Weathering Sandy

We at Zombie Survival Crew Command hope that everyone in the areas affected by Hurricane Sandy is hunkered down with supplies in a safe place to ride out the storm. Four of our Commanders, including Red Brigade Sergeant At Arms Amy Sundberg, are in Sandy’s sights. Amy prepared this short recap of her experiences in the early hours of the storm.

From the National Hurricane Center: Two keys to weather safety are to prepare for the risks and to act on those preparations when alerted by emergency officials. These are essential pieces to the Weather-Ready Nation.

Stationed up here in the Northeast, weather preparedness is not an alien concept. We get snow. Buckets and buckets of the stuff. They don’t call them Nor’easters for nothing! We also get ice, torrential rain, thunderstorms, the occasional earthquake and a zombie or two. At least once a year we are threatened by a hurricane. This year is one of those years when the hurricane threat has become reality and the words “emergency preparedness” are the buzz of the week.

Hurricane Sandy is currently making a mess of the East Coast as I sit safely at home, surrounded by flickering lights and rattling windows. My biggest concern at the moment is the line of tall pine trees towering over the driveway outside. They’ve weathered many a big blow, but rarely without knocking on the shingles or putting a dent in the roof of my car. The reason I’m only concerned about the trees is simple – I’m prepared. Our storm kit is kept in a medium-sized bin in an easily-accessible place where nobody will trip over it. In the event of possible evacuation, the bin can be easily picked up and transported into the back seat of the car.

Note: Your Go-Bag is a completely different matter. That is what you grab when you have to run. Home storm kits aren’t meant to be that portable.

Storm kit items should include:

  • Drinking water – one gallon per person, per day
  • Non-perishable food – canned fruit, trail mix, power bars, crackers, pop tarts, anything that is wrapped and doesn’t require cooking or refrigeration. Don’t forget chocolate for emergency stress relief.
  • Flashlight and extra batteries
  • First aid kit – outdoor kit with a wide variety of supplies is best
  • Medium to large garbage bags
  • Toilet paper – trust me on this one
  • Hand sanitizer and/or handi-wipes
  • Battery-powered radio, with extra batteries

Any prescriptions or personal items that you must have should be in a purse, In your go-bag or on your person somewhere. Don’t leave them in anything that can be dropped, lost or left behind. Other things to have ready in case of evacuation: leashes and/or pet carriers for your furry friends, many emergency shelters are pet-friendly now. Also have ready at least one large sleeping bag per adult, one change of clothes, small toys or a couple books for kids, chew toys for the dog, and one for the hubby if he or she seems overly nervous. Get cash. If the power goes out, the ATMs will be down. Don’t stock up on alcohol, I mean the drinking kind. While a hurricane party sounds like fun, you don’t want to be too inebriated to function in an emergency. Save that for after the danger has passed.

On Saturday morning, two full days before Sandy was expected to slap us hard, I took stock of the situation and determined the risk was high enough to warrant a supply run. We were only missing batteries, food items and a can opener, so our mission was clear and simple. Full inventory completed, I departed for WalMart with high hopes. Upon arrival, we could immediately sense the underlying chaos, thanks in part to the storm supplies parked right in front of the door. Camping equipment, first aid supplies, flashlights and batteries, and a big empty space where the generators used to be stacked up.

My advice: avoid these “special sale” areas as the storm gets closer. Have you seen The Hunger Games? Remember the violence that ensued during that initial dash for the supplies? Exactly. Make your way around the store quickly, avoiding high-traffic areas and staying away from anything labeled “storm supplies.” That’s where the fights break out. D-batteries are always the first to go. Stock up when you don’t need them, and you won’t be sorry later. If you have the means, invest in a gas-powered generator or a camping stove (outdoor use only) for extended power outage times. Install a water filter on your faucet and fill up empty milk gallon containers to store in a closet. You don’t want to find yourself looking at an empty shelf situation when you realize it’s time to prepare.

