Cyber attacks in the news

[SouthCentralUS]

I don't watch tv, but my husband told me he saw the warning about cyber attacks on the news. Of course, this has been on the internet for a couple of years, but if it is on MSM, we probably should pay attention. So we had a discussion about what we would need in almost any scenario. I think we should consider what we use for camping. That should carry us through a lot. Can anyone add to this list?

Shelter - done
Water - about 100 gallons, maybe not enough
Food - good for a couple of years
Hygiene - good, and a couple of cases of baby wipes
Light - many, many candles that I would use as a last resort, (fire truck may not have water) camping lanterns, oil lamps, solar motion lights that could be brought in at night if we needed them. They can switch to continuous light but those things are bright.
Toilet - handicap potty and camp potty, plus buckets and pool noodles in case someone else needed one
Heat - only electric, but could close off the upstairs and enclose 1 or 2 rooms downstairs to use.
Cooking - we have 2 grills, 2 portable indoor butane burners with lots of cans of butane, Coleman camp stove but only one can of fuel, 6 full propane tanks for the grills. Could use a fire outside if we needed.
Cash - we have some, but tomorrow I will go to the bank and add more to the stash.
Gasoline - both vehicles are full at this time. We took care of that yesterday.

Can anyone add to this list? I have 2 freezers full of food, and I think tomorrow I will start canning a lot of it.

 

[bkt]

I don't watch TV either, but cyber attacks go on constantly in one form or another. I assume you mean an attack by a foreign government to our infrastructure like power or communications. That would be interesting, to say the least. If either went down, all commerce stops. A good way to see how you would cope is to flip the main breaker on your home's power, then figure out how to get on.

Keeping the cars topped off is always good, but having a store of fuel - at least a few tank's worth - is wise. You can use your vehicle as a generator in a pinch; just buy a decent inverter for each vehicle. A generator or two is an extremely wise investment. Knowing how to wire it into your home's system, or at least how you can power your furnace motor (assuming natural gas is still on) is pretty important. In warmer weather, keeping freezers operating is going to be a concern. Having extension cords to use specifically with your generator(s) should be set aside with the gennys.

Having an alternative way to heat your home is necessary - a wood stove or at least a fireplace (preferably with a cast iron insert). Having a few cords of seasoned split firewood is also necessary, of course.

For communications, I have several LiFePo4 13.8v batteries to use with my ham radios, and solar panels/controllers that will charge them. I expect local repeaters would remain online for at least a while, and I expect hams all over would be able to set up their own part-time repeaters pretty quickly. That would at least provide some means to communicate with others.

Water storage, catchment and purification is a huge issue. So is hygiene. If water is scarce, you aren't going to be washing dishes or taking long showers, so you will need disposable dishes and utensils and a means to keep yourself reasonably clean.

 

[The Lazy L]

Hmmm the ratings are dropping. We need to bring them up or we will lose advertising and then our jobs. We need another "sky is falling" topic ... KILLER HORNETS!

 

[Tootsie]

If electric is your only heat source, a backup is definitely a first priority. For today/until something is set up, I’d pick up a tent that you could set up inside the house. A small warmer space is better than none.
And if you’ve got kids or grandkids, that tent will always get use in non emergency times.

 

[montanabill]

It would be good to consider what your low temps in winter can get down to. A day or two you will be fine with extra blankets and sleeping bags. Longer and you might want to look into something like the Little buddy propane heater. They can use the same small green bottles grills use or with a hose you can hook up to a BBQ 20 pound bottle. I have lots of experience working on generators if you decide to go that way. The cheapest way for some electricity is a converter on almost any car that you let idle out in the driveway and then run an extension cord in to power up things like your deep freeze.