Thoughts on Urban Survival

[Mistwalker]

bla bla bla... urban suvival yes i have a plan, but buddy, those a pretty rural pic's (by comparison) you posted. I would be envious in your shoes at disaster time. Lets not forget the fact that most of you live in states where it is natural and normal to arm yourselves properly. here in california, its a bit harder to build a solid defence.

I understand it is different for everyone...and worse for a lot of others, that's why I wanted to hear how others were intending to deal with possible situations.

I am working on more of the city pictures but photobucket is down at the moment. Anyone know of a better imaging site that has a paid service and produces the same size pics?

Since P.B. is down I may just go for a walk through town. I need the time to think anyway. I had planned on starting a long term wilderness survival thread....but due to a recent questioned death of a family member in an urban environment in Washington state my thoughts are more on the urban environment at the moment.

I understand your worries about your son.

 

[zman308]

Planning an evac route and alternates is important. I have always planned to hoof it out because the main roads would be a parking lot. Second consideration is avoiding the authorties who may want to put you in a shelter or camp. Before I retired I worked in the big city 16 miles away. We live in the rural area where I could survive forever. Well, generator, propane tank, wood burner and unlimited garden area. My BOB contained all the necessities for 24 hours. The usual items with food , water, and most importantly a battery radio to keep up with the crisis. Plan to look inconspicuous and avoid dense population areas. Maybe plan to travel at night. The whole family should have the plan and to meet at a certain point. Don't assume that cell phones will work and that a bunch of twit twitters will not have the circuits overloaded. Note which way the wind blows and plan your route accordingly to be downwind on any type of chemical, nuclear or biological disaster. Chaos will reign in the cities but after a few days the suburbs and self sufficient areas will calm down and people will start working things out. Compare New Orleans to South Dakota. Helpless whinning to everybody pitching in to solve the problem

 

[fulloflead]

That River Gallery place with the big wooden door and steel fence around it looks like it would keep zombies out. And since you live near a nuclear plant, there's a greater chance that the zombie apocalypse will begin in your town.

I'm in DC (actually Silver Spring, MD) and I've been thinking about this too. I don't have a car, so it'd be really hard for me to get OUT of town. I'd have to find somewhere safe IN town to keep my head down.

.

 

[Mistwalker]

Planning an evac route and alternates is important. I have always planned to hoof it out because the main roads would be a parking lot. Second consideration is avoiding the authorties who may want to put you in a shelter or camp. Before I retired I worked in the big city 16 miles away. We live in the rural area where I could survive forever. Well, generator, propane tank, wood burner and unlimited garden area. My BOB contained all the necessities for 24 hours. The usual items with food , water, and most importantly a battery radio to keep up with the crisis. Plan to look inconspicuous and avoid dense population areas. Maybe plan to travel at night. The whole family should have the plan and to meet at a certain point. Don't assume that cell phones will work and that a bunch of twit twitters will not have the circuits overloaded. Note which way the wind blows and plan your route accordingly to be downwind on any type of chemical, nuclear or biological disaster. Chaos will reign in the cities but after a few days the suburbs and self sufficient areas will calm down and people will start working things out. Compare New Orleans to South Dakota. Helpless whinning to everybody pitching in to solve the problem

Sounds like you have thought it all out pretty well, but would a dynamo powered radio not be better? That's what I've been buying for gifts lately.

That River Gallery place with the big wooden door and steel fence around it looks like it would keep zombies out. And since you live near a nuclear plant, there's a greater chance that the zombie apocalypse will begin in your town.

I'm in DC (actually Silver Spring, MD) and I've been thinking about this too. I don't have a car, so it'd be really hard for me to get OUT of town. I'd have to find somewhere safe IN town to keep my head down.

.

That gallery used to part of one of the historic hill top mansions of the wealthy that once lived here in the area that is now the art district. Rembrandt's coffee house is in another part of it. It was once like a small castle, I'd love to have owned it. There are others around it that have been turned into bed and breakfasts and museums.


Lots of nuclear plants near you too. Is a bicycle not an option for you?

 

[CShepherd]

Mistwalker,

I live up the road from you in Cleveland but work over off of Standifer Gap and often thought of the potential disasters that occur here.

One of my biggest concerns is getting linked back up with my wife and girls since they are all up in Cleveland at work or daycare during the day while I'm in Chattanooga.

