Originally Posted by
Miradus
I got a good foretaste of what a long-term outage might look like when the volcano started erupting here and lava caused about 1,000 homes to be evacuated (thankfully not ours). Some notes from that:
-The government was very late to help. Shelters were set up immediately by other charity groups, but over the long haul ... the charity groups became exhausted. They factionalized. Some of the native Hawaiian groups started refusing help to whites when their own supplies ran low.
-When the national guard showed up, it made problems worse, not better. There were reports of the national guard (stationed to prevent looters) actually doing a lot of looting. Several soldiers were reportedly dismissed from duty quietly after they were caught extorting locals for money, sex, or drugs.
-Almost everything the government said was a lie. They were trying to keep tourism numbers high so they lied about the severity of the issues.
-Within about a month, those who had the means to go elsewhere did so, meaning that those left were in need of permanent attention. They were simply never going to be re-homed. They had no money, no resources, no friends or family, and no motivation.
-Once free food and shelter started flowing, the dregs of society from all over the island arrived. Druggies, thieves, mentally ill, etc. But they didn't get along in the shelters and soon would be kicked out and walking in the local areas ... which put everyone not impacted by the lava flow directly in harm's way.
-Theft and violence skyrocketed for multiple reasons. We couldn't leave home as a family, instead having to post one armed adult on guard at the homestead at all times. Attempts on our solar equipment and generator were made and repelled by our dogs. (Many big dogs around your homestead is a necessity. Our animal shelters here are almost always empty of big dogs. Everyone knows this.)
-The police were useless. Absolutely useless in every regard. They wouldn't come if you called. They wouldn't file reports because then the true crime rate would be revealed. Do not rely on them.
-The crime rate fell after a number of criminals went 'missing'. A couple were found dead in the road, shot full of holes. The criminals were slightly slower to realize the police weren't a presence than the good citizens were. Each time you'd see a missing persons poster somewhere, and the person's family crying on Facebook about how "they were just starting to turn their life around." So it was pretty clear that they didn't turn their life around quite fast enough. I think some of it was criminal-on-criminal violence, settling scores and dealing with informants. But I know at least some of it was homeowners dealing with a problem and simply not calling the police to report it. I know this because they started running radio announcements telling people it was a crime to do that, which means they had no way of policing it. Nobody was calling the police to report they heard gunshots.
There was a lot of good things which I saw too ... but this is just a summary of the bad. It wasn't all bad, and I did learn which of my neighbors I could rely on and which I could not.
You ought to write a book on this. Maybe some of this reality would set in with those who would read it.
As the end of all things approaches, it will only get worse. Thank God for Jesus Christ and His provisions.
Proverbs 29:2, "...when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn."
Acts 4:12, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
Revelation 3:11, "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."
Matthew 28:20, "...I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."