When Things Get Primal – Puerto Rico’s Earthquakes

Credit: Alejandro Granadillo/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

I have often stated that when it comes to preparedness the localized natural disasters which one might face should be prioritized far above any of the low probability, high impact events usually seen on Doomsday Preppers.  Here where I live that equates to wildfire mitigation and planning, it could be flooding or tornadoes in your area.  Right now in Puerto Rico (especially on the Southern half of the island) they are facing a constant deluge of earthquakes, so much so that many have stated they are praying for God to give them a Hurricane Maria to deal with versus the constant shaking / destruction.

Right now you are probably wondering why I have more than a casual interest in Puerto Rico, the reason is that almost all of my wife’s family is down there as I type this – most on the Southern half of the island where the quakes are concentrated.  We are getting real time updates from what is going on and it’s not good, the attitude of many has gone from “we can get through this” to “we need to get out of here.”

Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans are still without power and water, and thousands are staying in shelters and sleeping on sidewalks since Tuesday’s earthquake. That temblor killed one person, injured nine others and damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and several schools and businesses in the island’s southwest region.
Source – AP News

Imagine a scenario where there were constant quakes and the town around you was slowly being destroyed.  Just this morning another magnitude 6.0 rocked them, it has been unrelenting.  People are sleeping outside, the power is intermittent if not out altogether, day to day life has morphed into day to day survival.  I know my in-laws will not go inside their own home unless it’s to gather something essential, they are cooking outside on their gas grill and sleeping in the back of their car.  When speaking to them they said the whole neighborhood is doing similar, it looks like a refugee camp of sorts.

When Your Priorities Are No Longer Priorities

Think about that work deadline you have, the meeting(s) or travel you might have scheduled this week – even your job itself.  Your home, the vehicles in your drive and all associated belongings.  What if none of that mattered anymore, can you even think of a scenario that would push you to that point?  I can and it’s happening right now in Puerto Rico.  People want to get out, by that I mean get off the island altogether.  My In-Laws were fortunate enough to secure tickets but other relatives have not been able to as everything is virtually sold out.  Think about what that means, leaving everything one has worked for behind for an indefinite amount of time with the potential for who knows what: looting during long term outages or similar.  Yet what is the alternative besides the fact that living like a refugee sucks – what if these shocks are merely a build-up to something that rocked Haiti years ago which led to total devastation and a death toll of over 100,000 people.  Things are getting primal quickly and decisions are being made because of it.

When your Preps Are No Longer Your Preps

I’ve known a few “until the bitter end – bugging in for life” types.  Ironically one of those individuals almost had to evacuate his home last summer because of a fire, this was the same person who told me that no matter what happened he was never leaving.  It does not matter what you have, where you live, how perfect the setup…there is always a chance that one could be forced to evacuate or face the odds of dying in place (quite literally).

When it comes to preps I would wager most of us are constantly “improving our foxhole” and stacking for lean or difficult times.  Yet I personally have a sliding scale on what takes priority based on the amount of time I had to get out (think fire).  In a worst case scenario none of it matters, hopefully we can get the dogs out and I have contingencies in place for essentials like paperwork and such.  Should I have more time obviously other courses of action come into play, and so on.

What we are seeing in PR is the worst case for some, my In-Laws included.  Whatever you can bring in your luggage and the rest gets left behind.  This is true prioritization and survival, things are just things at some point and when it gets bad enough none of that matters.  For many of you I suppose you can’t imagine a scenario where you would do what they are doing but then again maybe you’ve never faced that type of scenario.  My Father in Law is no weak man, he retired from the Army after many combat tours overseas, a few of which were very hard on him emotionally and physically.  He has been through Hurricane Maria as well and yet, still he is like “we just want to get out.”  I can’t blame him and am waiting until they are wheels up from San Juan before I relax (especially for my wife’s sake).

Final Thoughts

Many of us, myself included, call ourselves preppers and do all of these things during the good times having never truly faced the bad times.  It’s easy to look at a stockpile of food, guns and ammo, gardens and say “yup I’m ready!”  I suppose none of us will truly know if we are ready until the time comes at which point, it might be an infection from a cut that brings you down – not some gun wielding rapscallions trying to loot properties (as depicted in many of the popular fantasy type prepper novels).  When things get primal priorities change, when one is forced to leave behind the castle and belongings things really shift quite simply to survival.  Keep your mind open to all the possibilities and pray for those in Puerto Rico, comment below.