Yesterday the Pandemicflu.gov site opened a temporary blog. I found the comments a lot more enlightening than the posts. There sure are lots of people out there wondering why the government is not giving a more urgent message to individuals on “prepping.” How to prep? Well, there’s the checklist for individual & family planning info on the site. It’s a little different from the one at Ready.gov for short-term emergencies (er, was Katrina a short-term emergency?).
For a pandemic, they’re saying be prepared for two weeks. You want to be on the safe side? Plan for a couple of months. Not that it would be typical for people to be stuck in their houses for two months but shortages of your favorite substances could occur; further, if someone in your home is sick and doing nauseating things like the guy in the pic, your whole family could be quarantined for longer than a couple of weeks.
And add booze to the prep list, which the government forgot for some reason. Even if you don’t drink it’ll be great barter after the end of civilization. Whee!
UPDATE: Here’s a comment from one of the posts on the flu blog. Many others seem to echo his sentiment. Does this guy live in a cave, or do you also feel like you’ve heard nothing in the news about the potential H5N1 pandemic? Does it seem to you like this global health threat has been kept “hush-hush?” Maybe it depends on where you get your news; if so, that’s a problem.
Jim W in Reno NV Says:
My sister in California has been telling me about the bird flu. She is very up on it and has suggested stockpiling suplies, masks, etc. Other than news from 2003 or 2004, this is the first I’ve heard of it.
Yesterday, I googled bird flu and found some info on it. It appears the the fed govt has given billions of dollars to the states for an upcoming epidemic.
Why hasn’t the news organizations said anything about this?!?
Why hasn’t the fed gov’t done some PSA’s on radio and television if this is so important?
I’m not sure what to think. The gov’t has plans for every state and local gov’t’s but no one seems to know what’s going on.
Please let me know if this is a big secret, and if not why does it seem it’s so “Hush, Hush”.
UPDATE: There seem to be a lot of new visitors today thanks to a link on Wired’s Danger Room! Folks, have a look around and if there are topics you’re interested in hearing more about, just drop me a comment. Enjoy.
Filed under: H5N1 avian influenza, homeland security, infectious disease
Yea! Danger Room!
Yeah, that’s how I got here!
I need to buy this years hurricane supplies this week (it’s that time of year, even if the first named storm came close to visiting me already), so I guess I’ll add this list on to that list.
My wife does an awful lot of traveling overseas. And that makes me nervous. What if the flu hits there, and she’s over there? What if the flu hits HERE, and she’s over there?
I’ll be adding you to my Bloglines, that’s for sure.
You might not be seeing her for a while…
Welcome to the Lair.