How the Winter Storms Remind me to Prepare

And some reflections on the prepper movement

Hello dear readers. I had a different post prepared for you. It was almost prepared and done, but then the holiday hurricane hit and I’m currently just coming out from the wreckage and trying my damndest not to be on a computer.

But y’all deserve a post because there have been a lot of apocalyptic reminders these last couple of weeks. Winter storms basically everywhere in the United States, flights cancelled, people stranded on a weekend meant to be spent with family. And so it has gotten me thinking a whole lot about the apocalypse and what we’re going to do about it.

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been dipping my toes into the prepper movement by way of Instagram and during these recent storms, they’ve come out in force. Mainly with posts along the lines of “I TOLD YOU SO!” They’ve been stocking up their basements and storage rooms for months and with power out and ice basically locking people in their homes, they’ve been just fine and dandy.

And while it’s very true they are stocked up to withstand such a disaster, there’s always something missing from their posts. Namely, other people. The stocking up and the prepping are a means to get them through a shitstorm. Not other people. Them.

For me, though, while it did certainly make me want to stock up the basement a bit more, this storm (that we, too, felt here in Portland, albeit not as intensely as Buffalo), was a reminder that it’s not just about getting ourselves through a storm, it’s about being there for others. It’s about the restaurant that became an impromptu hotel. It’s about citizens on snowmobiles going home to home making sure folks are alright. It’s about a woman saving a stranger from a snowbank and caring for him for days. I am eating these stories up because they’re exactly what we’re talking about in disaster communities. The beauty of humans helping humans. The anarchy of it all.

Prior to the arctic blast making its way toward the U.S., I met up with some of my neighbors for our annual holiday solstice party. We moved to the neighborhood mid-Covid, so it’s taken a bit of time to get to know folks. And most of our block consists of elderly residents. I chatted with the party host, Sylvia that night for a very specific reason. They started an email list of residents a few years before we arrived. I wanted to resurrect it, start a more up-to-date list (several people have moved in and out of the block since they created it), and move it over to a more modern spreadsheet and email list. And so I began that process.

Within the next few days, the ice settled into the neighborhood, but I was able to reach out to our neighbors to make sure everyone was okay. I also obtained an obscene amount of bread from my kid’s school’s weekly bakery donation and was able to spread it out. It was yet another inspiration to make sure that our communities are connected, that we know who is where and what they need, and to remain in contact.

We’re still not sure what the final death toll of that ridiculous winter storm will be, but I can’t help but wonder that it could’ve been higher without the humanity within the many good citizens of Buffalo that reacted as their human nature dictates. With love and support and connection.