http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/ Here's a good and fairly brief overview of the 1918 flu. This is what a bad pandemic is like during a time when the population is much smaller, the world is much less interdependent, and our local economies were not run on just-in-time principles. So here's a bad one. Hopefully this one will be a mild one.
I disagree that we'll be able to handle it far better now with our modern medicine. Reading what doctors and hospital administrators say, we won't. There aren't nearly enough respirators to treat people who need it in a pandemic. There aren't enough hospital beds. There isn't enough Tamiflu to go around, and no guarantees that the virus won't mutate to become resistant to all our antiviral drugs. A vaccine can't be made ready for probably nine months after the pandemic hits, which for this H1 N1 outbreak means this December 2009 or January 2010. The first doses of the new vaccine will most likely go to health care workers, the highest levels of government, and maybe some essential workers in key industries like power and natural gas. But who is more essential? The question is bound to cause a whole lot of contention among people desperate for the vaccine. I can imagine protests and possibly riots from people who are grieved at the death of loved ones and desperate for protection for their kids.
The science journal Nature did a full issue a couple of years ago on bird flu and many articles discussed how unready we are. Since then we've gotten a little bit more ready. We have some plans in place and a bit more drug stockpiled. But the authorities, the people in charge of hospitals, etc., all say we can't handle it, we can't help most people. In the event of a bad pandemic, everyone will be on their own.
The thing is, nobody knows. There's not anyone on earth who can tell you at this point if this will be mild or bad. If it's bad, it can be bad in whole new ways that we've never before experienced, because of the way society has changed in the meantime to a form that happens to be much more vulnerable to flu-like infectious diseases.
Again, I'm not trying to scare people for no reason. I'm trying to motivate people to prepare, I'm trying to educate them about how things will be, and I'm trying to encourage them to be strong, self-reliant, and capable in emergencies and disasters.
If you start your food storage now, you could be ready by next winter. The way to start is to fill up any good plastic jug (not milk bottles) with clean tap water and store it somewhere on the ground floor of your house. Every gallon or half gallon or 2 liter bottle of juice, water, soda, etc. you use, recycle it as water storage. Rinse, fill, and store. If you buy bottled water, buy an extra bottle or case for storage each time.
As for food, dried beans and brown rice are probably the best options. Buy an extra bag of each of these every time you go to the grocery store and keep them in a cool dry place. You can choose black beans, lima beans, black-eyed peas, lentils, chick peas, or whichever you like best. Learn to cook these foods if you don't already do so regularly. They're healthy, cheap, and delicious. You can also store flour, sugar, salt, spices, anything that's dry and doesn't need refrigeration. Store canned goods. Store extra toilet paper, garbage bags, baby wipes, soap, detergent, etc. The way to do this is slow and steady. Add one or two storage items to your cart each time you go to the store, and over time your storage will grow. Try gather a 3 day supply of things you would need in an emergency, including food and water. Then try for a 3 week supply of everything you regularly use that's nonperishable. Then go for a 3 month supply. Over time you will build up a year's supply.
Then you'll be ready for not just pandemic flu but many types of disasters like a collapse of the global banking system, a job loss or layoff, a regional disaster like an earthquake, etc. It won't protect you from 100% of things that can happen, but it will put you in far better shape to face lots of things, and then there will be no need for panic because you'll be prepared. You'll be able to reach out and help your neighbors because your own family will be taken care of.
We're going to need strong, self-reliant, capable people in any worldwide or nationwide disaster. Realize that no authorities can step in and help you in that case. Don't count on anyone else to plan for you. It's your responsibility. You're going to be mostly on your own.
