Richardcyoung.com

  • Home
  • Debbie Young
  • Jimmy Buffett
  • Key West
  • Your Survival Guy
  • How We Are Different
  • Paris
  • About Us
    • Foundation Principles
    • Contributors
  • Investing
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
  • The Swiss Way
  • My Rifles
  • Dividends and Compounding
  • Your Security
  • Dick Young
  • Dick’s R&B Top 100
  • Liberty & Freedom Map
  • Bank Credit & Money
  • Your Survival Guy’s Super States
  • NNT & Cholesterol
  • Your Health
  • Ron Paul
  • US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool
  • Anti-Gun Control
  • Anti-Digital Currency
  • Joel Salatin & Alfie Oakes
  • World Gold Mine Production
  • Fidelity & Wellington Since 1971
  • Hillsdale College
  • Babson College
  • Contact Us

Hurricane Sandy: 5 Family Survival Lessons Learned

November 12, 2012 By The Editors

The devastation along the New Jersey, New York and Connecticut coastlines is terrifying. Sandy targeted the nation’s most densely populated area and ravaged its infrastructure. And yet it could have been even worse if Sandy had been a category 5 hurricane.

So what did survivalists learn from Sandy? Here are our top five takeaways from the storm. If you had hoped for the best, but prepared for the worst, this may be just reinforcement for you. But if you haven’t been thinking about preparation, don’t end up like those in Sandy’s wake. Read these five lessons and get your family prepared.

1)      Be armed. After Hurricane Katrina created mass looting and pillaging in New Orleans, this should have been a no brainer for people in densely populated areas. When the power goes out, phone service goes dead, and the mobs let loose, it’s just you and your family to fight for what’s yours. If you’re not armed, you’re a victim. Ask those who have had their doors bashed in during the night and their homes looted after Sandy hit. How about those who got mugged travelling down darkened stairwells because the electrically powered locks that normally prevent outsiders from coming into high-rises failed? You are the only one who can protect your family. The Wall Street Journal reports that employees from FTI Consulting had to walk up 32 flights of stairs to retrieve valuable computer equipment from their powerless office. Stairweel bandits could have met them at any turn. Many buildings are still out of power because they can’t legally pump the contaminated water from their basements.

2)      Gasoline. A lot of stories in the news about Sandy have mentioned that those who were smart enough to have a generator on hand were standing in line waiting with the helpless masses for gasoline. Survival is much like a chess game. You have to think multiple steps ahead. Buying a generator is pushing out the first pawn. Remembering to have enough gasoline to run it is your next move. To win the game, you’ll need to have extra spark plugs, air filters, extension cords and oil. And do yourself a favor. Make sure your portable generator has a wheel kit so you’re not breaking your back by dragging it around on the ground. And chain up your generator if you’re in a populated area. You don’t want someone walking away with it in the middle of the night. Refer back to number 1 here.

3)      Water. Another no brainer. Yet for New Yorkers filling water pails from fire hydrants and then lugging them up ten stories in the dark, this is a sad lesson learned. Get a plastic 55 gallon drum. Put it in your basement or a closet and fill it with water. Get a simple pump so you can get your water out to drink, flush your toilet, or cook some food. WARNING: Don’t drink flood water! There are many reports of bacteria-laden floodwater in Sandy’s path. Giardia and dysentery are no fun, especially when you’re facing them alone and cold.

4)      Clothing. Officials are putting out a call for underwear because Staten Island residents have been forced to wear the same pair for over a week. Many of the island’s residents lost everything but the clothes on their backs. Even if you neglect to make a bug-out bag, at least put a spare change of clothes in your car for each of your family members. This can come in handy even in smaller disasters, like an unexpected snowstorm that forces you to stay away from home for the night. Make sure these are rugged outdoor clothes, not dainty black-tie garb.

5)      Escape plan. Perhaps the most important disaster preparation you can complete is having an escape plan. Those in New York and New Jersey who took the brunt of the storm were warned to evacuate. Many ignored the warning because they had nowhere to go, no way to get there, or were not smart enough to leave. Find an evacuation point. Make sure you have transportation, possibly with a friend or family member if you don’t have a car. Then map out the route on paper. Your 4G LTE i-whatever isn’t going to be worth much if its battery is dead, if it’s soaked with water, or if the cell towers are down. A paper map in an airtight plastic bag will always be right where you left it in your car’s glove compartment. Businesses need a plan too. The Wall Street Journal reports that Jason Richelson of ShopKeep is considering a second location outside of New York City in North Carolina or Florida. At the very least you should consider offsite backups of your company’s data.

If you’re asking if we are trying to scare you, the answer is an emphatic yes. We don’t want you or your family to suffer through the cold, fear, pain and hunger that face victims of Sandy tonight. Simple preparations will help ensure that you never face that situation. Get started today.

Click here for information about donating supplies and money to Sandy’s victims, or volunteering your time to help them.

Related Posts

  • Your Family Vacation Survival Tip
  • Prepare for the Hurricane
  • Your Family Vacation Survival Tip
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
The Editors
The Editors
The Editors
Latest posts by The Editors (see all)
  • Patriot Missile Shortages Loom While Russia Ramps Up Barrages - July 8, 2025
  • Trump Administration Moves to Curb Foreign Ownership of U.S. Farmland - July 8, 2025
  • Trump Announces Vietnam Trade Deal - July 2, 2025

Dick Young’s Must Reads

  • The Problem in America
  • The Simple, Elegant Power of the Retirement Compounders
  • Escape From the City: You’re Going to Like What You See
  • “An Epic Struggle Over the Definition of America”
  • Investing Habits of the Fairly Wealthy: #8 “Safety”
  • Gold’s 50-Year Price Explosion
  • A Word or Two about Your Survival Guy’s Money
  • Can Curcumin Help in Fighting Cancer?
  • Why Black Lives Matter Needs to Be Shut Down
  • BANKERS’ WARS: Is Central Banking the Root of Global Conflict?

Compensation was paid to utilize rankings. Click here to read full disclosure.

RSS Youngresearch.com

  • Your Survival Guy: “You Wouldn’t Have Liked It”
  • DOE Unveils Plan to Quadruple U.S. Nuclear Power by 2050
  • How China Weaponized Rare Earths to Shift U.S. Trade Policy
  • Trump Administration Moves to Curb Foreign Ownership of U.S. Farmland
  • We Finally Got on the Boat
  • Trump Flexes Tariff Power Ahead of August 1 Deadline
  • America Remained a Net Energy Exporter as Domestic Output Soars
  • Copper Prices Surge as Global Supplies Tighten
  • Happy Independence Day!
  • Survival Guy: An All-Weather Balanced Portfolio

RSS Yoursurvivalguy.com

  • Your Survival Guy: “You Wouldn’t Have Liked It”
  • ESG Doesn’t Stand Up to Scrutiny
  • How to Dock a Boat with Helm Master EX
  • We Finally Got on the Boat
  • The Big Beautiful Bill: Good, Bad, and Ugly
  • WARNING: Your Survival Guy and Gal in the Fog
  • Happy Independence Day!
  • Survival Guy: An All-Weather Balanced Portfolio
  • A Bazooka Fired at Private Equity
  • NYC, Crypto, ESG, the Haves and the Have-Yachts

US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool

My Key West Garden Office

Your Retirement Life: Traveling the Efficient Frontier

Live a Long Life

Your Survival Guy’s Mt. Rushmore of Investing Legends

“Then One Day the Grandfather was Gone”

Copyright © 2025 | Terms & Conditions | About Us | Dick Young | Archives