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I wasn't, but my father was one of the first responders to 9/11. Yes, there was a LOT of help, but I don't think comparing 9/11 (a terrorist attack) to a major hurricane or flooding situation (a natural disaster) is the same thing. I am probably wrong, but I really don't have much faith in people these days.
I feel much the same way.
9/11 was a huge catastrophic event which was limited to three compact areas -- despite the victims being from all over the world. Looking at WTC, the Pentagon and the field in PA -- all were places people could easily move away from and the damages did not significantly impact services (except for those stuck waiting for flights for days, subway service in lower Manhattan.) The further away one lived from Ground Zero, the Pentagon or the field, the impact grew smaller.
It did not have the scale that a county-wide or island-wide disaster could have. (Please forgive me as I do not mean to diminish 9/11 in any way -- we all lost a lot of good friends and family that day.)
If something large scale were to happen and food supplies as well as potable water became scarce, the police stretched thin by demands of the disaster, I do believe we would see an uptick in looting and crime.
People are only helpful as long as the problem looks to be near the end and supplies are plentiful. Once the water starts drying up, to feed disappears, and the heat or cold kicks in the net mentality goes to hostile.
What examples do you have depicting this happening in the US?
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhBeeHave
There will always be a dark underbelly and in the event of a true catastrophic event which shuts down roadways, utilities and communications -- people will start to act on their most basic instinct to survive. Mercifully, the scenario the OP laid out is hypothetical.
The Black Out of 1977 was out of control with looting and fires. My dad, NYPD was gone for days working this nightmare. A good number of police were injured by looters while trying to contain the situation and instill some semblance of peace. The poorest areas of Bronx and Brooklyn caught the worst of it.
While I personally haven't seen any disasters where people have killed each other for supplies, but opening the newspaper on any given day we find crimes motivated by greed or poverty. If driven to desperation to obtain food for one's child in the weeks after a catastrophe, my wager is that people would kill.
A black out is not the type of disaster that we're discussing in this thread or I completely misunderstood the OP. People taking advantage of circumstances hindering LE (i.e. looting) is something different then someone coming into your home to take your supplies. Maybe that's just me?
I'm struggling with a disaster so widespread that the US can't get help in for a length of time that people start killing each other. Even if you look back to the Katrina mess (which highlights as close to what we're talking about here that I can think of), people weren't killing each other and they were very desperate for the supplies you speak of.
If a hurricane knocked out Long Island, I would get my loved ones and friends together, drive to the North Shore and take a ferry across to Connecticut.
A black out is not the type of disaster that we're discussing in this thread or I completely misunderstood the OP. People taking advantage of circumstances hindering LE (i.e. looting) is something different then someone coming into your home to take your supplies. Maybe that's just me?
I'm struggling with a disaster so widespread that the US can't get help in for a length of time that people start killing each other. Even if you look back to the Katrina mess (which highlights as close to what we're talking about here that I can think of), people weren't killing each other and they were very desperate for the supplies you speak of.
The OP mentions things being bad for weeks, supplies diminishing, water running out, no cash, no banks, no gas, not being able to bridge or tunnel off of LI. He also did mention Katrina-like, but the folks in LA had the option of evacuating.
The scenario that played out in my mind left us unable to evacuate, so all of us are stuck here through no choice of our own. I think I went to another level, perhaps more along the lines of huge bombs, attacks by either terrorists of enemies, the leak of something highly contagious from Plum Island placing LI in a virtual quarantine, etc. and that our infrastructure is out of commission, mayhem, etc. and we have extremely limited means of evactuating -- assuming the ferry terminals are not taken out in the disaster/catastrophe/attack.
If a hurricane knocked out Long Island, I would get my loved ones and friends together, drive to the North Shore and take a ferry across to Connecticut.
That is assuming that the ferry terminals or ferries themselves weren't damaged. If not and things were so dreadful here, hundreds of thousands of LIers would be doing the same. I wouldn't even want to contemplate that traffic jam!
The OP mentions things being bad for weeks, supplies diminishing, water running out, no cash, no banks, no gas, not being able to bridge or tunnel off of LI. He also did mention Katrina-like, but the folks in LA had the option of evacuating.
The scenario that played out in my mind left us unable to evacuate, so all of us are stuck here through no choice of our own. I think I went to another level, perhaps more along the lines of huge bombs, attacks by either terrorists of enemies, the leak of something highly contagious from Plum Island placing LI in a virtual quarantine, etc. and that our infrastructure is out of commission, mayhem, etc. and we have extremely limited means of evactuating -- assuming the ferry terminals are not taken out in the disaster/catastrophe/attack.
Yeah, I'm just playing around with some good fun "disaster" scenarios here - as fun as a disaster could be.
I just don't buy into the "beans and bullets" mentality that you see so many survivalists going on about - much of which seems new to people because of the economy I think. Maybe at my own peril! lol
Either way, I still believe that the concept of people turning against each other is more of a soundbite and has no basis in modern history. Especially when you consider war like scenarios that MENA is facing - it's been that way in some form as long as I can remember. Yet, these people who are all in the same boat together aren't turning on each other for the scarcest of resources. It defies common logic on how things "go bad". Maybe it has to do with them having a "common enemy".
So it seems many of you would try to somehow get off the island. That's fine unless we are looking at a terrorist attack which might mean the shorelines are locked down, and at the very least you will be under tight scrutiny leaving by boat (and some by stolen, um, appropriated, boat). Biological or chemical problem would almost definitely mean quarantine as per WHO guidelines, so in that case definitely not leaving by boat (although you might get away you risk being shot or arrested). FEMA/OEM has plans to drop supplies at MacArthur airport in the event of something that keeps us on the island and stops deliveries. How reliable will that be? Who knows?
Why not just make a trip to Patchogue and loot Clare Rose?
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