Joplin Tornado Aftermath – Bad to Worse

The recent tornado strike and aftermath in Joplin, Missouri, provides a good living laboratory about When The S*** Hits The Fan (WTSHTF) scenarios, and how desperately important it is to prepare yourself for anything. Before we get into the meat of the topic, let’s stop a moment and take an educated guess at what natural disaster you should prepare for. Well, it sort of depends upon where in the world you live. Certain areas have particular types of natural disasters that arrive on a regular basis.

For example…

1. Floridians should prepare for hurricanes

2. Missourian should prepare for tornadoes

3. Arizonans should prepare for flash floods and scorpion invasions

4. Californians should prepare themselves for every natural disaster and pestilence under the sun – wildfire, landslide, flash floods, typhoons, meteor strikes

The point is this – not to denigrate any Jopliners response to the situation – but living so near tornado alley in Kansas and Oklahoma makes it a good idea to ready oneself for the possibility of big wind every now and then. What sort of preparations would have helped in this case? Well, a tornado cellar, to be sure, but also water, food, and medical supplies, and a sturdy generator. Granted, if a tornado is big enough we can expect that the powerful winds it produces can annihilate many of the precautions we might take.

And right now, a couple of weeks after the big blow, a lethal fungus has reared its ugly head from the wreckage and is killing people that otherwise would have survived, especially those with weakened immune systems. But this deadly new enemy, called zygomycosis, also poses a threat to rescue workers and others trying to rebuild the community, forcing them to take protective measures against infection, thus slowing the recovery process. Nine cases have been reported in Joplin tornado victims, with three or four having died from infections caused by it.

The point is this. Prepare, prepare, prepare. And then expect to be blindsided by something you didn’t even think of. Ultimately, a large part of post-disaster scenarios depends not only on who has laid in the most stocks, but who is psychologically ready to keep moving forward when every star in the universe seems aligned against you.

Take heart, Joplin. Things will get better. And we haven’t forgotten you Alabama.

The Holistic Survival Team

HolisticSurvival.com

 

 

 

Flickr / el clinto