To be really scared by this messaging from the government?

[sookiestjames77]

As someone who really struggled during the pandemic this has really scared me. I have done a big order of hygiene basics to arrive tomorrow (12 x packs of wet wipes etc) and will be heading out for a stock up shop tomorrow to fill up on tins etc.

I’m considering ordering 12 of those water refills for water coolers and a pump that fits in the top, but I don’t know if that’s overkill. I alone drink 4-5 litres of water a day, plus cooking water!

I am really scared. How is everyone else dealing with this?

They're advising 3 days of food and water and light in case of disruption to supply chains due to weather or cyber attack. Not all out war.

Its not rocket science and I dont get why so many Mnetters are confused.

Ha ha, I put wine into the cupboard first.

Angela Rayner got it right there.

Someone said the other day that trump is threatening to withhold all his diesel and not share with the rest of the world… if that happens I’m guessing we’d struggle transporting supplies into or around the U.K.
not Sure how true that is though, but without diesel we won’t be flying or shipping anything in from abroad and we seem so underprepared as a country and rely far too heavily on imported fuel, food etc.

You drink 4 or 5 litres of water a day?

That can’t be good for you.

It nothing unusual. If there is a power cut or bad weather you would want to ensure you have some water and food?

I replied on another thread about this to say that I don't think we are heading to an actual physical war with weapons.

But I could foresee a "cyber war" or problems created by extreme weather. And so much of our day-to-day life is controlled by computers that, in turn, rely on a good electricity supply.

A foreign aggressor could cause complete cyber mayhem at a fraction of the cost it takes to pay for troops and weapons. Or a bad storm could take out power supplies for a few days/weeks.

So we are starting to stock up on food and water, have cash in the safe, don't let the car run low on fuel, keeping on top of medication etc. We have also bought a wind-up radio and a couple of wind-up torches.

It probably won't happen, but it's not beyond the bounds of possibilities. Parts of Spain had a power outage a few months ago that lasted a few days.

Edited to say we are all electric in the kitchen, so DH dug out the old camping stove from the back of the shed and is going to test it tomorrow and get a spare gas bottle for it, so at least we can heat up the tins we have put by.

Completely missing the point of the post 🙄

They have made it very clear. There is no active threat, it’s just sensible. Not necessarily needs to be an act of terror, just any utility issues. Other European countries do this as standard and have done for years.

No, it isn’t. They soft launched it in the media with no real indication of what we should be preparing for.

Still.

What are you preparing for?

If Russian Bots attacked the banking systems, and they went offline for a couple of days, have enough in stock to deal with that… and a bit of cash to hand. In the same way, in winter, you have a few days in stock in case of snow

TBF, I grew up in poverty, so my cupboards always look like I’m stocking up.

Or sparkling?

I don’t know! Like I’ve said if it’s a storm I could probably muddle through. I’d be stuffed with the freezer going out though.

If it’s more serious, I don’t know if I could.

I think there are several possible threats. One would be if there is a cyber attack on distribution centres and food can’t be transported around the British isles.

However, more likely,
I think that it’s if power lines go down because of extreme weather. That can affect food distribution as well as heating and lighting in people’s homes.

We are starting to stock up but it’s not by a crazy amount as we always have food in anyway. The main thing is bottled water - for three of us three packs of 6x2litre water will be all we have. That’s 12 litres each and for three days, that will do.

If I drank alcohol, I’d have a few bottles of wine and som mixers and spirits. As it is, fruit squash will do!

How is everyone else dealing with this?

I went out this morning and panic-bought 12 family-sized steak pies.

My doctor has no concerns about my health, my kidneys are functioning perfectly.

Oh for goodness sake. Dont be so dramatic 🤣🤣 it's just sensible advise. It is nothing more.

If you were that worried, surely you would do a bit of searching around the subject yourself. Even if you only searched on mumsnet you would have found that there are numerous other threads about exactly this issue.

There's really no need to start yet another thread about being scared.

Yet another thread trying to get us all to panic. Hmm.

Who knows!

Honestly I think it's refreshing that the government is being up front with people.

In the case of widespread disruption the government won't be able to fix everything immediately or help everyone at once.

By having a grown up conversation about what might potentially happen and how to prepare for it, they're trying to make sure they can focus efforts in an emergency on those who really need the help, rather than spreading themselves thinly.

With the El Niño this winter it's good to remember how much disruption Storm Arwen alone caused a few years back and how long some people were off power. We live in a world where severe weather is increasingly likely alongside malign actors and threat from things like cyberattack. That's just the reality, and subsequent governments have babies us too much by pretending that they've got these issues covered/risk is low/government response will always be adequate and perfect.

YABU. A few extra bottles of water and some wet wipes aren't going to be much protection against a disaster. Chill out.

I’m not trying to get anyone to panic, at all. I’m seeking the opposite really because I’m really quite worried.

Why panic ? I live in a country where weather disruption is normal. No one panics but we just ensure we have a couple of days of food and water.