I have been following the preparedness threads for some time and find them very informative...however...I live in an APARTMENT in the suburbs of St. Louis, and many/most of the techniques posted are not feasable for me. Any contributions are very welcome.

Thanks and, keep it up, ALL of you!

-- MidwestMike_ (midwestmike_@hotmail.com), June 03, 1999

Answers

MidwestMike,

I cannot remember the thread, but at one time in the past people were talking about apartment preps. Someone made a suggestion about getting a storage place (you know... they are everywhere) to keep some of your supplies in. You should be able to get one fairly cheap, and stock it up all that you can. I guess it would be best to do your stocking and getting of your supplies at night when others are less likely to see what you are putting in storage. Just a thought, maybe someone knows the link to that thread.

-- (cannot-say@this.time), June 03, 1999.

Midwest Mike,

Having moved out of a condo just over a year from now, I have thought a little about what I would have done if I hadn't moved into a house. Your storage space is limited (even if you made your living room look like a warehouse) and there will be limitations to what you can store. For example, my 150 gallon freshwater fish tank made my head building engineer a little nervous. I imagine four 55 gallon plastic drums of water in each room would be alright (but this is just an imagination, so you must check with your building engineer to see if the floor will hold that almost 1800 lbs. of water along with whatever else you own.)

My chief concern about staying in an apartment building would be the fire hazards of all my neighbors with lots of candles and cheap glass oil lamps. Someone may just go to sleep without putting the candles out, someone may knock over a glass oil lamp, and someone may put a candle or oil lamp near something flammable. When I lived in the condo, we had three or four smoky situations when the power and water was on and the fire department would always get there in less than five minutes. Think about how disorganized things will be if you experience failures for two to three days and a fire breaks out.

My primary concern would be how to get out (alive) of the building in the event of a fire. Do you have your own fire extinguisher, breathing apparatus, a fire-proof overcoat, fire-proof gloves, and a fire-proof bug out bag? Then, I would think about the basics: shelter, heat, water, self-defense, and food. Living in an apartment building, you will immediately be dealing with other human beings if TSHTF -- even if only briefly. You will deal with them during an evacuation or when they need something. Depending on how secure your door and walls are and who your neighbors are, you may need to get pepper spray, etc.

While the easiest thing to recommend is to get out of there, that may not be possible for you for whatever reason. Just think about it real hard. If you can't afford to move, who do you know who lives in the country... or in a house not far from you. Can you stay with them? If you make preps with them (or have some you can share with them), they may be more than happy to take you in. Perhaps, it's time to forget differences of opinion... to forgive and rebuild a lost relationship. No man (or woman) is an island unto themselves. Still, if you have to stay in your apartment, you'll need to make do with what you got. I suggest working together and planning Y2K with some of your neighbors.

If you are staying, it is unlikely you can stay in your apartment for a long time if the failures continue and your food and water preps are used up. At some point, you may need to go out of the building and refresh your supplies. Your building might not be the best position to get in and out without too much notice. In a worse case (Milne's 11), I think that the smell would force you out of your building (not to mention the airborne diseases and plumbing problems). Therefore, you should identify better positions to move into should things get really bad... or figure out how to very quickly get out of the city if TSHTF.

Sincerely, Stan Faryna

-- Stan Faryna (info@giglobal.com), June 03, 1999.

Stan,

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll get started on that "Bugout" bag as soon as I find an appropriate list of items. I do have family with homes within reasonable walking distance (assuming I'm not able to drive). Also I have a king waterbed in storage, that thing must hold lake Huron but is it safe to drink? All input is welcome.

-- MidwestMike_ (midwestmike_@hotmail.com), June 03, 1999.

The Y2KWomen email newsletter put out by Karen Anderson recently devoted an issue to apartment preps. Sorry, I already deleted mine, but I think she has a website where you might be able to get it.

-- Pearlie Sweetcake (storestuff@home.now), June 04, 1999.

Here's a link to Y2K for Women

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), June 04, 1999.