Y2K in Utah? Can anyone spare some advice?

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Right now, I'm living in Southern New Hampshire, about 20 miles from the lovely Seabrook Nuclear Plant and about an hour north of Boston.

My husband and I both have received job offers in Utah (either Salt Lake City or Provo area) and are considering shifting our preparation plans there.

Yes, I know the job issues might be mute in 6 months, but then they might not be either. But that aside, from what little information I've managed to gather about Utah, the Mormon culture, it might actually be a better place to weather out the storm.

Anyone in Utah preparing? Anyone have some advice? I can provide additional information, I realize this isn't much to start with.

At the very least, maybe someone can pass whether there's local y2k prepardness groups...

Oh, and yes, the email is real.

Suzan

-- Y2K Girl (suzan@acornworld.net), August 01, 1999

Answers

Susan depending on how much y2k research you and your husband have done, is directly proportionet to your y2k awearness. I think If you can get adleast 200 to 300 more huors in before the JQ public panic, you may get to level 17 which states. At level 17 one needs to move within 50 miles of a nuke plant so that when there 4 weeks of food funs out the rad count will be high enuff to put one to sleep. NO MORE PROBLEMS. So consider your self lucky, you need to just get to level 17....good luck..

Im sorry Im just envious that you have a spouce thats a team player.

-- Les (yoyo@tolate.com), August 01, 1999.


Les,

I have no idea what your post was about. Is that in code or something?

-- Retroman (retro50@agapeis.net), August 01, 1999.


Salt Lake City may have it's share of Mormons with several months of food storage, but it's a huge city, that if the power went out for a week, would be a total death trap. Provo is better, but I'd rather be much further away from SLC.

-- dw (y2k@outhere.com), August 01, 1999.

I have looked into Utah as a bug out location. ONe thing it's really got going for it is it's proximity to nukes (it's outside the 350 mile zone i figure i need to make it work). Also, the people there tend to have at least some concept of moral decency. Family values are strong and there is a sense of community.

On the other hand, SLC has much heavy industry within it's proximity which could be a real problem along with other issues to which SLC is not immune, such as a real gang problem and other urban issues.

I would say go for it. I'd do it in a heartbeat, rent an apt. and keep a second home in the remote mountains to spend new years in.

Good luck to you.

-- Good People (mormansokby@me.com), August 01, 1999.


I live in Salt lake City. I have over 5 years of food stored up. Prepared for the worst and hope for the best. Most Mormons do not believe Y2K will be very bad, however most of them have a year supply of food stored up, regardless. If I had to choose to live in any big city, I would think that Salt lake City would be one of the safest big cities in the USA because so many people have prepared.

You can buy 55 gallon water drums in many local grocery stores. Many stores sell bulk beans, cereals, rice, honey and wheat, etc. The climate is excellent. Many clear sunny days. Very dry climate. When a storm comes, it blows over quickly and then more sun. Because the humidity is low, the cold winter days are not bad at all. Skiing, camping, fishing, hiking and mountain sports are a half hour driving from anybody's home. Sailing can be done on the Great Salt Lake. I have travelled all over the USA and found Utah to be the most beautiful state in the US, bar none! Many State and National Parks!

Crime is low because of the religious influence here. A great place to raise children! All Mormons are well refined and very friendly. Anybody who tells you different, has a chip on their shoulder.

If you want to live in a small town, but still be close to Salt Lake City, I would suggest a town just West of Salt lake, called Tooelle. It is a half hour driving from SLC, with freeway most of the way. I have a daughter that lives there and she loves it there. There is a mountain range between Tooelle and SLC.

The suggestion of Provo over Salt Lake City is nonsense. Provo has many smaller towns around it which have become connected to Provo, so Provo is now also a big city.

Provo is right up against Utah Lake, so it has limited space and is very cramped. SLC has much more space and a lot of elbow room.

I highly recommend SLC for Y2K!!!!

I wish you the best of luck with your move. You will love Salt Lake City!!!!!

-- freddie (freddie@thefreeloader.com), August 01, 1999.



