Stuck in Suburbia Strategies?

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I'm interested in serious thoughts on survival strategies for people like me in the suburbs who can't convince their spouse to relocate before Y2K (please don't say "divorce"... I take that 'for better or for worse' stuff seriously, so that is NOT an option) and may be unable to bug-out post Y2K, for any number of unpleasant reasons, which I'm sure you can imagine for yourselves.

Mostly, I am worried about security/defense issues.

The neighborhood demographics: Approximately 200 homes (1,000 people? Guess I'd better get some more exact figures, eh?). 99% white, middle-class, multi-generational families.

My gut says, start a community prep/neighborhood watch group ASAP. This would be something that could expand naturally if things got dicey. Better to meet people before any trouble starts (like the town alderman who lives just two blocks away... he might be persuaded to do something useful like get an old-style hand-pump water well put in at our neighborhood ball field).

Another thought I had was to arrange a major block-party for the main road that borders the entire multi-block neighborhood. Again, the goal would be to put names with faces... and to build a stronger sense of community. Perhaps a big Labor Day blowout? Hmmm...

My neighborhood has a few geographic pluses... it is located at the tip of a penninsula, where a major river meets the Long Island Sound and forms a large salt marsh. There is ready access to fishing and (distillable) water and many neighbors own sailboats (I realize how quickly powerboats could become useless!). Being a penninsula, it is also feasible that we could set up road blocks to vehicles although blocking foot traffic would require razing houses and/or major fencing/wall/barrier construction.

The area also has one big geographic minus... we're at the edge of the greater NYC-metro area. (I keep thinking about that "if you live within 5 miles of a 7-11, you're toast" quote.)

I know this is getting long, but one last area of concern is interaction with traditional authority. What is likely to be the reaction of law enforcement to local citizens patrolling their own neighborhoods (presumably, on foot)? In times of trouble, I would think this would be a welcomed thing, but... am I being naive?

I realize a lot depends on how hard Y2K hits. Obviously, in this what-if scenario, I'm imaginging that some food will be available (through government rationing, black market, whatever) and that outright starvation is not the immediate problem.

Many thanks for your time and thoughts.

Sincerely yours,

-- M.C. Hicks (mhicks@greenwich.com), July 16, 1999

Answers

Anything that builds a sense of community is a good investment. Check on that pump - what was normal once might be illegal now. But sure, see if the alderman is GI and if not, work on him.

Regardless of the larger community, find out who else gets it, and talk teamwork with them. Compare notes, start doing some kind of Y2k publicity to wake up others. That's the absolutely toughest part of y2k. Learn all you can, so when the others get frightened you'll at least have some answers. Get downloadable materials and print them. Check Cassandra.

Your biggest plus will be a sense of community and togetherness. If you don't have it now, it will magically spring to life when the first Y2k riots happen in NY. Trust me. Your geographic placement helps that feeling, and gives a clear boundary around the group. The boundary clearly says who's US and who's THEM. It's tougher when the boundary is from about THIS block to about halfway down THAT street.

But oh, golly, you're awful close to NY.

Your local law enforcement is not going to be real thrilled at vigilantes, but would probably be delighted at some community involvement in safety, neighborhood watch, that kind of thing. The fuzz will probably come and do introductory talks on the subject, if you ask. They do here, anyhow.

Find out what their emergency plans are, including an emergency operations center. Do they need help? If you don't have time to volunteer, do any of your family? Be part of the solution, not another fringe group that the cops have to worry about. Bear in mind, if things get sticky, your local cops may no longer be in charge, and whoever takes over from them might NOT want any patrolling!

Boats are going to be incredibly valuable toward the end of this year. A steel-hulled motor-sailer that sleeps 6, for example, will probably be the most sought-after item. Enough fuel to get you clear of port, and then unlimited range. I've even suggested that people think of buying one as an investment. I don't have the cash.

And starvation is certainly in the range of possibilities.

So my call: Stock food as quickly as you can, don't worry about clearing the store. Buy what you normally eat. Explore teamwork possibilities with others you know. Consider a fallback plan that involves chipping in and getting you all clear of the place by boat. What the heck, if you don't need it, you can sell it later. Buy at least some foods with that in mind - highly compact, dehydrated, etc. If you do the boat thing, have someone aboard at all times and stock it now. Meanwhile, work on community efforts, try to wake them up.

By the end of the year, you want as many irons in the fire as you can handle. Think flexible.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), July 16, 1999.


Maybe you could persuade your wife to keep her "honor and obey" portion of the wedding vows.

-- Prometheus (fire@for.man), July 16, 1999.

Store the food, bulk dry. Beans, Rice, Ramen etc. Lots of it in 5 gal. white food ready plastic buckets after putting it into mylar bags with oxy absorbers and vacumming out the air (vacuum hose works well).. Store the water....buy an above ground cheapo pool with plans to fill it right before zero hour....need some chems to try to keep it clean etc.

Also, plan several options including a bug out in worst case scenario and a stay for a month the bug out scenario etc.....

Med bag and weapons. I recommend one large cal. semi auto pistol (Glock 17 or G22) are preferrable. One .22 rifle (ruger 10/22) and one assault type rifle or 12 guage shotgun. For the assault rifle try an AK47 or SKS or Even a .223 M16. For the shotgun Mossberg 500 or Remington 870. Buy ammo and clips for each. 400 rnds for the pistol, 5000 rnds for the .22 and 2-3 thsd for the rifle/shotgun.

You have a lot of work, get going. Read and Do. Don't pause to smell flowers, they won't help if you're dead.

-- Gordon (g_gecko_69@hotmail.com), July 16, 1999.


