For those of us that live in the Northeast where it gets real cold in the winter:

Does anyone plan to fly their families out of here to a warm place like the Hawaiin Islands where you can easily live off the land and count on the weather before the _ _ _ _ hits the fan???????????????

I personally don't want to get stuck here in the frigid winter without heat and lights! I'd like to get ideas from others as to what folks are thinking about around this issue. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Seth Rosenblit omshanti@freewwweb.com

-- Anonymous, August 22, 1998

Answers

I'm in Dover, DE. and although it's not Buffalo we at times go thru nor'easters and even a blizzard or two from time to time. We have a woodstove and I began stocking up on firewood last fall and will buy a couple more cords before New Years 00. I figure I can at least heat and cook with the stove. For lighting, I'm thinking more along the lives of lights connected by long wire to a solar panel you can put out on the roof. And of course, we've got the hurricane lamps with lots of bottles of fuel. For lighting a room like the bathroom where under y2k conditions, you wouldn't use as a library...grin...I've been putting up a supply of little 5hr.burning tea lights you can find where they sell potpourri. It'll provide enough lighting to avoid bumping into furniture and to see where the "throne" is.

-- Anonymous, August 23, 1998

I live in northeastern Wisconsin, where we say "If you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes - it'll change." I have no intention of leaving my home. Even with the prospect of extreme cold, I feel this is the place to be. If TSHTF then my family and friends will need me, and I can't help them from AZ, FL, TX or anywhere else. My family is also much more likely to be safe amongst friends and neighbors than amongst strangers. Think about it: you probably know your way around your home town pretty well. You know where to find help, who might need your assistance, and how things work around there. No heat and no lights is a scary thought, but trying to survive in a "foreign" environment is even scarier. Besides, there is no guarantee that a problem will occur on Jan. 1, 2000. I can't afford to leave my job for the entire winter to hide out in the tropics! My approach to this is that I will be prepared IF something bad happens, but I am not convinced that something bad MUST happen.

-- Anonymous, September 05, 1998

I'm not certain that, if the problem is long-term, we'll be much better off here in Florida. The climate will certainly be milder when the rollover occurs, and the growing season is longer, but, in my area at least, the vast majority of the land is either urban or swamp, and what's left has a fairly high sand content.

I grew up in upstate New York, where it got *cold* in the winter, but we were surrounded by excellent farm land. I doubt Florida can produce enough food to feed its population, and there are deaths from the heat every summer even with air conditioning.

I guess everyone will have their own unique challenges- good luck to us all.

-Eric Krastel (remove "nospam" for my e-mail address)

-- Anonymous, September 08, 1998