@afewbugs Excellent thread that’s worth everyone’s time to read all the way through. Thank you for doing this.

@afewbugs This is a great thread, very thorough!

It's funny though, growing up in New Zealand we had disaster preparedness drilled into us regularly at school, so this advice from the government seems banal to me - not scaremongering at all. The inside cover of the phone book was devoted to civil defence instructions for various types of disaster, it was that pervasive. But I can see how it would come across differently somewhere without the ever-present threat of earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.

@afewbugs Helpful thread! Bearing in mind the wide range of disasters that could happen (anywhere!) then my suggestion to increase our state of readiness is free, essential, and incredibly flexible.

Get to know your neighbours. In almost any disaster, knowing who is who in your neighbourhood, and having a few friendly people to ask for help or give help to, is a massive advantage.

@afewbugs Thanks for all of this. Honestly thinking of printing it in case the time I need it is also a time without reliable internet

@afewbugs Great thread! I might add a few supplementary things:

1. A home first aid kit, maybe with additional bandages and some OTC meds like paracetamol, ibuprofen gel and Savlon

2. A supply of batteries and some battery powered lamps (cheaply available and last ages, more practical than candles)

3. I keep a supply of disposable lighters in case candles turn out to be necessary

4. A few basic gadgets that can be plugged into the battery pack (rice cooker/soup maker)

@afewbugs Add extra stocks of things like antihistamines and ibuprofen that tend to have go other usage if one is needing to do more physically than usual. Days without accustomed resources can get exhausting and painful fast, there can be surprise mold or dust, etc.

@afewbugs

Thank you for that! It’s always the water that bugs me, it’s bulky, needs refreshing frequently and you use far more of it than you think! Any more than 5 days and you’re really struggling domestically.

More conspiratorially I would be surprised if extreme weather was the only thing they’re worried about and not the current grey zone conflict that all the warmongers have stirred up that can take out the infrastructure remotely.

@afewbugs Useful thread. Thanks. Intrigued by the need for a black water storage container - we usually have a few supermarket (ie cheap) bottles of springwater (usually leftovers from festival season), and the use by is crazy long. Yet they are clear. I'm guessing because they are sterile when bottled?

(Note, I’m definitely not saying you're wrong. Just intrigued how the clear springwater bottles can stay fresh for so long)

@afewbugs We had a think about this. Our loft/attic has a 100 litre tank. Most UK houses do for historical reasons. We also have a 2 ring camping stove with enough gas to cook for a couple of weeks at least. And we generally have enough tins and dried carbs to last a few days at least, depending. So we're probably OK.

(The loft tanks are basically giant one-way valves to ensure that grey water can never flow back into the mains. When indoor plumbing was invented that seemed logical).