Oprah Show - Bird Flu Pandemic

[christine2448]

when i told mr. izzyB i needed an extra $1,000 in the household budget to cover what i had spent on the stockpile his first response was "stop stockpiling immediately!" i pray the bird flu does not come this year because i cannot afford to be prepared the way we would like to be.

something else i have done since 9/11 is save my change. i only do this once a week, usually on sunday night. i empty my change purse. sometimes it is a dollar, and sometimes it is less, but i will have small change if it is ever needed.

some of the survival sites i have looked at say you could also have items to barter, such as liquor. at this point, i am sticking with the change.

Every evening, I empty my pockets into a big water jug, I usually keep my $$ in wallet, so somedays I have nothing, other days I have 50 cents, but some days there maybe some 1's, 5's or 10's in my pocket...and hubby does this too...then every June we count it all up and use it for my son's bday...we usually get from 200-300 dollars per yr. Maybe I should use this for emergencies like you instead of bday present...hmmmm

 

[christine2448]

I would like to hire IzzyB to get me organized.

Have you thought of starting a business?

no kidding!

 

[Jeana (DP)]

I guess that I will die from it as I am not stockpiling or doing anything to prepare.

Me too.

 

[nanandjim]

I'm not sure whether to prepare for, the arrival of the bird-flu, or the arrival of Al Qaeda...

Don't forget the nuclear attack threat from Iran.

 

[nanandjim]

Me too.

God knows that I have enough clutter and junk around this house. I don't intend on adding to it...

As another poster stated, it also reminds me of Y2K and Mad Cow disease scares. In addition, I never did stock up on duct tape either. I hope that I won't end up regretting that one.

 

[Lesleegp]

With my luck, I will be the first person here to die of this illness. That being said though, I just don't see the big panic. And losing electricity......what's that all about? Y2K, now I can see that with the possibility of losing power....but an illness? Got me.......maybe I should read up.

 

[izzyB]

I would like to hire IzzyB to get me organized.

Have you thought of starting a business?

thank you for the compliment! i do try to keep organized, but i have one room, my office/guestroom that is my shame. it looks like a toronado hit it....at all times! it looks like those rooms on police shows that have been ransacked!! thankfully i can close the door and the rest of the house is OK.

i make goals for the new year and one of the goals is to get a handle on this office. and i keep thinking, it will not cost you a thing to organize this space (unlike the bird flu stockpile.) if i would make myself stay home for just a few afternoons with no distractions i could have it whipped into place. all the elements are there.

 

[izzyB]

With my luck, I will be the first person here to die of this illness. That being said though, I just don't see the big panic. And losing electricity......what's that all about? Y2K, now I can see that with the possibility of losing power....but an illness? Got me.......maybe I should read up.

i am worried about the water supply and power grid if a city if quarantined and workers do not go to work.

it is my understanding the government is suggesting businesses have a plan to work with a greatly reduced workforce due to death/illness. i heard this on the radio while driving and do not remember the percentage.

 

[HeartofTexas]

Eve, in response to your comment re the drug companies putting all of their efforts into making tamiflu or other drugs that might help in an emergency, I believe the expert on Oprah said there were only 1 or 2 manufacturers of the drugs in the world and if they did nothing but make tamiflu for the next five years, they would only have enough to cover 5% of the world population. There may be lots of drug companies but there are only a couple of places in the WORLD that make the various prescriptions. That is not good news.

Personally, I'm afraid I'm just going to have to give up if the pandemic arrives. I don't see how I can ever get organized enough to do this... and nor do I have the space to store such a massive amount of stuff. I do feel like some big pandemic will be coming in the next few years, even if it's not the bird flu pandemic. Traditionally, a huge one comes around every so many years. It's probably a very good idea to have enough provisions to last awhile, but I doubt the general population will ever take the time to do what we might need to do. Some will but most won't... and I'm probably in the last category! And Lord help us all if we're locked in our houses for a year with small children to entertain 24/7 with no relief. You better stock up on lots of board games, cards, and coloring books.

 

[HeartofTexas]

Ohhhhh, IzzyB, I just noticed you're in my city... perhaps I can pay you to get me organized! Forget your office... my whole house needs you.

