Semper Gumby: Leaving Some Flex in Your Preps
For most of us, urban preparedness is a theoretical solution to a possible outcome. It requires us to work the problem with a hope and a prayer, but with the understanding that we may be called upon in some manner of scale. Priorities differ for us all, but no matter your 'apocalypse' it's important to leave a little flex. Disasters are rarely as expected, and they don't much care for rigid plans.
Rain on my Parade
There was an odd hiss coming from beyond my idle headphones. Something that I couldn't quite place. Slowly pulling the headphones from my head, the sound appeared to fill the room. With a step towards the door, I quickly figured out why the noise was so familiar - it was running water, and it was now at my feet. Not just the sound, but the water itself. Looking around, I could see the ripples forming by the closet, and it didn't take long to discover that there was water pouring from the ceiling, walls, and baseboards.
My apartment was slowly flooding.
One Size Fits All
When it was all said and done, a cracked sprinkler pipe had made quite the mess of the drywall and closet floor. Despite the inconvenience and ongoing repair, the damage paled in comparison to other units. Power was cut, possessions were moved. Many of the items that were in the closet were nicely packed in sealed Plano storage totes, and needed little more than a wipe down.
I hadn't expected on dealing with a broken pipe in the ceiling, but I had planned for the drains to back-up. After witnessing numerous people relocate due to floods from clogged up grease stacks, I purchased a large wet/dry shop vacuum to help contain any overflow. Though it had taken the fire suppression company 3 hours to kill the flow, that second-hand shop vac kept the water from doing any more damage. The other units were not so lucky.
Keep it Loose
Though my plans for flooding were built around a particular use-case, there was enough play in the prep to go with the flow. While wargamming may lead us in one direction, it's imperative to keep from developing dogmatic solutions to variable problems. Anything too rigid will break, and single-use tools will quickly find themselves squirreled away without use.
In the playful words of the USMC - Semper Gumby!