The Risks of Infrastructure
Car-dependent infrastructure is threatening to a nation because the lack of gas means one cannot move. And if the gas were out for a period of time, more and more people would be confined to their homes, unable to do anything, slowly starving away. It’s just like I predicted: the dependence on cars has created a systemic risk for many suburban areas.
Yet even when the stop-lights are all out, the drivers still manage to coordinate amongst themselves at intersections. The most resilient city needs no stop-lights. Only roundabouts, cat-eye reflectors in the ground, and solar-powered streetlights would be enough. More right turns, less left turns with oncoming traffic.
People’s phones frequently got blasted with alerts. Curfew 7pm-7am to prevent looting. Close a few main roads and nobody can navigate the city anymore.
I am reminded during this moment of natural law, that society can exist without government and rules, just like cars can coordinate without stop-lights. Despite no electricity for days, we do not see widespread looting.
A society can repair itself if one part is damaged. I fear the day where every part of a country or an entire region is damaged, leaving no outside help at all.
There were a few gas leaks and water leaks. Nothing significant in my area.
No water on the 2nd day. Water pump generators failed. Generators have the risk of running out of gas.
Had to triage my lamb meat from the deep freezer. It will hold cold for about 3.5 days. Pulled many shanks out, asked if they were cold enough to survive a journey from my cooler to a friend’s freezer, had to toss some though.
Foolishness and unpreparedness
There are many people who are foolish and say that you do not need to be prepared, that the supermarkets will always be stored, that you can continue living alone in your isolated world dependent upon the maintenance of existing infrastructure.
Do not listen to them for they will be the toilet paper hoarders, the last to buy and first to sell, the unperceptive purchaser of chips rather than high-calorie foods, for they have not read that today is a time of significant change.
Maintaining one’s communities
If more people were taught how a city functions and did things at school such as learning the local power systems and water supplies, places would naturally become more resilient. Instead the art of city construction has been taken away and people depend on the government, thinking that they will fix things rather than taking personal responsibility.
Democratic norms are practiced every day when people take responsibility to do things and choose to think differently from the news media. A society where people have individual choices and enact those individual choices on a daily basis is inherently more democratic than going to the polls once in a while to vote.
Aliveness
I slept very well, almost the same as when I’m in the woods, making me think that blackout curtains and such are not useful and what is needed is the total cessation of eletricity and wifi signals in the nearby area.
People were roasting food by the side of the street, a liveliness rarely seen in the modern world.
Lessons
Keep one’s car frequently topped up. Many people lined up for gas.
Just like there are capacitors for electricity (generators), water (storage tanks, bottles), food (fridges), one should also have tanks of gasoline.
Driving over downed power lines was fine, presumably because they weren’t live, but perhaps they were.
Arrogance is why people do not prepare. I simply thought that the storm was not going to be significant. I was simply not used to significant hurricanes. I pay for it by the meat in my chest freezer going bad.
After an accident and when people have no cellular communication, people will naturally come out to explore. However, I am reminded of situations where an accident happens such as an explosion to lure in first responders, then a second explosion occurs killing them. There may be a certain type of situation where coming out to explore afterwards is very dangerous.
It’s very easy to take out the internet and so that people have no communications. There were some trucks on the road that seemed to communciate with radio of some sort.
Trees
If there’s a large storm and you have two cars near your house, which is heavily wooded, consider parking one or both of the cars in a place without trees to reduce risk. This was the one time where those in rich areas with lots of trees seemed to suffer more.
Most deaths were caused by trees falling on people’s houses.
Driving at night is risky when the fallen trees are at the side of the road (hard to see), in addition to the street-lights and stop-lights being out.
Food
People buy stupid things at the grocery store, just like they usually do. Ritz crackers, tons of breads, and processed foods. I saw very few people buying dried fruits or phone power banks. Most people panic wandered into the Costco, didn’t know what to buy, got some bottled water, wandered around the utility supplies section and maybe came away with a flashlight and some batteries, and then bought their usual foods.
Feeling weak
I hate feeling weak, that there are downed trees and I can’t do anything about it. I can’t even tow anything with a sedan. During these times, it’s not the people driving luxury cars that matter, but those with trucks, chainsaws, knowledge of infrastructure, and so on.
I drove around seeing so many small trees that I wanted to put back into place, but I simply couldn’t. I thought about how few connections people now have in the neighborhood, and how people choose to be atomized and weak, consumptive rather than productive, ignorant rather than knowledge-seeking.