I bet working on skeleton crews won't cover it if people are dying from the bird flu. Who would even want to go to work where someone had it? Unfortunately, there would be nowhere safe to go. Nowhere. It sounds like staying home the second the bird flu hits your city is the only recourse for weathering this storm, if in fact it does hit with the intensity they are mentioning.

 

[scandi]

On the CNN Bird Flu show last night, one lady said the only thing that she knew of that could be worse would be a super atomic megabomb explosion.

Scandi

 

[txsvicki]

Did anyone besides me see the Oprah Show today (Jan. 24) on the coming bird flu pandemic? It was beyond frightening. The experts on the show pretty much said it's not "if" it's coming but "when" it's coming. They talked about stock-piling food for our families for 4-5 weeks, wearing masks over our nose and mouth, etc. I would be interested in hearing other's reactions to this news. Personally, I'm scared.

I've already started stockpiling. My grandkids' pediatrician who is very experienced with third world countries said that the bird flu will be here either next year or the next. He didn't say "may be" either, it was "will be". Hope he is wrong. I haven't seen anyone mention looting if people are housebound for weeks or months. I wonder if there should be a way to board up the inside of windows and doors just in case things should really get crazy.

 

[NK57]

Me too.

Add me to the list too. (From the wife of an FDNY chief who survived 9/11)

 

[Marthatex]

thank you for the compliment! i do try to keep organized, but i have one room, my office/guestroom that is my shame. it looks like a toronado hit it....at all times! it looks like those rooms on police shows that have been ransacked!! thankfully i can close the door and the rest of the house is OK.

i make goals for the new year and one of the goals is to get a handle on this office. and i keep thinking, it will not cost you a thing to organize this space (unlike the bird flu stockpile.) if i would make myself stay home for just a few afternoons with no distractions i could have it whipped into place. all the elements are there.

I ran around like crazy for 3 days when hurricane Rita was headed this way. Got water, batteries, food, etc. not only for my house, but for my two children who live in two different homes 30 minutes from here.

It took it all around to them, they were working and clueless; I was one exhausted momma! THEN WE DIDN't GET A DROP OF RAIN.

I felt like an idget.

I think this flu is coming though, sooner or later.

 

[Buzz Mills]

Japan is killing 800,000 birds to prevent the spread of H5N2, a milder strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus.

 

[j2mirish]

Add me to the list too. (From the wife of an FDNY chief who survived 9/11)

:clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[Tom'sGirl]

I watched the entire Oprah show yesterday over at my old mom's apt. I mentioned to her about reading last year all about the 1918 Pandemic "Spanish Flu" where millions had died. I was amazed that she barely knew anything about it, I'd thought perhaps her mom (my grandma) had told her of it growing up.

Then I thought of my grandma being the oldest of 9 kids during that time living in a Copper mining town in Arizona and wondered how none of them were affected.

The only thing I could think of was that they were in such a remote area and maybe that's what saved the mining town from being affected........dunno! I did some research and found other mining towns seemed to not be affected either, with the exception of one in Arkansas.

I read that in Rhode Island alone 2,300 died from the SFlu.

If we get hit with a Pandemic I'll die from starvation because I'm sure not going out and buying a ton of food to sustain myself at this point.

 

[Marthatex]

The Spanish flu in 1918 killed more than a half-million Americans and perhaps 40 million worldwide. 1957 - 70,000 Americans; 1968 - 38,000.

 

[Tom'sGirl]

The Spanish flu in 1918 killed more than a half-million Americans and perhaps 40 million worldwide. 1957 - 70,000 Americans; 1968 - 38,000.

The "Asian Flu", 1957-58. An H2N2 caused about 70,000 deaths in the United States. First identified in China in late February 1957, the Asian flu spread to the United States by June 1957.
The "Hong Kong Flu", 1968-69. An H3N2 caused about 34,000 deaths in the United States. This virus was first detected in Hong Kong in early 1968 and spread to the United States later that year. Influenza A (H3N2) viruses still circulate today.

 

[Marthatex]

I remember the Hong Kong flu, it really went around and people got very sick. My mother got very sick with it; my father was very worried. Back then doctors made house calls and I think the doctor had to give her an antibiotic. It took weeks to get over.