Once home, storm kit stocked and ready… clean the house. Get the dishes out of the sink, tie up the garbage, put away any food, do a little laundry if you have time. It may seen obsessive or nit-picky, but if you end up having to leave for a few days or more, not having to come home to smelly garbage and airborne bacteria is a wonderful thing. If you don’t have to leave, all the better. Take preventative action ahead of time. You can then sit and indulge in guilty pleasures with zombie movies, video games and romance novels while the storm rages outside. When the power goes out – and it will – drink all the milk before it gets warm and have flashlightsaber battles to pass the time. Stay alert – if there’s damage outside or you think a tree fell on your roof, don’t go out in the storm to take pictures. Stay put, but be ready to leave if you have to- shoes on or within easy reach, wet weather gear by the door.

Most importantly – In the event that the worst happens and a mandatory evacuation is ordered for your area, DO IT. Staying behind during an evacuation order is not only endangers you, it means somebody else may have to put their lives at risk to rescue you if things do get bad. It also means our Commander in Chief will worry herself into a terrible state, and that’s just hard on everyone. Know where the emergency shelters are in your area, know your evacuation route, and have a destination in mind if you have to get out fast. Check out the ZSC’s Disaster Preparedness section for more information about what you should know before, during and after disaster strikes.


Special News Report: Get Your Go Bags Ready

From behind the zombie bunny cages of RC Murphy
Alert Level: High

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Commander Monday segment to bring you vital information which may indicate the zombie apocalypse may be heating up.

Often we hear news tidbits that force us to double-check our go bags and weaponry. However, nothing caught our attention about the reality of what we’re facing in the near future like this news article from the Miami Herald.

Here’s a rundown of what the police have released so far. On Saturday May, 26th at approximately 2:00 PM local time, police received reports that two men were in an altercation on a bicycle path alongside a freeway off ramp. Police arrived on the scene and described the situation as a nude man hunched over another man…apparently eating his face.

Yes, you read that right. They claim that the attacker chowed down on the victim’s face. Police used verbal warnings to break up the situation. When that proved ineffective, they shot him. The first shot had no apparent affect. Five more shots were fired into the attacker, according to witness reports. The attacker died on the scene. Paramedics took the victim to a nearby hospital in serious condition—his face unrecognizable.

Police theories right now state that the attacker was suffering from “cocaine psychosis”, which drives a person insane as they literally cook from the inside out (this also explains why he was found nude during the assault).

The police are allowed their theories. We’re allowed ours. Numerous ZSC brigadiers brought this article to our attention, and we thank them for that. This may indeed be a drug-induced psychosis as Miami police claim. Or it could be the first wave in zombie activity. The fact that the man did not react as a human should when the first shot was fired is disconcerting. Lack of pain response is one of the first signs we look for when determining if a person is in fact infected by the zombie virus. It is very rare that psychotic rages push someone to the point of devouring a living human, despite what we’ve seen in the movies. There must be something more to the story than what they’re telling the public.

Also, it is significant to note this incident took place while our commander-in-chief, Juliette Terzieff, is at Spooky Empire May-hem educating the masses on how to respond during a zombie apocalypse. Coincidence? We don’t think so. The chief has checked in to assure everyone her go bag is with her and ready to go. She has given the pre-deployment signal to command, so we are standing by awaiting her further instructions at this time. We are on high alert, and this is NOT a drill.

Please, be on your guard. We will be keeping a close eye on any further reports from the Miami police regarding this situation.


Mission: RESUPPLY

Volunteers Needed
Mission Level: Medium-High

Hey you. Yes, you in the back trying to hide behind the weapons rack… we need your help!

A couple months ago, JL Coburn (SAPPED) assisted the Oracle in creating a map of resupply stations within the United States. While having identified our meeting locations is great, we must secure additional information to build these locations into the appropriate resupply stations that can save our collective backsides once the Zombiepocalypse kicks off. This is where you, the Zombie Survival Crew loyalists, come in.

ZSC Command is officially calling for volunteers to staff this two-part mission, codename: RESUPPLY. Portion one (I) is to scout locations for information; the second part (II) is to actually man the supply centers when disaster strikes.

RESUPPLY I:

There are twenty-three resupply stations currently mapped out, divided into six sectors within the US. We need folks from each city or a neighboring city to scout out a few things. ::cue Mission Impossible music::

  1. A large, secure area to act as a meeting zone.
  2. Shopping centers, grocery stores, hardware stores, pharmacies, etc… around the meeting zone the ZSC can use to gather supplies.
  3. Three to four routes to the meeting zone from each direction (north, east, south, west)
  4. For the Phase II cities (marked below), we need a large building capable of housing supplies for 100+ people and is easy to secure against attack.

