SIT X EXAMPLE London gridlocked

news.bbc.co.uk...

Now here is a great example of why cities are unsuitable for survivalists.
much of the M25 is closed, no buses are running, the underground is closed, Heathrow, Stanstead, Gatwick and and London city airports are shut, most roads are impassible or passible only with great care. 7.7 million people are basically stuck with no food or fuel moving into the city. Just think of the chaos if the snow brought down a few powerlines while just about every city dwellor is using as much energy as possible to stay warm. No heat, no light no way out. now add some sort of disaster from terror attack to ice storm and the city becomes a Necropolis overnight.

The only people with half a chance are the few hundred survivalists or preppies the other 7 plus million are stuffed.
Respects to all.
NR

[edit on 2-2-2009 by Northern Raider]

You know, I have been discussing the same scenerio witha friend of mine for quite sometime now, and that is if your city was turned into a warzone(meaning everyone is out for themselves) how and what would you do to survive on the streets?
Well, personally, I dont think that there is enough of everythingto go around in the city to last people more than a week without people starting to commit crimes against one another(and thats stretching the time frame).
People here(in the US cities) would go crazy, wild, and wouldnt think twice aboutkilling their nextdoor neighbor if it meant that they had to survive.
First off, if you do live in a city, and you see this coming(or dont) your first reaction is going to be(get out), butby that time, you wontbe able to get out unless you pull some covert ops, even then they have all roads being monitored.
I think even the survivalists are going to have a rough time trying to survive, because at a time like that, people start acting like zombies and will straight eat you alive. So in myopinion, if you are already inthe city, and disaster strikes, well, you are pretty much screwed(esp if you live in a highly policed state).
I was a Marine, and I had all sorts of traiing, from cold weather training, to you name it. I am a survivalist, and I could live off of worms, and crickets, and stray animals. But when you are in a situation like that, sometimes all of the training in the world wouldnt be enough.
The best training one can get is by actually going through such an event, and the majority of the world hasnt. So it could get really reallly nasty out there.
If you want to survive a situation like that, you have to get out before it happens. That is the only way you are even remotely, or possibly going to survive.

Well I had a fairly pleasant drive around the North Circular to Milton Keynes and back again. Arrived back in the city at 10:30 to discover all the sites were shut.

Therefore early finish for Nirgal.

I bet the bank's shut.

reply to post by Northern Raider


I love livin' in the American Burbs.
post.

Originally posted by Common Good
You know, I have been discussing the same scenerio witha friend of mine for quite sometime now, and that is if your city was turned into a warzone(meaning everyone is out for themselves) how and what would you do to survive on the streets?
Well, personally, I dont think that there is enough of everythingto go around in the city to last people more than a week without people starting to commit crimes against one another(and thats stretching the time frame).

In the UK even the biggest cities only have 3 days supplies of food, in the US it is reported to average out at 4 1/2 days, and as all we survivalists know , Civilisation is only 3 missed main meals away from anarchy.

Hah, an even better example has just been announced on the BBC and Channel 4, after only 12 hours of overnight snow the London ambulance Service has already annouced it is in crisis. they are now only taking exteme life or death calls from the public ( heart attacks, strokes etc) If you have breaks and fractures or other not immediately life threatening injuries they will not come and you must make your own way to hospital. NOW COMPOUNDED by Hospitals now saying they are becoming overwhelmed and are only admitting the most serious cases.

All this after only 12 hours of snow !!!!!!! God help the cities if there is a power outage.

reply to post by Northern Raider



or you could just dig.


-

Originally posted by Nirgal

I bet the bank's shut.

Yes it was. That's two Nat Wests I've seen shut. Barclays was next door and open, go figure.

Still amused, even by the little goit that snowballed me.

This isn't an example of what to do in "Sit X", it is a shining example of how incompetant we are as a country at dealing with a bit of snow!

20 years ago, this was a normal winter yet things plodded on. Even now, mainland europe gets snow like this every winter yet manages to cope. We get 6 inches of snow and the whole damned country grinds to a halt, mainly due to a complet lack of readiness by the authorities. The roads weren't gritted this morning, the airports were caught off guard, the trains can't run... Anyone would think this was the Day after Tomrrow!

Originally posted by stumason
This isn't an example of what to do in "Sit X", it is a shining example of how incompetant we are as a country at dealing with a bit of snow!

20 years ago, this was a normal winter yet things plodded on. Even now, mainland europe gets snow like this every winter yet manages to cope. We get 6 inches of snow and the whole damned country grinds to a halt, mainly due to a complet lack of readiness by the authorities. The roads weren't gritted this morning, the airports were caught off guard, the trains can't run... Anyone would think this was the Day after Tomrrow!

[

Stu be fair to the authorities it was a lot of snow coming in quick, I put 90% of the problems down to something else, the appauling standard of driving in the UK today, so many people think cos they drive a 4x4 or cos they have Air Con!!!!, ABS, anti Skid, traction control etc they wont slide on ice.

reply to post by Northern Raider


Indeed. I saw plenty of people this morning maxing out their revs in first gear trying to gain some traction. 'Aint gonna happen!

