# Do you have a Terrorism/Emergency Survival Plan?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-terrorism-emergency-survival-plan/154375>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 11, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-terrorism-emergency-survival-plan/154375 "2003-02-11T16:59:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-terrorism-emergency-survival-plan/154375/61 "2003-02-15T01:11:49Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by cadolphin \*  
> \*\*An unlikely event 😕
> 
> I don’t understand. Do you live somewhere there are no earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornados, the power lines won’t go down, the water main won’t break, no chance you’d ever be out of work and need something to fall back on…
> 
> I don’t see where emergency planning is just for a terrorist attack.
> 
> Kathy \*\*

Some of us _do_ live in places where none of the above is more than a remote possiblity. We don’t have major earthquakes; the odds of there being a tornado almost non-existant (I think there was one minor one in the state during the last century); there have been no major floods or major hurricanes since well before I was born and it helps that I live inland and on a great big hill;we don’t have public water so there are no mains to break and powerlines usually stay put except for people hitting them… although we do have your last thing, unemployment, quite often I’ll grant you, but nothing I could put in an emergency kit would make a difference to that so I don’t quite get why it was included unless it’s a joke about writing survial guides.

The only frequent “events” we have here are snow storms and blizzards, which seldom hit without warning. You listen to the weather reports, buy an extra loaf of bread, an extra gallon of milk, and a few gallons of water, and make sure you bring in wood for the fireplace and know where the candles, lanterns and matches and snow shovels are. Maybe you pull out some board games and extra sweaters and bedding. They’re more of a fact of life than an emergency, so there’s not a lot of kit-making happening then either, since these things are usually within reach all winter.

As for terrorism attacks, what are they going to hit around here? Boston and NYC are far away, so biological weapons probably won’t be a problem, and if they do turn out to be, hey I won’t have to pay back my student loans after all. Unless they decide to hit Seabrook with a nuke (which would be a sort of irony) there’s not a lot of reason to get all worked up about it.

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**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-terrorism-emergency-survival-plan/154375/62 "2003-02-21T02:16:16Z")

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My friends mocked me for making an emergency kit for 1/1/00, but I’ve used it during a few power failures since then, and have been glad to have it in case of earthquake. My thinking right now is less about direct terrorism and more about having the wherewithall to hunker down for a week if anything gets nuts. At the same time, I find that I’m more protective of my partner than I am of myself, so I’ve made a 3-day kit for her car. Other than that, augmenting our camping gear with more water and toilet paper about covers a grab-and-go emergency (though grabbing the cats may or may not be easy).

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**Author:** ![Marvel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marvel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvel)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-terrorism-emergency-survival-plan/154375/63 "2003-02-21T04:40:46Z")

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My “survival plan?” Make my will and make my peace - that’s all I can reasonably do.

Enjoying Life Rather Than Being Afraid of Tomorrow,  
Patty

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**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-terrorism-emergency-survival-plan/154375/64 "2003-02-21T19:42:31Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Lostboy \*  
> \*\*You know same thing happened to me.
> 
> ```
> I work in the in a small town in Michigan at a food manufacturing facility. The afternoon of Sept 11 some guy came in off the street and said he couldn't believe we were still running. We asked him why we wouldn't be. He said well you have the highest buildings in the entire county, (a pair of 110 ft silos) and would be a prime target if terrorists ever decided to attack here. We tried to keep a straight face and said we would risk it. **
> 
> ```

HAH. Those crazy michiganian/ganders.

(Welcome to the boards, where fo’ art thou, Lostboy, there are loads of Michigander/anians here. I’m in Oxford.)

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