/when any one of these services goes down, it creates an initial feeling of panic, especially for those who do not possess the knowledge and skills to survive without them indefinitely. When two or more of these services go down, it often results in localized panic in the form of “swarm shopping.” Swarm shopping refers to the massive rush for, and consumption of, all available conventional commodities, such as bottled water, canned goods, toiletries, candles, batteries, generators, etc.

Swarm shopping is an experience that preppers never have to endure. Those who are fully engaged with the prepper lifestyle have been stockpiling supplies for several years. Even those who are just getting started with survivalism have an advantage over those who consider the lifestyle to be a fringe conspiracy community. People who have been systematically trained in a public education forum, and who have never had the benefit of knowing someone who is capable of going off grid for good, are sitting ducks when a serious natural disaster bears down on the region they reside in.

Hurricanes, tornados, tropical storms, flash floods, and all other types of natural disasters are possible at any given time. Although some natural disasters are seasonal, none of them adhere to a set schedule, which makes it all but impossible to try and avoid them. Individuals who live in areas where natural disasters are frequent and commonplace annual events, should be involved in emergency preparedness planning to some degree. Emergency preparedness kits, often referred to as “Bug-out Bags,” or “Bug-in Bags,” as well as a host of other names, are an excellent place to begin the journey towards self-reliance. These handy little kits are often assembled by the individual; however, they can also be purchased completely packed, assembled, and ready to go, for those who do not want the hassle of reviewing each item before purchase.

Prepping is a very liberating lifestyle. Once mastered, the prepper realizes that they have replaced all their fears with the confidence to overcome them, as well as any new ones that might appear. By assembling an emergency preparedness kit now, individuals can avoid getting caught unaware the next time a natural disaster strikes. By acquiring the knowledge, skills, and gear that make survival easier to manage when calamity comes knocking, individuals provide themselves and their loved ones with an additional layer of life insurance; one that cannot be purchased anywhere on Earth.

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