M.C.,

Sounds like you've done alot of good thinking. You might want to consider setting up a communications system in your neighborhood to monitor the goings on around you. For instance, you could have a "command base" CB and scanner system set up at your place, then neighbors who want to purchase a handheld CB can opt to do so. Also consider how to block off entrances to your neighborhood if possible.

Law enforcement in my area has already dictated the contingency "plan" to their officers in case electricity goes off. They have been told that they will be sent home. Period. I was told this by my grandson, who is a police offer in our county. I apologize for posting anonymously but feel I must do so this one time.

You have some well thought out plans. Good luck.

-- Anon. (Mustbequiet@this.time), July 16, 1999.


A good place to start might be a neighborhood watch program. Check with your local police. The police in our small town encourage and help in setting one up. They even provide cell phones.

-- Homeschooling Grandma (mlaymon@glenn-co.k12.ca.us), July 16, 1999.


Thanks everyone, for taking the time to respond!

* * *

B.W. -- Absolutely, flexibility is the key. I hope you're right about the "Us vs. Them" effect that the natural geographic boundary will help to create! Regarding foot patrols (and who may or may not appreciate it), it seems to me that a larger, formally-organized neighborhood group would be better tolerated by law enforcement (or whoever is "in charge") than a small band of vigilantes.

Prometheus -- "...persuade her to OBEY..." Oh, if only you knew! *grin* Seriously, have you ever seen that British sitcom where the guy calls his wife "She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed?" Similar circumstances.

Gordon -- I'm pretty well ahead on the storage of food & water items, although you've all given me some new thoughts on concentrated foodstuffs for possible emergency bug-out situations. Also, my brother-in-law has some extra guns stored at his place across town. We've already talked, but I think I'd better put some money where my mouth is and give him a "holding fee" plus purchase some extra ammo.

Anon -- I really like the "command base" concept. Besides knowing what is going on elsewhere, it also becomes a natural focus point. You don't have to go chasing people as much; they come to you.

Homeschool Grandma -- Yes to organizing the neighborhood watch, but I'm starting to think more in terms of a militia (or at least something more proactive than a bunch of shut-ins who phone the cops when they see a silhouette in the bushes or a strange car drive by).

* * *

Thanks again!

-- M.C. Hicks (mhicks@greenwich.com), July 19, 1999.


When I said you were too close to NYC, it sounds like I'm down on NYC. That's not true; it's more like recognizing the danger at a soccer game. It can be fun to be there, but getting caught in a stampede can be fatal.

To all of you in NYC, here's the situation: your self-protection is technically simple and politically infeasible. All you need is an average of a month's food for everyone in the city, and (say) a week's water and a water filter. All you needed to do was start buying food last year, slowly ramping up the food pipeline, grocers order more, trucks deliver more, packing plants ramp up production. I started saying this in early 1998, when your increased buying would have made itself felt as increased planting in the spring of 1999. This is not rocket science.

But the government averted your preps by saying it wouldn't be worse than a 3-day storm. Heck, back in 1998 they were calling this a "non-event". They couldn't very well also say that you should stock up, just to be safe. Further, the govt probably felt it was politically unpalatable to recommend any preparations that the poorest voting block couldn't achieve. If the govt recommended a month, sure as heck there would be an outcry to place month-size packages in homes of the poor. So rather than recommend something that most could achieve, the govt recommended essentially nothing.

That left it to old geeks like me, and to those who have homesteaded and the like, who see the risks, to warn you about the danger. Our voices cannot compete with the heavy happy publicity from official sources. But perhaps we have at least warmed you up, with these warnings, and when the deception is exposed (through computer failures) you will be quick to respond.

The only way to prep NYC is to pump food through the pipeline. If I could pump it from here, I would. But food moves by suction - by the purchases at the end of the pipeline. There are millions of pounds of food in warehouses, but the warehouse manager isn't going to load up 20 semi's and say "Start rolling toward New York, and maybe someone will buy this when you get there".

You need to move food on your own, by buying it. Your goal should be (1) to have the maximum amount of food in the NY area, and (2) spread it as evenly as possible. Riots will be by people who have nothing, and can get nothing. Those who have food will be staying at home (to protect it) and have no need to go looking.

It takes a real sicko to WISH for food riots and famine. But it takes only a little though to realize that this is LIKELY, if the government predictions are wrong. I hope they are right, but I fear they are not.

New York City, if you're listening, please look around and notice that the rest of the crowd is unprepared for Y2k, like the crowd at a soccer game is unprepared for fire. I can't foretell the future, don't KNOW that a fire is coming, but the hoodlums are flicking their lighters.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), July 19, 1999.


BTW. The boat thing is not necessarily a solution, I'm just predicting that it's one of the courses people will follow. If you bail on a boat, eventually you have to find somewhere to put in, you have to find renewable supplies, etc. And being on the water can expose you to different dangers in the forms of weather, or pirates, or national frictions that catch you in the middle.

As I said, we aren't doing that. But I suspect many will grasp that idea in the last few months, as they realize how much their location puts them at risk and how few exits are available.

Your absolutely best protection comes from living in a group of cooperating people who (along with you) are prepared for disruptions.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), July 19, 1999.


[BW said:] "Your absolutely best protection comes from living in a group of cooperating people who (along with you) are prepared for disruptions."

I couldn't agree more.

Regarding boats, using them for land-based community support (e.g. fishing) is a definite yes. Using them as permanent, mobile dwellings however.... no thanks, not me!

-- M.C. Hicks (mhicks@greenwich.com), July 19, 1999.


MC,

In my area it was the local fire department that had coordinated plans for emergency water, communication, food [when available], and medical assistance.

-- flora (***@__._), July 19, 1999.



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