Preparedness for Dark Times

I am a deputy sheriff in Louisiana and patrol primarily on the night shift. A few nights ago my shift was alerted that the main city in our parish was under a complete "black out", meaning a total loss of ALL electricity. The reason for the blackout was unknown but the repercussions were great. The power stayed out for a mere hour and a half, but that was all it took to cause chaos all throughout the city. In this hour and a half multiple shootings occurred, multiple wrecks occurred on the highways and city streets, and multiple stores and businesses were broken into and looted due to security systems malfunctioning. All within that small hour and a half. It really shows how fragile the order in our cities hangs in the balance. People who would probably have been watching television or engaging in other peaceful activities, were gathering in the streets starting fights. All because the lights and tv turned off. Wow. Only a handful of people had nothing to worry about because they were prepared with a few necessities such as: flashlights, food, water, protection (I.e. Rifle, handgun, or shotgun).

I am writing this to remind you of the importance of being prepared for a "lights out" situation like this. This type of thing happens all the time and can happen in your area anytime. These are some minimum guidelines for what you need on hand in a two to three week blackout scenario. It doesn't matter how much food and water you have if you can't see it. It doesn't matter how many guns and and ammo you have if you can't see to shoot them. And it certainly doesn't matter how many great flashlights, lamps, and lanterns you have if you don't have food, water, and defense because looters can walk straight into your home and take anything and everything they please (including your life)!

I will be so bold as to say if the blackout had continued throughout the night it would have escalated into an all-out riot. You might say "no way! Not in America! This isn't Europe!". Yes, in America, small town America. People have become so dependent on electricity and have been brainwashed into a "welfare mentality" meaning everything is somehow " owed" to them to the point that when something breaks their cycle, I.e. a "blackout" they will do anything necessary to "get (by force)" what they want. More commonly known as "looting". You will start to see this type of thing happening more and more in the near future because history always repeats itself. Look what happened in New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. A large storm causes long term power loss and flooding. And because no one stocks more than a day or two worth of food what do they do? They take what they want; by killing, looting, and plundering. Civil neighborhoods turned into all out war zones! Very few people were prepared for what occurred. It was several days until order was semi restored and weeks until it was fully restored. This is very close to home, and it could happen to you at any moment! Don't be a pacifist. Understand me when I tell you this is the real deal.

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