Here we sit in Alaska with all our eggs in one basket. Shipping, everything coming to all of our stores comes from Seattle or Portland by way of barges. All those barges have to land in either Anchorage or Seward. Since Safeway took over the grocery stores up here they only have three days supply on the shelves. No back stock period. Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart have gotten into the grocery business lately, but they are the same, with only three days supply on the shelves, with constant resupply coming in. Anything that disrupts that supply will hurt us bad, especially Anchorage and Fairbanks, where most of the people have never seen a supply shortage.
Now the Pacific Rim Of Fire, a string of volcanoes, runs along Alaska's southern coast, and out into the Aleutians. These volcanoes are constantly blowing with small eruptions. Katmai was one of the biggest eruptions recorded, It covered Valdez with many feet of ash. Anchorage did not exist then, so no one knows haw that area fared.
The San Andreas fault that runs through California, and brings those folks so much grief, also runs through Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska experiences an average of 8 earth quakes a day, most are so small they can not be felt. But every once in a while we get some really big shakers, like the 9.(something) we had a few years back when the wife panicked, while we were grocery shopping. We could hardly stand while holding onto post. Now earth quakes along the coast can create tsunamis, some folks call them tidal waves. Some of you may remember back in 1964, the Good Friday earth quake, that hit Anchorage. The quake did significant damage to Anchorage, Valdez, and Seward. All the docks were wiped out in all three cities. It was months before the docks could be rebuilt and shipping could resume. Back then most Alaskans were more self sufficient than today. They kept several months supply of food on hand, and needed less food from the grocery stores, growing their own gardens, and hunting and fishing to gather their own meat supplies. Today Anchorage is a big city with most of it's residents from big cities down south. They know nothing of supply shortages, and just can not fathom no groceries for months. They have nothing set aside.
Now all we need is for one of those Volcanoes to really blow big, or a big Earth Quake. Something that would create a big Tsunamis. One that would wipe out shipping docks in Anchorage, Valdez, and Seward. We know it's coming. The question is not IF, but When. And when it happens we are screwed.
People say, well there is always Air, we can have supplies shipped in by air. If it happens during the winter, we could not bring in enough supplies to keep people warm and fed by air, just could not happen. Too many people, and too much would be needed. Food and water, alone would be almost impossible to supply. Fuel oil, we have to have heat, and most city houses do not have anything but oil burning boilers to keep them warm. There is just no way air supply could work.
That is when SHTF for us here in Alaska. Oh this family will be OK, we can burn wood to heat the house. And I don't need a chain saw to replenish it, I have two man cross cut saws and axes out in the shed. We usually have a good supply of Moose and Caribou meat on hand, along with Halibut. The wife buys canned goods by the case, she likes to have a three month supply in the pantry. And if Social Issues get too hot here, we can easily move out to a remote cabin, I have three located way out of town, with no highways nearby.