Go For It!!!!Just about anythings better then New England; with the nukes and the huge population of possibly desperate people welling out of the cities if it all goes down. Just remember that if (when) the power goes down in SLC the taps stop flowing and people get thirsty real fast. Soon as you get there, check out the small towns and rural areas within one tank load of gas from SLC.Much of that area is dry so look at the higher elavations for a place with its own water source; ( creek, well, spring). The Wasatch Mts to the north or the forested areas running south towards St George are good places to start, as are the many small towns of Eastern Idaho.Get a "vacation" cabin with some acreage and water and equip it for long term survival.I'm doing the same thing up in Oregon. If nothing happens then the property value will appreciate and you've got a vacation or retirement home.If TSHTF, then you and your family have a real chance at survival.Once you've located a spot then rent a place in the suburb furthest from downtown SLC and IN THE DIRECTION of your retreat.You don't want to have to try and drive thru SLC with the power and traffic lights down and traffic jams and chaos everywhere, to get to your retreat!

-- Ralph Kramden (and@awaywego.com), August 01, 1999.

Thanks for all the input so far. I was out in SLC and Provo for about 5 days just last week and I couldn't get over how "small town" and friendly even the city was. (I live near Boston and often consult in New York.)

The combo plan that Ralph suggested might be an option, but I also tend to agree with Freddie that if you have to be somewhere with people, you probably couldn't pick better than Salt Lake.

(BTW, I'm not a polly, but I think there are different and very real dangers to trying to survive long term off in isolated little cells tucked away in the hills. I'm not a helpless moron, but I'm not Rambo either.)

I have done a little research into Utah. One nice factor was the lack of proximity to nukes. Many of the surrounding states (with the exception of Arizona - southwest of Phoenix - and Cali) don't seem to have nuke plants either.

One man I spoke to out there told me much of their electric was hydro... This seems a little hard to believe, but I suppose isn't impossible (mountain streams, some rivers?). Hydro would definitely be a plus. I wonder if there are any wells in Utah? There must be 'wet ground' in the valleys somewhere, no?

Solar would certainly be an option there, hmm...

Also, I was told that they don't have as much of a problem as some Western states with water because of mountain streams and resevoirs and gravity feeding.

Does that sound accurate?

They didn't appear to have tons of heavy industry. I know of the old copper mine and the Geneva still mill (but I was informed that it was closing - due to financial hard times)

Also, doesn't Utah have a fairly strong agricultural base? Wasn't that the original preferred occupation for the Mormons? Does anyone know what they primarily grow?

I know I'm asking quite a lot, but this whole situation got 'sprung' on me out of the blue. Thanks to everyone who shares their time and insight to respond. It's really 'a lifesaver'...

Suzan

-- Y2K Girl (suzan@acornworld.net), August 01, 1999.


Freddie - just curious - what part of Salt Lake do you live in?

Ft Union/Midvale, West Jordan, Sandy, etc?!? Any recommendations on what part of town to look in? Considering cost, safety, ease of commute.. BTW, is it true that the light rail project has been cancelled? One person told me yes, the other told me it would be completed by November.

Ironically, I was just looking at an ad for a house for sale in Tooele about 5 minutes before I saw your post. That's an intriguing idea. What kind of population density does that area have?

Maybe if we head out that way we can share Y2K info! Much thanks.

Suzan

-- Y2K Girl (suzan@acornworld.net), August 01, 1999.


It seems to me that I recall that the USA has a chemical weapons super incinerator not too far from the SLC city limit. I would urge you to check that out before you feel too relieved at getting away from the nukes.

-- Bill Solorzano (notaclue@webtv.net), August 01, 1999.

I visited Utah in May. It's a beautiful state with friendly people. Just one problem: Salt Lake City is overdue for a VERY large earthquake, so check out where the fault line runs and locate away from it.

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), August 01, 1999.


And the earthquakes are rumbling in pairs these days Current Seismic Events

-- bake (shake@quake.roll), August 01, 1999.

Folks...

While Utah is an excellent place to weather y2k...Do not make your stand at Toole...It is on the boundry of the Dug Way proving grounds, the storage depot for enough chem/bactriloical weapos to kill the whole world several times over. Another litle thing abut Dug Way, there are safty measures taken to make sure that if a quake etc. cracked open the storage bunkers. Their contents, and them would be sanitized!!! Any one heard of uclear weapons??

GHOST

-- Ghost (World of weary@gloom.com), August 02, 1999.


I hope Ghost aint the spelling teacher at the local day-care center. However, if she is the local bartender, she probably pours pretty good drinks. Utah's great, or do you think a kid needs to learn "culture" in an important place like NYC, Boston, Chicago, or Babylon?

-- stuck here (wanaB@utah.com), August 02, 1999.

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