Academic

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS LESSONS FROM JAPAN: ?Shops across Tokyo began rationing goods ? milk, toilet?

By Glenn Reynolds

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS LESSONS FROM JAPAN: “Shops across Tokyo began rationing goods — milk, toilet paper, rice and water — as a run on bottled water coupled with delivery disruptions left shelves bare Thursday nearly two weeks after the earthquake and tsunami to the north.”

So one argument you see among prepper types is the importance of storing water vs. the importance of having a filter. Here, I’m pretty sure that storage wins — will even the fanciest Katadyn filter take out iodine? And, more generally, this supports the notion of having at least a couple of weeks worth of food stored as the U.S. government, et al., recommend.. (For the Japanese, with their cramped living spaces, that kind of preparedness would be much more difficult, of course.)

Anyway, if this kind of thing interests you, there’s lots of discussion over at Bill Quick’s forum, and here’s a list of disaster-preparation gear.

UPDATE: Reader Sean Neves writes:

On iodine in water, I just figured I’d ring to point out that “activated carbon” is the terminology to look for on a water filter. Usually, they are a post-filter element designed to remove iodine and chlorine from filtered water. Iodine and Chlorine are used to kill viruses and bacteria, while the filter removes cysts, protozoa and other nastiness that don’t get killed quickly by the chemicals. Perhaps it’s time for a water treatment thread? Lots of useful technology out there including various filtration and shortwave UV-C light technologies.

My knowledge of water treatment originates in my outdoor recreation pursuits, but has bled over into survival and emergency preparedness. Alas, there is a lot of shared technology between those fields.

Interesting.

ANOTHER UPDATE: More here.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on March 24, 2011 (boomark / email).