We do have a basic bugout plan along with supplies for 3-4 days in a fairly easy to grab and go configuration. One thing in our plan is to attempt to get our popup. From reading about the Katrina evacuees, one of the major problems they ran into was finding lodging. The hotels that weren't full were gouging horribly.

Up in Cleveland we have Olin Chemical that is a major problem. They make pool chemicals that carry major hazards if there is a serious accident. As you've mentioned there is Watts Barr, Sequioah and a few other potential major manmade hazards.

Weather isn't a major concern since we rarely get tornadoes and in this area, unless they hit us directly they're likely not a big problem. Winter storms are rare and we're prepared to bug-in for a good bit. We're also close enough to town to make it in if we needed to on foot.

I appreciate your post as this is something we all need to remind ourselves to prepare for from time to time, especially since we're all more likely to face an emergency at home than in the woods.

Charlie

 

[Mistwalker]

Mistwalker,

I live up the road from you in Cleveland but work over off of Standifer Gap and often thought of the potential disasters that occur here.

One of my biggest concerns is getting linked back up with my wife and girls since they are all up in Cleveland at work or daycare during the day while I'm in Chattanooga.

We do have a basic bugout plan along with supplies for 3-4 days in a fairly easy to grab and go configuration. One thing in our plan is to attempt to get our popup. From reading about the Katrina evacuees, one of the major problems they ran into was finding lodging. The hotels that weren't full were gouging horribly.

Up in Cleveland we have Olin Chemical that is a major problem. They make pool chemicals that carry major hazards if there is a serious accident. As you've mentioned there is Watts Barr, Sequioah and a few other potential major manmade hazards.

Weather isn't a major concern since we rarely get tornadoes and in this area, unless they hit us directly they're likely not a big problem. Winter storms are rare and we're prepared to bug-in for a good bit. We're also close enough to town to make it in if we needed to on foot.

I appreciate your post as this is something we all need to remind ourselves to prepare for from time to time, especially since we're all more likely to face an emergency at home than in the woods.

Charlie

Hi Charlie,

Nice to meet you. Thanks for reminding me...I had completely forgotten about Olin. A Chlorine spill in your area is a possibility also. and you are almost in between Watts Bar and Sequoyah.

One thing I really need to do is put a camper shell on my truck. I have a small tent I keep handy for the kids but a more rigid shelter would be much better for them if we bugged out to the woods.

Brian

 

[theonew]

I live on the island of Manhattan and of course know all the routes out of town, there ain't that many :grumpy: I wouldn't count on being able to drive out of here in the event of a real disaster, the roads would be way to congested. Also on 9/11, before we knew the extent of the attack, my first instinct was to get out of Dodge, but that wasn't even an option, since all the bridges and tunnels were closed

My wife and I have two bicycles and I'm sure my dog could keep up with us for many many miles. But I really should think about this a lot more than I have

 

[dawsonbob]

Better to be prepared, have a plan and never need to implement it, than to suddenly find yourself saying "Oh, hell. I didn't think this could ever happen: what do I do now?" It's a little late to start learning to swim after you fall off the boat.

 

[dougo83]

I live a few miles from the 4th largest city in the US.

My urban survival plan consists of looking through real estate booklets that cater to folks relocating to rural areas and trying to convince my wife that she would love living on a farm.

Oh, and I have a big prybar.

You are far enough out of the shitehole of houston that you can bug out north pretty easily. Spring, Tomball, Klein, etc are all outside of the metro crap.

 

[Mistwalker]

I live on the island of Manhattan and of course know all the routes out of town, there ain't that many :grumpy: I wouldn't count on being able to drive out of here in the event of a real disaster, the roads would be way to congested. Also on 9/11, before we knew the extent of the attack, my first instinct was to get out of Dodge, but that wasn't even an option, since all the bridges and tunnels were closed

My wife and I have two bicycles and I'm sure my dog could keep up with us for many many miles. But I really should think about this a lot more than I have

In your case I'd think bikes or even samll motorized bikes might would be better than a full sized vehicle.

 

[Mistwalker]

This is somnething else I have been keeping an eye on here...this is a menace that didn't used to be here but now one that is really growing.
The new gang that works out of the park every night…the white shirt gang. If you watch them for a little while you’ll see things changing hands…a lot.

This picture is the cropped version of the above picture.

There were no gangs here when I was a kid, now we have 6 of them.

And this is a pretty common site here on the weekend nights.

 

[Fonly]

I most certainly do.

The quick and easy thing is to load up on gas and try different routes through out the day. Thats what i've done, I've found all the small roads, and I've also got the city in my gps. On top of that I carry a bus map, this shows all the stores, various city land marks and other things.