Email all intel to Command [at] zombiesurvivalcrew [dot] com with the headline “Resupply Station [city name]”. If you wish to include photos of the locations, please do. It will provide vital information to ensure we know what we’re dealing with. Multiple scouts in a city are welcome. The more information accumulated the better for solidifying our official Escape Route plans.

RESUPPLY II:

We will also need volunteers to coordinate and run the resupply stations in each of the cities below. If you wish to assist, leave a comment below telling us which city you’d like to volunteer in.

Resupply Stations:

North West Group (Yellow)
      1A. Pocatello, ID (Phase II site)
      1B. Lakeview, OR
      1C. Yakima, WA
      1D. Helena, MT

South West Group (Purple)
      2A. Madera, CA (Phase II site)
      2B. St. George, UT
      2C. Phoenix, AZ
      2D. Anaheim, CA

North Central Group (Red)
      3A. Duluth, MN (Phase II site)
      3B. Waterloo, IA
      3C. Alliance, NE
      3D. Bismarck, ND

South Central Group (Aqua)
      4A. Midland, TX (Phase II site)
      4B. Liberal, KS
      4C. Springfield, MO
      4D. Monroe, LA
      4E. San Antonio, TX

North East Group (Blue)
      5A. Burlington, VT (Phase II site)
      5B. Wilmington, DE
      5C. Cleveland, OH

South East Group (Green)
      6A. Atlanta, GA (Phase II site)
      6B. Berea, KY
      6C. Kissimmee, FL

To read more on all resupply stations, please go to our (for members only) Key Links under the Escape Routes/Resupply Stations section


Mission: Volunteers Needed

RESUPPLY Volunteers Needed
Mission Level: Medium-High

Zombie Survival Crew command has been working on the appropriate strategy for mobilizing the crew in the event of a Zombiepocalypse or other global cataclysmic event. Honorable Brigadier, JL Coburn (SAPPED), has amassed a great amount of data and provided it to the Oracle for her to sift through to come up with the best plan.

We’re now looking for volunteers to help take this to the next level. In order for you to see how you can help Mission: RESUPPLY, you must be registered for this site and logged in.


Resupply Stations – The Sectors

A month ago, we introduced the Grid Concept for our resupply stations, where we broke down the continental United States into 23 Phase I sectors which will roll into 6 Phase II sectors. In order to keep outsiders (walkers or other kinds of predators) from discovering the whereabouts of the resupply stations — because let’s face it, the last thing we want is a surprise visit while gathering the troops — we cannot refer to the resupply stations by city name. And while we have broken them into color-coded groups (North East – Blue, South East – Green, North Central – Red, South Central – Aqua, North West – Yellow, and South West – Purple), we needed a better way to identify the resupply stations without giving away any inkling of the location of the station. So each sector has been given a number and letter to signify its location. This makes it easy for reporting in to the resupply station. If the internet is still an option, check-ins via twitter would be something along the lines of @TheZSC Checking in sector #2D. Travel was quiet. Or if there were problems, they could be reported accordingly. @TheZSC Destination sector #2D. Shamblers enroute, diverting to avoid.

So how are the sectors laid out? Each of the 6 phase II sectors is assigned a number from top to bottom and left to right. Then within each of the groups, the phase II sector will be designated as the A of the group. The alpha sequence then follows a clockwise direction through the remaining locations. For easier visualization, please look at the full-sized version of the map. The breakdown is as follows:**Note** – The colors of the markers are not brigade specific — they are only indicative of the various resupply station groups.

