HARD TIMES (42)
'1, Those who thought themselves safe from the disaster were often not safe from refuges.
There have been many reports of smaller towns, farms, etc- on the fringe of the disaster area being
overrun with those seeking assistance. ln many cases, assistance was demanded rather than requested,
and theft, looting and vandalism have been reported. So, even if you think you're
safe from the disaster, you may not be safe from its aftermath-
2. Self-reliance seems to draw suspicion upon you from the authorities,
I've mentioned this in a previous e-mail, but I've had many more reports of it
from those who survived or bugged out. and it bears re-emphasizing.
For reasons unknown and unfathomable rescue authorities seem to regard with
suspicion those who've made provision for their safety and have survived (or bugged out) in good shape.
It seems to be a combination of “How could you cope when so many others haven’t?
'You must have taken advantage of others to be so well off”, and “We've come all this way to help,
so how dare you not need our assistance?' I have no idea why this should be the case...
but there have been enough reports of it that it seems to be a widespread problem.
Any ideas from readers?
3. . Relief workers from other regions and States often don't know local laws.
This is a particular problem when it comes to firearms. I've had many reports of law
enforcement officers sent to assist in Louisiana from Stats such as New Jersey,
California etc. trying to confiscate firearms on the streets, etc., when in fact the armed
citizens were legally armed under local law. One can't reason with these officers
in the heat of the moment of course, and as a result a number of people lost their
firearms and have still not recovered them (and in the chaos of the immediate
post-disaster situation. they may never do so, because [I’m not sure that normal
procedures such as logging these guns into a property office, etc. were followed.
I understand that in due course, steps were taken to include at least one local law
enforcement officer in patrols, so that he could advise officers from other areas as
to what was legal, and what wasn't Also, in Louisiana, law, enforcement is conducted
differently than in some other States, and officers from other States who came to
assist were sometimes found to be domineering and aggressive in enforcing a law
enforcement 'authority" that doesn't normally apply here. So, if you’re in a disaster
area and help arrives from elsewhere, you may find that the help doesn't know (or care)
about local laws. norms. etc, Use caution!
4. Relief organizations have their own bureaucratic requirements that may conflict
with your needs. A good example is the Red Cross. In many cases, across three states ,
I've had reports that locals who needed assistance were told that they had to register
at a particular Red Cross shelter or facility.
The help would not come to them, they had to go to it. If they wished to stay on their
own property they were sometimes denied assistance and told that if they wanted help,
they had to move into the shelter to get it. Also, assistance was often provided only to
those who came in person.
IF you left your family at home and went to get food aid, you might be denied aid for your
whole family because there were no evidence that they existed -only the number that could
be physically counted by relief workers (who would not come to you but insisted you come to them)
world be provided with food. Needless to say, this caused much anger and resentment.
I hope that these “lessons leaned' are of use to you. I'm more and more convinced that
in the event of a disaster, I must rely on myself, and a few friends and never count on
Government or relief organizations for the help I'll need.
5. Be ready to bug out for a fairly long distance from a disaster in my home area,
so as to be clear of the pos-disaster complications ,may arise once again
(as it has countless times throughout history), we see that to rely on others
(let alone Government) for
your own safety and security is to invite complications at best, disaster at worse