I know one night we had a wicked thunder and lighting storm, we were in the movie theaters and the power to that section of the city went off. I had my gear with me, light firsta aid kit and all the good stuff. We also have had a few tornados in the area, and last year had a few that were powerful enought to level a church and lift some trucks off the ground, so that is another thing I have been planning for.

Asid from having the normal gear, your lights, medical, cash, navagation things like that. Knowing your surrounding is the most powerful thing you can know.

The same thing has been happing here with gangs, their is more activity coming up from Edmonton and the amount of gangs is on the rise. I deal with that now working with the emergency shelter, during street out reach, you meet the people in these gangs and work with them on a daily bases.

 

[Mistwalker]

I used to have to deal with them on a daily basis too......a long time ago in places far far away

 

[jackknife]

That River Gallery place with the big wooden door and steel fence around it looks like it would keep zombies out. And since you live near a nuclear plant, there's a greater chance that the zombie apocalypse will begin in your town.

I'm in DC (actually Silver Spring, MD) and I've been thinking about this too. I don't have a car, so it'd be really hard for me to get OUT of town. I'd have to find somewhere safe IN town to keep my head down.

.

I'm just outside of D.C., and even with a car, I don't think I'd get far. Any of the roads are going to be long parking lots. Being in D.C. with water on each side of you, give some thought to a small boat. You can go up river to west Virginia, or down river to anywhere. In an emergency, the Belle Haven marina will have alot of un-attended sailboats moored there. The Fletchers boat house has canoes and rowboats. Head down river to the Chesapeake, or use a mountain bike and take the C&O canal trail all the way to Cumberland Maryland. Living just outside the Beltway, I've thought about the C&O trail. A montain bike with panniers will get you far.

 

[fulloflead]

Lots of nuclear plants near you too. Is a bicycle not an option for you?

Trust me, the zombies are already here.
Bicycle is OK for me, but my girlfriend never learned to ride one. I know, strange. I could get her a side car for my mountain bike.

.

 

[fulloflead]

I'm just outside of D.C., and even with a car, I don't think I'd get far. Any of the roads are going to be long parking lots. Being in D.C. with water on each side of you, give some thought to a small boat. You can go up river to west Virginia, or down river to anywhere. In an emergency, the Belle Haven marina will have alot of un-attended sailboats moored there. The Fletchers boat house has canoes and rowboats. Head down river to the Chesapeake, or use a mountain bike and take the C&O canal trail all the way to Cumberland Maryland. Living just outside the Beltway, I've thought about the C&O trail. A montain bike with panniers will get you far.

A boat! Of course! That's brilliant.

.

 

[dante]

Factors indicating what could be the norm for a while

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/scenes_from_the_recession.html

 

[fiskking]

I am working on more of the city pictures but photobucket is down at the moment. Anyone know of a better imaging site that has a paid service and produces the same size pics?

tinypic.com no need for an account or to register I believe:thumbup:

 

[22-rimfire]

You folks on Signal Mountain need a good North-South highway to tie into 111. But you do have the shooting range handy. That is worth something.

Chattanooga (and surrounding cities) are on the cusp of changing into a much larger place in the next 20 years. It should be an interesting place to live.

The first thing I try to learn about a city is to create a mental map of the area with major highways and waterways. From there, I add significant connector routes and find some non-major routes in and out of the urban area. The knowledge continues from there. I keep paper copies of maps and I especially like the Delorme Gazetteer series of state maps. The computer versions are handy too. But I still depend on the paper copies and use technology as I have a need and it is available.

In cities dominated with mountains or rivers (or both) as Chattanooga is and example of, a lot of the escape routes involve bridges across the major waterways. Years ago, there were ferries, they have all dissappeared in the last 5 years in East Tennesssee.

East Tennessee is a wonderful place to live with a combination of mountains, lots of water, and great folks. Deer populations have been on the increase in East Tennessee. Seeing a deer was an uncommon sight 40 years ago, now it is a common sight.

Every area has it hazards. The flooding hazarded has been essentially minimized since TVA built their hydro dams in the Tennessee Valley. The biggest danger is probably nuclear these days with chemical spills being a concern but not a significant regional risk hazard.

 

[Mistwalker]

Trust me, the zombies are already here.
Bicycle is OK for me, but my girlfriend never learned to ride one. I know, strange. I could get her a side car for my mountain bike.

.

That's an interesting mental picture.