Stay out of "them thar" hills...Hollywood Hills that is!

I never thought I'd see the day when I would be thankful for having had the experience of living in L.A. I now think of it as a modest dress rehearsal for the upcoming events. My husband, 3 children and I were living there between '86-'92.

After each siesmic event, regardless of how large or small, the store shelves would look eerily empty. A lot of the "old timers" didn't panic and participate in the buying frenzy... can you imagine everyone trying to get their fair share?

The worst part was being there during the Rodney King riots. We were north of the riot area, near Pasadena, up on a hilltop. The smoke from the fires was so bad, we couldn't open our windows, and at times could only see half way down the block of our neighborhood. Most of the looting was done for the thrill of it. Remember watching on the news people carrying out electronics and furniture and waving at the cameras? Imagine if they were really desperate.

I picture in my mind what the highly populated areas may be like in the cold of the winter of "99...people building fires in their homes to keep warm and the resulting out of control fires sweeping through whole neighborhoods.

If you stay inside the inner cities, no matter how well prepared you are with your food and water, you will have no defence against the raging fires (no matter how many fire extinquishers you stock up on).

As for myself and my family...we're looking for property in the Texas hills...and if we strike oil, we're not heading back to Beverly Hills!

Texas Terri

-- Terri Symington (TYSYM@AOL.com), September 24, 1998

Answers

Speaking of heading for the hills. If you think that your going to bug out to the mountains and live off the land, I suggest you backpack into the remotest territory you can find for 2 weeks. It will put things into perspective. No matter where you live, we will all be vulnerable to some disaster or pestilence. It's how you prepare for them that will make the difference. Some we can control, others we won't be able to.

-- Bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 25, 1998.