This is a great thread SG, and so very very true. I'm quite sure that everyone here is aware of the sorry state of our infrastructure here in this country, that has me quite concerned. I just don't think that it's going to take as big of a CME as people think to shut our power grid down, or take out every damn satelite flying around the Earth. If this were to happen I'm quite sure that it will set off a crisis that will escalate so fast that a whole lot of people are going to find themselves in dire straights.

I bet you guys over on the northern banks of the St. Lawrence remember 1989 quite well. That was the year if I'm remembering correctly that a very small CME turned the power off to Quebec and a very large part of upstate N.Y. for just around a month in the dead of winter. The reason this comes to mind is because my grandmother who was in her 70s was trying to keep warm with her pot belly stove up there where she lived in Massena N.Y. At that time, while it was during solar maximum, the particular part of the sun that produces the heaviest CME's wasn't even pointing toward the Earth. That's kind of a scary thought as it is pointing directly toward the Earth this time. Imagine the power going out along the entire east coast, and staying out for months.

I remember the hurricane season that Justa referred to in her post as well as that is the reason that I started prepping in the first place. I am less than 20 miles from the area that the first hurricane hit and it hit in July or August if I remember correctly and let me tell you it was friggin flying hot. At the time we were on a well so not only did we find ourselves without power we also had no water. We were totally unprepared and the only reason that we made it through those couple of weeks was because our neighbors had been through Hurricane Andrew and were prepared. They fed us, brought us water, taught us how to flush the toilets, and plugged us into their generator to keep our refrigerator and some fans running. That was when I vowed never to be caught unprepared like that again. Amazingly that year we were hit again in almost the exact spot a couple of months later, and then again in November or December. What a year that was, let me tell you.

I have learned that while having food on hand is very important the biggest mistake most people make in preparing for a natural disaster is not giving enough thought to water storage. A person can live quite awhile without food but only a week or less without enough water. The other problem is that when people get thirsty they will try to drink whatever they find and will end up killing themselves in the process. Once I realized this little fact I promptly started to prepare and store water. I know have enough water stored for everyone in my family for a month. It was easily treated and prepared for storage and cost me absolutely nothing. I gathered the jugs by simply cleaning and reusing all of the gallon water jugs that I have bought and used over the last few years and having friends and neighbors save and give me theirs instead of throwing them away. I never had to say a word about what I wanted them for and they were happy to set them aside for me. I now have 2 gallons for each person per day stored for drinking. Now that is just for drinking. I am fortunate enough to have a swimming pool here so that water can be used in an emergency for the other stuff like bathing, and toilet flushing Ect. The other thing that I have made it a point to learn how to do is to treat water and render if safe for human consumption. This is a skill that no one should be without. I will start a thread when I have a bit more time for those who have not yet taught themselves this vital skill. Most of what I have learned about it I learned from reading articles that I found by googling how to treat water for human consumption and then practicing the techniques using disgusting water from different sources right here in my back yard. Anyhow as usual I seem to have rambled off at the mouth/fingers again. Thank you for taking the time to create this thread SG, it's a great subject. I will talk to everyone soon, take care.

PM