HOW TO USE THIS SITE

SITE MAP

Listening to Katrina is a record of my personal experience of hurricane Katrina, and a guide to help you prepare for emergencies and disasters of all kinds.  This work is very straightforward and available entirely online.  I am not selling anything.

This site has several uses.  I have been told that it is enormously entertaining - so if nothing else, it's good for goofing off at work.  You can access all of the content of this site through the CONTENTS menu at the left side of any page. 

MEDIA & LINKS - Links to other sites and other media that reference this site. 

WORKBOOK - The site encourages you to create and maintain a Workbook for your family.  As you read the Listening to Katrina sections, you'll be taught how to do this.  I don't sell the workbook.  You have to build your own, but you can print all the pages for free from that link.

PREPAREDNESS PROJECTS - The site encourages you to make certain preparations, but does not provide much depth on some technical details.  The Preparedness Projects pages provide that detail.  They are also designed so that you can accomplish each project in your own time frame in small steps.

LISTENING TO KATRINA - This is the main portion of the site.  It is the story and the guide.  While I use my experience of Katrina as an example, the preparations I talk about aren't just about hurricanes.  The preparations I cover are useful for every sort of emergency - from a simple house fire to global thermonuclear war.  Every page has a place in the context, and I invite you to read the site page for page in sequence.  There are very few pages that are extraneous, and if you skip around you will lose the context and the site will not be very useful to you.

SITE MAP

LISTENING TO KATRINA

HYST - HAVE YOUR STUFF TOGETHER

        (It isn't really 'stuff', but this page has a 'G' rating.)

Home - Site context.

Introduction - About the site.

Philosophy - Introduction to the philosophy of preparedness and survival.

Run Away! - Opening story of my escape from Katrina.

Bugging Out - T&P - Opening discussion about evacuation.

The Plan - Part 1 - Planning to make plans.

HYST - Documents - Collecting critical documents.

HYST - BOB 1 - Introduction to Bug Out Bags.

HYST - Get a Camera - Digital Camera as a survival tool.

HYST - Complete the Circle - Assembling the LGO bag.

HYST - Not Just 4 U - Thinking about your preps and helping others.

PLAN - 60 Seconds! - The 60 second plan.

HYST - Comm Check! - Relationships with other people.

PLAN - Where Y'at? - Variables to consider for preparations.

PHIL - What's it worth? - What's it worth to you to prepare?

PLAN - Escape Pod - Organizing your Bug Out Vehicle.

PLAN - T-Minus 60 Minutes - The 1 Hour Plan

PHIL - Why are you doing this? - Critical philosophy.

EVENT - Yellow Alert - My experience watching Katrina form.

EVENT - Eject! Eject! Eject! - Making the decision to evacuate.

EVENT - 12 Hours to Doomsday - Packing to leave.

PLAN - 12 Hour Plan - Putting together your 12 Hour Plan.

PLAN - Special Needs - Considerations for special needs.

PHIL - Flowchart of Strategy - Looking forward after a diaster.

EVENT - Row! Row! Row! - My evacuation experience.

HYST - Land Ho! - Picking a place to stay during an evacuation.

HYST - Elephants are Coming! - Getting your spouse to cooperate with preps.

HYST - WTF Just Happened? - Summary of HYST.

LANDFALL

EVENT - WTF Do I Do Now? - The disaster begins.

EVENT - First Day of Thoth - History of New Orleans for the context of Katrina

EVENT - Here I am.  Where U? - Contacting other people.  The first day.

EVENT - The Band Played On - The political context for Katrina.

ANAL - Dance, Girl, Curl - Analysis of political failures in the context of preparations.

EVENT - Battle of New Orleans - Landfall events.

ANAL - Armageddon Lite - Analysis of the initial disaster.

PLAN - Location * 3 - Choosing where you live.

EVENT - Hello Sugar Land! - More of our first day.  Formulating an ACTION plan.

EVENT - SHTF - Analysis of storm damage.

ACTION!

PLAN - Lights, Camera, Action! - ACTION plans explained.

EVENT - Calling FEMA - Instructions on registering with FEMA.

PLAN - ACTION Plan SAFE - ACTION plan if you are safe.

PLAN - ACTION Plan DANGER - ACTION plan if you are not safe.

EVENT - Out of the Woodwork - Insanity after the storm.

EVENT - Good, Bad, Ugly - Examining government response on day one.

EVENT - No Way Out - Mr. Fournier and 'Let's Go' Joe

PREP - Get a Neck Safe - A prep for ID, Location, and Memory

PREP - Build a Scat Pack - A cheap, easy, grab-and-go bag.

EVENT - Descent into Chaos - Organized Insanity

EVENT - Vinnie's Looters - In which our hero provides several lessons.

PREPAREDNESS PROJECTS

LGO BAG - How to create and assemble a Life Goes On Bag

LGO BAG - Theory - LGO Bag defined.  Why you need one.  What goes in it.

LGO BAG - Shopping List - Things you need.  Won't make sense unless you've read the Theory page.

LGO BAG - Data Store - Organizing information wealth.

LGO BAG - Encryption 101 - Using encryption to protect critical documents.

LGO BAG - Data in the Bank - Scanning photographs and vital records.

LGO BAG - Flash Dance - Portable copies of your critical data wealth.

LGO BAG - Redundant Copy - Making and keeping safety copies.

LGO BAG - Windows Backup - Making and keeping safety copies.

LGO BAG - Data Maintenance - Strategies for maintaining data.

LGO BAG - Advanced Geekery - Advanced ideas for geeks.

LGO BAG - Put It Together - Assembling your LGO Bag