A Trip South, Part 2

I posted before about a recent trip south.  I've thought about many things during the trip and now afterwards.  Some of the events and areas seen on this trip made me wonder about what would happen in various events.

In my lifetime there have been at least two catastrophic earthquakes.  Many were killed.  Buildings and roads were destroyed. If I happen to be in the Los Angeles Basin during another earthquake, would I be prepared?  How would I get out of area and back home?  I'm not sure I would like the answers to those questions.  I have little doubts about my personal skills, but there are some things missing from the prep items I should have in the car.  I had a pack with flashlight, knife, and a small first aid kit.  I had blankets, tarps and rope in the car.  Even a collapsible shovel.  But little food and only a bit  of water.

Maybe because of my cheap ways, or just being unaccustomed to buying gas, I let the gas tank get low a few times.  I thought the $4.19 a gallon was high here in the Valley, but I was unprepared for the $4.59 in Los Angeles or the $4.69 a gallon on the Grapevine.  Next time I will be more likely to fill up in Bakersfield before going over the hill.  That would a least give us more gas most of the time.

Much of my time and many of my thoughts though centered on the people we saw and those in the houses we looked at for ideas.  From the quiet dark houses in Lakewood to the RuPaul clones in the Long Beach coffee shop.  The people moving through the airport on their way somewhere other than where they are.  The street people of Venice Beach to the citizens living in BelAir.  What would they do?  Are they prepared for a disaster?  What will they do?  We have more preps to do, but how much along the road are these people?  There are certainly more of them than my family and I.  How will we interact?

I still wonder at the Japanese tsunami and how the Japanese people handled that tragedy.  I don't have much faith that the average American will do as well.  And what if the disaster is man made not natural? This trip made me more cognizant of how much I still have to do.