Dealing with Civil Unrest?

[killchain]

Hey guys,

It's come up in popular media lately... and I think it's probably the most "common" situation we may find ourselves in.

In a state of civil unrest... Hurricane Katrina is an excellent example... how would you, or have, dealt with it? Supplies, plans, contingencies? Who's going with you, and are they armed? With what?

I've been hashing this problem out for a few days and have started some serious thought about bugging out, what to take, etc.

Looking for some debate, some feedback, some ideas.

 

[uspJ]

In a state of civil unrest... Hurricane Katrina is an excellent example... how would you, or have, dealt with it? Supplies, plans, contingencies? Who's going with you, and are they armed? With what?

How would I have deal with it?
I would have left as soon as they said we need to evacuate. They don't tell you to leave for the fun of it. When evac orders are given it is to prevent loss of life, take it as seriously as you would any other threat.

SuppliesB]
$1000 cash
Credit/debit cards
ID, Important documents
Sleeping bags/Blankets in case of no vacancies and have to sleep at rest areas
12 meal case of MRE ( I can make 3 meals out of 1 usually, especially if not exerting myself.)
3 Gallons of water and purification tablets along with instant kool-aide
2 5 gallon gas cans

plans, contingencies?
Try to stay with relatives out of state if they are not also affected. I would stick to main highways (its not the time to try out shortcuts and get lost.). I would stick to well traveled routes and only stop to fill up for gas and restroom breaks. If I had no family to stay with I would try to reach the nearest aid station, support center available.

Who's going with you, and are they armed? With what?


Family and friends that wish to follow along or ride with me. I would be armed, if they were competent with a firearm and wished to be armed I would loan them a weapon. I would only loan them the weapon while riding in the car with me. I would not let them keep the weapon while moving out and about unless the had the proper permits. Cops would be on edge and overworked and I wouldn't want to get any unfavorable attention and possibly have needed supplies/weapons confiscated.

I would only take handguns that were easily concealable and extra mags and ammo. No long guns, as I said before I don't want any unwanted attention trying to move them from vehicle to hotel room or somthing like that. I have toyed with the idea of taking my Draco pistol so that I could have rifle firepower in a small package that could easily be concealed in a duffel bag, I'm not 100% on the idea yet.

 

[AirForceShooter]

If the authorities order an evacuation the odds are you won't be able to get out unless you're among the first to leave. Roads will back up and gas stations will run out. Been there done that.
If your house is modern and substantial stay in place. Stock up and be fast about it. Figure you need at least a weeks worth after the event is over.
Load up. The vultures will be circling right after the storm
This may sound horrible but don't share with neighbors. There's never enough.
Arm up. Rifle or shotgun. Hand gun and don't be shy about displaying it.

Praying doesn't hurt either.

AFS

 

[luigi]

I posted this about three years ago on Perfect Union under the name "The Highlander" It doesn't exactly fit this disscussion but it's close

Given the type situations we've been discussing (Katrina/ the L.A. Riots) they were both localized enough that you'd get a better result driving to an unaffected area and getting a room, than going out to the woods and forting up.

I can't imagine a scenario, so vast that there literally wouldn't be anyplace to go , that wouldn't also be literally The End Of The World (forget "as we know it" it'd be the end period.

I think Katrina showed us that you'd want to avoid the cops as well as the robbers. I'm not quite sure how to do that but if it even looked like evacuation was going to be mandatory I'd load up the car and go I'd head for anyplace but a government run shelter. That would likely be the first priority staying out of government control. Once I got out of the danger zone I'd evaluate and go from there.

Long term I'd like to live far enough out of the city that evacuation wouldn't be an issue.

I think the most likely long term situation would be something like collapse of the dollar, long term depression and a sky rocketing crime rate. In that type of situation 90% of your problems would be avoided by simply not being in a city. (wrote that 3 years ago guess I was close to right)

Short term stay in place scenario, I'd do every thing possible to stay off the radar, and avoid the notice of the government as well as the thugs. That means no generator to make noise. We invested in 5 or 6 wind up lanterns, a vampire pump to draw water from our well ( and a micro purifier) a solar powered short wave radio & a colman stove / as well as propane. The idea is to stay far enough off the radar that you don't NEED a SHTF rifle .

That also means that now before anything goes crazy, I don't tell my neighbors I have guns, I don't tell my neighbors we have food in the basement. I don't have the discussion we're having here W/ my neighbors. I do what ever I can reasonably do to make my self as small a target as possible

 

[Sam1911]

This is a very valuable and intersting discussion topic. It is something that we all really should consider for ourselves and our own situations and then research and discuss in the appropriate places.

Unfortunately, THR is not a survival site. Our S&T forum is dedicated to self-defense -- the use of situational awareness, personal defensive tactics, and firearms or other weapons in the moment of dire need. The scope of our discussion does not extend far enough to cover long-term planning, escape & evasion, food prep/storage, etc.

From the rules sticky above:

4) We don't do TEOTWAWKI/SHTF discussions. Try Frugal Squirrel's or Survivalblog.com for that.