To be fair though, I was caught in a minor bump this morning when getting a lift to work. Coming down a hill slowly, we came over the crest to see a pile of cars at the bottom. It was far too late for any action to be taken apart from sliding into the pile slowly and join the group of people standing by the road wandering why, in this busy industrial estate, the gritters hadn't been out.

Even the bobby who turned up to "manage" the incident (we had already closed the road and diverted traffic 20 minutes before the plod turned up) found himself sliding down the hill and was greeted with jeers and abuse at his apparent belief that his police vehicle was immune to ice!

I have always maintained my plan that in any Sit-X scenario a city or even large town is the worst place to be.

Our species is one of the most unpredictable and violent on the planet, we probably have more to fear from other civilians in any Sit-X than anything else.

I'm still surprised that life in London is seemingly at a standstill. This is hardly a major incident. I honestly think this is more about the hype the BBC have put on this.

reply to post by detachedindividual


24/7 News does bring with it alot of hype, as they need to fill the day with live scenes, talking heads and other tripe.

Having said that, the Capital City has ground to a halt, over 6 bloody inches of snow, most of which would have melted by mid morning from the amount of traffic anyway.

The only reason this has been so bad is down to a complete lack of preparedness by the Government and local authorities. I don't care if "they didn't expect this much snow", it's only 6 bloody inches! There has been a severe weather warning in place since Saturday.

It's the same very time, come wind rain or snow, this country fails at every turn. It didn't used to be this way.....

Originally posted by stumason
Anyone would think this was the Day after Tomrrow!

Oh please don't say that. You'll have the reverand Al Gore and his band of climate-nazis claiming this is anthropogenic before anyone can remind him this is what Winter used to be like.

Im in Scotland and we missed most of it on the west coast. I was watching GMTV this morning and the words to describe this 6 inches of snow blew me away.

Words like white out, catastrophe, crisis, and most used, complete shutdown !

One reporter on the scene was talking about the most diabolical weather in 2 decades...someone emailed in reminding her that she was standing in half an inch of snow, so, she moved to another area of the town where she was. When she came back with her next report she emphasised that earlier she was not in the worst of it and now was. She pointed to her feet and said "look". She was now in 2 inches of snow.

Its a joke, nearly 700 schools closed ! They dont know they are born.

Never mind the authorities. If this is how Jo Public copes with 6 inches of snow, his chances in a sit X are non-existent.


Respects

Originally posted by captiva
Im in Scotland and we missed most of it on the west coast. I was watching GMTV this morning and the words to describe this 6 inches of snow blew me away.

Words like white out, catastrophe, crisis, and most used, complete shutdown !

One reporter on the scene was talking about the most diabolical weather in 2 decades...someone emailed in reminding her that she was standing in half an inch of snow, so, she moved to another area of the town where she was. When she came back with her next report she emphasised that earlier she was not in the worst of it and now was. She pointed to her feet and said "look". She was now in 2 inches of snow.

Its a joke, nearly 700 schools closed ! They dont know they are born.

Never mind the authorities. If this is how Jo Public copes with 6 inches of snow, his chances in a sit X are non-existent.


Respects

Aye up here in Co Durham we have had 6 inches of snow and 50 MPH winds, at this rate the kids will have to put coats on before they play out or walk to school, Our girls will still be in town tonight wearing only little black numbers Not like the poor little darlings in the south east, half an inch of snow and they can not function

it doesn't make economic sense to prepare adequately for such an event. To buy all the equpment and such to have on hand for such an event would require many.many millions. Better to just wait it out and hope for a better day tommorow, which is almost always the case. Keep the children safe at home and only require neccesary personnel at work. It'sjust not worth having normal congestion on very icy roads.

Kentucky has been shut down for days over ice. Where Ilive we miss afew days every couple of years due to hurircanes and tropical storms.

The newscasters are out of their minds which is normal.

I have to say that I find the general lack of preparedness astonishing...mostly on the part of local autorities. I know that they can't all keep a fleet of gritters and snow ploughs at the ready for all eventualities, but there must be a way of making sure that they have enough to cover the main routes. And yes it is only 6 inches or snow...that's NOTHING! I live on the smallest of country roads in the middle of nowhere, barely a car's width on most of it, and already twice today we have had gritters and snow ploughs. It's not even snowing that hard here. Looks pretty though.

I really wonder what will happen if the half a meter or so forecast for the North of England actually materialises. I hope everyone is ready for a couple of days in the house.

Cait

Originally posted by Northern Raider
Our girls will still be in town tonight wearing only little black numbers

That's the locals round the Fighting Cocks rather than the students at Klute though...

Still snowing...

Originally posted by caitlinfae


I really wonder what will happen if the half a meter or so forecast for the North of England actually materialises. I hope everyone is ready for a couple of days in the house.

Cait

I hope it does happen lol. Obviously its not fair on the elderly and what not but its not very often we get a large amount of snow that ever lasts long. Fun times can be had in the snow with the kids

Oh, im from the North East, Lancashire area. There's a fair bit about and remaining on the ground, fingers X for another down pour tonight

Just my opinion ofcourse

IP