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Episode-375- The Common Factors of Three Different Disasters

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Today we examine the commonalities of three very different disasters.   Today we look at a potential major solar storm with a huge coronal mass ejection, a massive ice storm and a global pandemic.  While these disasters seem quite different their impacts are very similar only duration is a major variable.  Last for today we end with a thought, “is the zombie apocalypse already here?”, I say yes it is.  Tune in to find out what I mean and see if you agree.

Tune in today as we examine…

  • Why is a solar storm a big threat
  • What have scientists learned about our magnetosphere that changes everything
  • Is there a hole in the magnetosphere, if so what does that mean
  • What would a pandemic with a 25% infection rate and 10% death rate look like
  • If 7.5 million people need a hospital bed what happens
  • What happens if we have a major ice storm
  • How big can an ice storm be
  • The common needs, food, shelter, energy
  • The advice from The Today Show, you won’t believe this
  • Are you a zombie, do you know zombies, is the apocalypse here
  • Can you be living in the middle of absolute disaster and not know it

Additional Resources for Today’s Show

Comments

Episode-375- The Common Factors of Three Different Disasters — 10 Comments

  1. So, how many hospital beds DO we have in the United States? I was curious, so I looked it up. According to the American Hospital Association:

    Total Staffed Beds in All U.S. Registered Hospitals: 951,045

    Staffed Beds in Community Hospitals: 808,069

    http://www.aha.org/aha/resource-center/Statistics-and-Studies/fast-facts.html

    The FDA claims about 2.5 million beds:

    http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm164366.htm

    So the answer is somewhere in that range. The difference between the two numbers seems to be the definition of a “hospital” and a “bed”. Typical. Anyway, interesting.

  2. Another idea for cheap candles.. every year I pick up candles after Christmas. Places like Wal-Mart and CVS Pharmacy put all of their Christmas items on sale for 90% off at the end of the season. I get long tapers sometimes as low as 5 cents each. I buy all they have- the ladies at the register look at me like I’m nuts.. 🙂

    Living in the country, we lose power every time someone sneezes with too much vigor, so we don’t freak out too badly. However, we do have a weakness when it comes to long-term power loss because our house is like most modern homes, all electric. Since it is an ICF house (insulated concrete form) with 11 inch walls, a short-term loss of power (2 days or less) doesn’t pose a huge problem because the thermal mass of the home will keep it above freezing (not comfortable, but at least the pipes won’t rupture immediately). However, anything longer than that becomes a big issue. We are planning for a wood burning stove for this reason.

    Thanks for another great show, Jack.

  3. You might want to talk about what almost happened in Chicago today. A major blizzard and an earthquake.

    2 Feet of snow is nothing to laugh at anywhere but throw a Haiti level quake on top of it would be a really big problem to deal with.

    I’ve not thought about combination disasters but this gave me a kick in the pants and I’ll calm down once I’ve thought it through

  4. Good podcast Jack. This past Sunday I stopped off at the supermarket to pick up a last minute item for a friend on my way to a Superbowl party and was reminded again why we prepare. The lines had to have been 20 people deep and the beer and snack isles were just about empty. The next time there is a real emergency I don’t think these folks will be ready and I definitely don’t want to be in their way when it happens.

  5. Thanks for the info. I have started listening to the podcasts from the beginning, so I will be a while catching up.

    We had a power failure today here, east of DC (Despot Central) on the Chesapeake Bay. 2+ feet of snow with strong wind gusts and drifting. It was interesting how I approached this as a learning opportunity since listening to the first few podcasts.

    I powered up the generator and had to look for power cords. I wanted to plug in the water pump are found out there is no plug. It is hard wired.

    We heat with a propane fireplace, with an electric fan. I think a simple deep cycle battery with a inverter would run the fan for a while. We have nothing to cook with. I may go to propane stove. I watched your youtube on the led flashlights, I find the headband flashlights quite useful.

    I have a sailboat that we intend to live on, so we are looking at survival techniques to reduce the costs while cruising. In a pinch, if we can get to the boat, we have food, water, heat, internet and the motor to recharge the batteries. I am looking at wind and solar options for the boat.

    Thanks, Galen

  6. I remember the ice storm that hit northwest ark.Only living 11 miles north of the border i was only out of power for 8-9 hours.A couple of years before a ice storm hit north of here the biggest part of that storm hit Springfield Mo they were out of power for up to 3 weeks.There was only 3 restaurants in Springfield that had power and only a handfull of hotels in the southeast area of town.$8 gas i see a lot of people loosing wieght a lot of cars being parked and lots of walking.

  7. Another disaster is a local economic disaster. What do you do when the major employer in your county of 500,000 (and already 12% unemployment) lays off up to 13,000 people? Add to that the fact for every laid off person from this facility, there are 4 jobs in the county such as cashiers, fast food, grocery store, etc. So, the economic impact for this county is nearly 65,000 jobs lost. Even if you are not one of those people that loses their job in that county, it will still affect you via crime rate, defaults, higher taxes, etc.

  8. Oh yes, that would push the unemployment rate up to nearly 24% in that county. Nearly 1 out of every 4 would be unemployed. That doesn’t count the folks who quit looking for work and those who can only find part-time.

  10. Hi Jack,

    Great show as usual. I particularly enjoyed your discussion on the zombie-like state that most people seem to be in. As I recall, you said that surviving is more than just taking your next breath. I agree wholeheartedly. I view surviving as the minimum acceptable outcome and seek to actually thrive regardless of external circumstances. As I was thinking about this, I coined my term for it – \"thrivalism\".

    Best,

    SW

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