North West Group (Yellow)
      1A. Pocatello, ID (Phase II site)
      1B. Lakeview, OR
      1C. Yakima, WA
      1D. Helena, MT

South West Group (Purple)
      2A. Madera, CA (Phase II site)
      2B. St. George, UT
      2C. Phoenix, AZ
      2D. Anaheim, CA

North Central Group (Red)
      3A. Duluth, MN (Phase II site)
      3B. Waterloo, IA
      3C. Alliance, NE
      3D. Bismarck, ND

South Central Group (Aqua)
      4A. Midland, TX (Phase II site)
      4B. Liberal, KS
      4C. Springfield, MO
      4D. Monroe, LA
      4E. San Antonio, TX

North East Group (Blue)
      5A. Burlington, VT (Phase II site)
      5B. Wilmington, DE
      5C. Cleveland, OH

South East Group (Green)
      6A. Atlanta, GA (Phase II site)
      6B. Berea, KY
      6C. Kissimmee, FL

To read more on all resupply stations, please go to our (for members only) Key Links under the Escape Routes/Resupply Stations section


Escape Route Plans – Sectors

Zombie Survival Crew command has been working on the appropriate strategy for mobilizing the crew in the event of a Zombiepocalypse or other global cataclysmic event. Honorable Brigadier, JL Coburn (SAPPED), has amassed a great amount of data and provided it to the Oracle for her to sift through to come up with the best plan. Don’t be left out in the cold! In order for you to view the escape route plans, you must be registered for this site and logged in. If you are already registered and logged in, you’ll definitely want to check out where your closest resupply station is.


Resupply Stations – The Grid Concept

Zombie Survival Crew command has been working on the appropriate strategy for mobilizing the crew in the event of a Zombiepocalypse or other global cataclysmic event. Honorable Brigadier, JL Coburn (SAPPED), has amassed a great amount of data and provided it to the Oracle for her to sift through to come up with the best plan. While we plan to expand our escape routes globally, command determined that since the bulk of the ZSC loyalists are in the continental United States, that should be the starting point for the development of escape routes and resupply stations.

The Oracle started off working with bubble or cell concept, but then realized the benefits of switching to a grid concept. The map attached to this post shows the location of both the phase I and phase II resupply stations (Click the map to view full size). By applying a grid to the map of the United States, we broke the United States into 23 phase I sectors, which will then roll into 6 phase II sectors. The idea behind the resupply stations is that when we have been notified that mobilization is necessary, we grab our Go Bags and bug out — but where do we go? To the resupply station. Each brigade has different Go Bag essentials so that when all brigades meet at the resupply stations, each station will have the necessary supplies to support the community in the preparation to move on to the phase II stations.

We will provide more details and instructions involved with the full plan, but wanted to introduce the crew to the first set of resupply stations. Make sure you know where your resupply station is so you can start planning how you will get there. We cannot anticipate that we will have transportation means other than travel by foot, so factor that into your plans. In reviewing the map, if your location falls under one of the grid lines, you make the determination as to which resupply station is the one you will head toward. The resupply station locations are listed below: **Note** – The colors of the markers are not brigade specific — they are only indicative of the various resupply station groups.

North East Group (Blue)

  1. Burlington, VT (Phase II site)
  2. Cleveland, OH
  3. Wilmington, DE

South East Group (Green)

  1. Atlanta, GA (Phase II site)
  2. Berea, KY
  3. Kissimmee, FL

North Central Group (Red)

  1. Duluth, MN (Phase II site)
  2. Waterloo, IA
  3. Bismarck, ND
  4. Alliance, NE

South Central Group (Aqua)

  1. Midland, TX (Phase II site)
  2. San Antonio, TX
  3. Monroe, LA
  4. Springfield, MO
  5. Liberal, KS

North West Group (Yellow)

  1. Pocatello, ID (Phase II site)
  2. Helena, MT
  3. Yakima, WA
  4. Lakeview, OR

South West Group (Purple)

  1. Madera, CA (Phase II site)
  2. Phoenix, AZ
  3. St. George, UT
  4. Anaheim, CA

To read more on all resupply stations, please go to our (for members only) Key Links under the Escape Routes/Resupply Stations section


Escape Route Plans

Zombie Survival Crew command has been working on the appropriate strategy for mobilizing the crew in the event of a Zombiepocalypse or other global cataclysmic event. Honorable Brigadier, JL Coburn (SAPPED), has amassed a great amount of data and provided it to the Oracle for her to sift through to come up with the best plan. Don’t be left out in the cold! In order for you to view the escape route plans, you must be registered for this site and logged in. If you are already registered and logged in, you’ll definitely want to check out where your closest resupply station is.