Surviving in a dense population area

[MeShell]

Tips:

Please give me some.. lol
If anything drastic happened here I'd be screwed.. well not for a little while. I actually live in the best place I could.. a small locked courtyard. So unless the building was destroyed Id be ok for a little while... but I'm the type of person who would go out and try to help, but wouldnt have a clue as to where to go..to volunteer...or would it be better to maintain where I'm safe.. or reletively so.. lol
How do you prepare for the worst without getting all paranoid? lol

I suppose it would help if I told you about where...and whats here
Large Michigan City
Surrounded by survivors (homeless shelters)
and the losing the battle crack heads
condos are being built all the way around me
a large arena is within 4 blocks
Police department 4 blocks
Grocery stores 2 miles.. but I suppose in an emergency I wouldnt make it there in time.. lol
so I would need to stock a supply.. ? What? for how long?

[MeShell]

Thanks... I'll look it over ..

[Firbolg]

Get city plans .. ie water pipes and underground sewerage systems .. if you have a courtyard, conceivably you have a drainage that leads to a storm water or something similar..which could mean a backdoor out in an emergency. As long as you know which way to go.

I doubt that the world will end tomorrow, but yes, stay healthy both physically and mentally... ie reading good productive books and learning new skills.

I am used to getting prepared for large storms, Hurricanes/Typhoons/Cyclone.. always have water stored in non PVC containers ( as Plastic will leech PVC residue into the water when it heats up -SUN) always have some tin foods stored..rotate them as you go.. keep a fresher batch and use up stuff as it gets closer to the expiry date. dry good are always handy.. Also if your any good at cooking (learn) also make large batches of food and freeze the what you don't eat for later. In case of a disaster you have food already cooked that will defrost and can be eaten.. have good all weather gear. In case. in case of major storms or catastrophe, have a room to hide in, generally one with four good solid walls, small and a solid roof.

Most important is to have a back up plan, place to go to that will be safe and be physically able to do so.

[Chuck]

Well the first thing to do is join or take Red Cross training. Second, stock up on 3 months of supplies. The easiest way to do this is 1) make a list of everything you use in a week (and I do mean everything) 2) ask yourself what you can do without 3) get current maps of the surrounding areas, 4) play the what-if game in your head over and over again.

Where we live our main concern is earthquake. We have 3 months supply of foods and supplies in sealed containers outside our house in the backyard. This includes water, shelter, spare clothes, medicine, tent, and sleeping bags. We've stocked food we don't necessarily have to cook...though it would be easy to heat in the can. We keep a full tank in our cars. Both cars have emergency kits.
Hope that gives you a start.

[A Thousand Good Intentions]

I'm of the philosophy that a great deal of disasters can be avoided or comfortably endured with a good set of door locks, and a large supply of canned food. My family, as well as many people we know, all keep a one-year supply of food as a general rule. I know this seems like a lot, but if you make up your mind about it, it's very doable. Keeping the gas tanks topped off is good for more reasons than disaster preparation, although disaster preparation is enough reason in and of itself, imagine the traffic clogging those pumps (assuming there is no power disruption and the fuel stations are still operational) you do NOT want to be caught running on fumes when a fire, or storm, or riot, or what-have-you requires that you evacuate to a safe relative or friend's house outside the city. if you need less 'paranoid' justification, you've come to the right mechanic... air in a gas tank can cause condensation on the inside walls of the tank on freezing nights, just like the frost you have to scrape off your windows this time of year.... when it melts, it gets drops of water into your fuel lines... which in a diesel, can ruin the engine or require a VERY expensive overhaul of a damaged pump. In a gas car, it can still cause damage or a very inopportune breakdown or engine stall, requiring the fuel system to be flushed out before the car will run again. Although most modern cars have some sort or another of a 'water trap' built in to the fuel system, with enough neglect and unecessary water-volume they can fill up with water, becoming useless, or just fail. Trust me, I've dealt with it. Keeping the tank full averts this problem nicely.

[A Thousand Good Intentions]

Also, the means to produce clean heat. If an ice storm knocks your power out, or an earthquake causes the shutdown of gas lines and power, you could get pretty cold this time of year, not to mention out of luck when it's time to cook dinner.

cans of Sterno would be a last-pick choice, but they are doable and can boil water (in small ammounts) and are safe to burn indoors, as well as propane. I keep two in my emergency kit. Kerosene and lamp oil they reccomend ventilation. I'm not saying anyone else should follow my example explicitly, but I've never had any health risk or problem living years in my youth in small, un-ventillated rooms with kerosene heaters running constantly. Charcoal is, of course, a very lethal no-no as well as gas generators unless they are downwind, and as far from the house as possible with all windows on that side of the house, shut tight. And finally, blessed are the owners of old woodstoves....

[White Wolf]

My old house had forced hot air. That was great because i invested in a wood furnace. It ducted directly into the air ducts. So even when the power got knocked out, which happend quite a bit, we had plenty of heat. Sometimes too much as that thing could put out a lot of btu's. I told my wife if and when we move, we are going with the same set up and I will get another wood furnace. Then you only need a small generator to keep fridge and/or freezer going and the small blower on the furnace. Worked great.

[MeShell]

Actually I live in an old converted hotel.. if we lost power there would be no heat or refrigerator. I do have camping gear and I bought some warming pads that you can use outside like when ice fishing. I figure if its cold out I could set up my tent and keep warm with blankets, sleeping bag and the heating pads.
The tent would be less space to keep warm and inside theres no wind or snow.. I could go out and get snow to keep my food cold. I have a flashlight that takes the same batteries as I use for my camera and plenty of them charged all the time..
I dont have a car so escaping to a rural area would be difficult...

[3DTripper]

This is a good web site and talks about surviving in a city or dense population... Personally I don't think it will be a very good place to be.

http://www.endtimesreport.com/Surviving_in_the_City.html

[Curtiss]

You make me wish I still lived in Michigan, I'd ask your permission of course but then I'd come have a look at your exact situation and teach you everything I could think of. it appears that most of the info so far is good. I'll think it over and see what I can add.