The End is Near

I’m going to go on a tangent here but stay with me. It will all make sense in the end.

About a month ago, I received a phone call from someone who identified himself as a representative from the bank where I maintain both a checking and savings account. I was highly suspicious given that the call appeared to be an international call. Additionally, I couldn’t remember the last time I received a call from the bank. As he spoke, my suspicions grew. He provided my debit card number, as well as the expiration date, and informed me of attempted charges in a different state. He asked if I was traveling or at home in Chicago?

He spent a lot of time trying to be convincing. My suspicions were in full effect, and I was waiting for him to make a mistake. I was waiting for him to ask something he should know-something he would know if he was legit. And then he did it; he asked me to confirm the entire card number, expiration date and CVC number. I hung up, called my bank and canceled the card.

I have no idea when or how my account number was compromised. I’m assuming that the card number was somehow covertly captured given that I’d neither lost control of the physical card nor given it to anyone else to use. While waiting on my new card, I had plenty of time to reflect on the situation, specifically, how frighteningly interconnected our lives are. Moreover, most of these connections are largely invisible.

I reviewed my monthly budget and took the opportunity to cancel subscriptions to streaming services and other expenses that cost relatively little but quickly added up. There’s no way I’ll ever find out when, where and how my information was compromised, the best I can do is to maintain a high degree of diligence and remain suspicious of all unsolicited calls, especially those that appear to be from an international number.

It's the connectivity that I want to talk more about as it relates to disasters and our ability to be ready. Thanks in large part to globalization, the effects of natural disasters, famine and pandemics in underdeveloped nations are felt around the world. Businesses in developed nations can be humbled by the seemingly minor missteps of a key partner. Many multinational corporations exert more influence on the world stage than small, developed nations. These dynamics often align to create economic, societal and humanitarian crises on a global scale.

The changes sweeping through the federal government are alarming to some and comforting to others. No one knows what degree of response capabilities will exist when the dust settles and how those capabilities will be deployed. What should be abundantly clear to everyone is the need for the public to be better prepared, more resourceful and more resilient. Underlying this is a foundation of genuine self-reliance.

Far more than prattling on about people and circumstances you hate, the conversations must be for context and clarity before the S-H-T-F. Take stock of your situation and formulate some careful plans. Evaluate who in your extended circle is stable, trustworthy and for the most part, easy to get along with. This might make working with him or her slightly easier. Ask yourself some hard questions that don’t have quick or easy answers.  

o   If you had to evacuate to a safer area, where would you go and how would you get there?

o   Given your current health and level of fitness, how far could you comfortably walk in a day while carrying a 20lb. backpack?

o   If the power was out for longer than four hours, how would you manage?

o   What is the first thing you can do to become better prepared?

o   If able, what help would you provide to others?

o   In a survival situation, what value would you realistically add to a group?

This list isn’t meant to be all-inclusive, rather, it’s to encourage you to think critically about what you can do today that will positively impact tomorrow. Changing weather patterns and extreme weather events regularly wreak havoc on our modern world dominated by RTO mandates, mortgages rates and the price of eggs. More worryingly, the people we elect to lead behave as though denying the existence of unpopular topics and minimizing the severity of disasters will somehow make it all better. They don’t prioritize disaster readiness. The can is kicked further down the road and our self-induced states of delusion and denial deepen. None of which improves our levels of readiness, resourcefulness or resilience.

One of the many things that set us apart from all other life on this planet is our ability to be empathetic. We can look at others and see ourselves in a similar situation. We can look at the plight of others and devise plans to avoid the same fate befalling us while helping them recover. We can take a fatalistic worldview and wrap ourselves snugly in the cloak of victimhood or, we can get after it! It’s true, there will always be disasters, natural and man-made, however, how we prepare for and respond to them is what matters most to the outcome.

The time for definitive action is at hand. We’re nearing a tipping point and our ability to prepare will become far harder. The resources we need will become far more expensive and perhaps even unavailable. Dithering, denial and doing nothing may suit the purposes of elected officials and community leaders, but as private citizens, they’re luxuries we can’t afford.

My Mom recently spoke to a life-long resident Florida resident who’s never taken a direct hit from a hurricane. She’s never experienced destructive flooding. In fact, it wasn’t until Hurricane Milton when she experienced a power outage. There’s a fair amount of luck here but eventually luck runs out. Spending thousands on portable solar generators, dehydrated food and stockpiling water seems excessive, even wasteful until it’s not.

The federal government has historically had an inconsistent approach to disaster response. In the early 2000s, FEMA was scheduled for a radical remake with greatly diminished capacity. The states have generally relied upon federal money and resources to get the job done. Now, all of that is in question. Again, no one knows what disaster response will look like from a federal and state perspective. Now more than ever, it’s time to get after it.

Luck, careful planning, divine intervention all figure prominently when planning for the worst. In the best-case scenario, the full force of the disaster gives you a mulligan, of sorts. You're building the capacity to safely and comfortably hold out until help arrives. That help could be days or weeks away. How well you manage is solely up to you.