Not sure about the exact details of the manufacturing process, but REI carries nylon packing cubes and other gear that are fully “bluesign” certified. Maybe they are a step above most other items out there? (Some of their stuff seems to be only partially certified, and coated with DWR, which I avoid.)

Looks like some insurers will soon be returning to California market, but costs will be going up: https://calmatters.org/politics/2023/09/california-insurance-crisis/

Thanks, Eric. I’ve read his book, but didn’t know there was a free video course. I’m excited to give it a try later this week. Have you listened to any of it?

911 outage for the STATE of Nebraska After the recent tropical storm in So. Cal, when 911 was down in many desert areas, I learned that you may be able to text 911 when calling 911 won’t work. This seems to be the case here as well. (P.S. I don’t recall an event like this where 911 is down for an entire State.) https://www.wowt.com/2023/09/01/douglas-county-dispatch-experiencing-outage/

Great to hear! What sort of last minute preps did you need to do? (FYI, I’m in So Cal, so I didn’t used to think much about tropical storm events, but I’m going to pay a bit more attention to this type of prepping going forward. I’m guessing I’m not alone in widening my view of what constitutes the realistic threats that I may face.)

Eric, I hope you are safe/well and didn’t suffer any damage from the hurricane. 

A lot of flooding and flash flooding in the news the last few days, both in the U.S. and all over the world. https://www.axios.com/2023/07/10/northeast-storms-flash-flooding-new-york-vermont

A fire at a substation caused this area to suffer an extended outage.  I haven’t seen any reporting on the cause of the fire. https://6abc.com/wildwood-power-outage-jersey-shore-atlantic-city-electric-why-is-out-in/13473833/

Skunks with bird flu in Vancouver, British Colombia: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/h5n1-avian-flu-found-skunk-deaths-vancouver-area

Update: FDIC has placed the bank’s assets into receivership https://apnews.com/article/svb-fed-bonds-rates-banks-inflation-a24b28b3caeede91c76cd120aa9b7966?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_01

The 16th largest bank in the U.S. looks to be in trouble: “Trading of the bank’s shares was halted Friday before markets opened, after the stock fell by double-digits in pre-market trading on the heels of a more than 60% decline Thursday. Other bank stocks slipped in Thursday trading as well, underscoring investor worries over broader risks to the financial industry.” https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/crisis-silicon-valley-bank-shows-tech-sector-worries-spilling-wall-str-rcna74311

If this proposed project happens, risk of spill along Colorado River, making the southwest US even less sustainable: “According to the plans shared with federal agencies, up to five two-mile-long oil trains a day would run more than 100 miles directly alongside the Colorado River – a vital drinking water source for 40 million Americans, 30 tribal nations and millions of acres of farmland. A derailment could be catastrophic for the river,” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/09/utah-oil-railroad-uinta-railway-developers-tax-breaks

Perhaps this comment would be better under the “Forum” section?  But an accident like this leaves me wondering how I could pre-filter water if I was relying on a river contaminated like this — If I was backpacking or otherwise using the river water. I don’t think I’d want to put fuel laden water into my water filter bag?

A man was arrested for bombings of PG&E substations in San Jose area in December 2022 and January 2023.  https://abc7news.com/san-jose-explosives-pge-transformers-blown-up-peter-karasev-arrest-sj-man-arrested-in/12910094/

Devastating flooding in Brazil yesterday and New Zealand last week: The highway connecting Rio de Janeiro state with Sao Paulo’s port city of Santos was blocked by landslides and floodwaters. Gov. de Freitas said the damage was so extensive, the highway may no longer exist. Precipitation in Sao Sebastiao had surpassed 600 millimeters (23.6 inches) during a 24-hour period over the weekend, among the largest such downpours ever in such a short period in Brazil. https://apnews.com/article/floods-disaster-planning-and-response-landslides-mudslides-caribbean-rio-de-janeiro-386188b8810a057d300bf911599d660a Cyclone Gabrielle struck the country’s north on Monday and has brought more destruction to this nation of 5 million than any weather event in decades. . .  A weather station in the Hawke’s Bay region recorded three times more rain over Monday night than usually falls for the entire month of February, authorities said. https://apnews.com/article/weather-landslides-and-mudslides-new-zealand-wellington-afd8a4585282c4f1b92805a0be3f11d1

The devastation from the earthquake in Turkey (and the huge aftershocks) is terrible. It’s hard to look at the photos of the destruction and read about the loss of life. This post is a good reminder that we can’t use the past as the metric for what we could see in the future.  Weather isn’t the only thing that can happen to a degree not previously seen.