LJ126's Survival Plan - RGV EditionThis is a featured page

Lower RGVClimate and Other External Factors
The Rio Grande Valley in Southern Texas is a fairly unique environment, especially when compared to my hometown of Saint Louis, Missouri. I've recently migrated to this region to live with my girlfriend and fellow ZSDW staff member, Maricely and her son. While living with another survival-minded individual has advantages, the region offers some unique concerns.

Climate-wise, summers are similar between the two regions (between 95F-110F in the shade, fairly high humidity) they present some unique survival challenges, most notable being the Sun. My bare skin will burn in less than an hour of exposure to the Sun's rays here without shade or copious amounts of high SPF sunscreen. However, due to a near-constant 10-15 mph breeze, it often feels cooler here in the summer than Saint Louis does. This same breeze also ushers in a late-afternoon cooling; relief that my home region doesn't get until much later at night. Occasionally, there are tropical storms and hurricanes but for the most part, skies remain clear and precipitation is very low in the summer. Technically speaking, where I live is considered a sub-tropical pseudo-desert, though some places resemble a jungle swamp.

Winters in this region are going to be far easier to survive than those I'm used to in the Midwest. Snow is virtually unheard of, and while temperatures may drop to close to freezing and require an extra layer or two, they are nowhere near what one would consider "challenging." Cold temperatures come later in the Fall and are punctuated much earlier in the Spring.*

*I have now experienced an RGV winter, and as I predicted above, they are not bad at all. Precipitation was surprisingly high through late December to early February this year, once raining lightly for almost a week straight. Temperatures rarely dropped below 40F, even at night time, though the winds at times were pretty high and this could present issues. Hypothermia is unlikely, but if one were caught outside in the rain at night in the middle of January on a particularly windy night, it could happen if a fire or break from the wind could not be found or produced.

These two factors help contribute to the change in the face of the region's flora and fauna - cacti, palm trees and mesquite line the sky and citrus fruit and watermelon are the primary cash crops, though corn is also grown. Due to the different terrain, hunting opportunities are also quite different; Missouri's hilly and wooded terrain makes for lots of short-range shooting and stalking, while the RGV is often open and flat for hundreds of yards, punctuated by planned rows of trees to help prevent the wind from blowing away the expensive, imported top layer of soil on fields. Longer range capability is a must-have in this region for warm blooded game to be taken. That being said, there is a fair amount of food available through scavenging, from honey mesquite pods to large orange groves nearby, to trapping small mammals, Rodentia, birds, reptiles and local game.

Unique Considerations in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV)
Natural ConcernsHuman and Man-made Threats
Heat and exertion-related impairmentsPotential language barriers (Español)
Feral, rabid, and poisonous creaturesHome is located along disaster evacuation routes
Dust storms possible
Mediocre law-enforcement response time
Hurricanes and powerful tropical stormsMexican drug cartels and local gangs (image below)
High number of biting insects and thorny plants Map of Mexican Drug Cartel Territories
Wildfires possible during drought months
Poor soil quality, flat terrain, high winds, brutal sun


Internal Factors and Contingency Planning
Maricely and I aren't particularly equipped to affect long-term self sufficiency at this point; like most, we have neither the space to grow and raise our own food, nor the funds to buy a huge plot and construct a long-term escape. The best we can do now is make use of the space and resources we have to stockpile essentials. We keep enough food in our apartment to last for a fair amount of time, though in my opinion, water is always going to be our biggest weakness. I do not intend to list detailed lists of our resources but I will say that I would not feel comfortable without at least two weeks worth of food and water for three people.

Fortunately, we're both minimalists and both used to working with little in the way of resources, and both of us bring specialized education, experience, and qualifications that most people do not have. Stretching our resources should not be a problem because I've been slowly learning to identify local edibles and how to process them, as well as learning how to utilize them in traditional ways. Home defense is not an issue because we both do our best to keep a very low profile; the neighbors are unaware that we're into common-sense preparedness, and in the event of an emergency, we could pretty easily keep our profile low. If security became an issue, we're prepared to handle that issue.

All of this taken into consideration, my plan is not particularly different than the three part plan I had in Saint Louis:
  1. Bug-in for as long as food and water allows
  2. Utilize nearby resources to effect long-term survival
  3. Evacuate only after food and water resources are extinguished or no longer attainable, or as situation demands
In the event of a major storm or wildfire, where evacuation is the only realistic option, we have several options here as well. My family in Saint Louis would be more than happy to receive us, though they're about 1000 miles away; the trip can be made in fewer than 24 hours of non-stop driving if one follows the speed limit and stops for fuel. We would probably stop along the way for a short siesta, though Maricely's son would require more frequent restroom stops than a grown adult. Along the way, we would have multiple stop-and-rest locations which we could use, as necessary.

We do have some potential contacts in the immediate area, as well as out of town, that would likely be on-board in the event of an emergency. However, we have kept our level of preparedness and intentions to ourselves to prevent attention and the "loose-lips" of others. One needs to carefully pick who the members of their team will be, even if it's family or close friends, as one flippant comment can attract a visit from bad souls. Low profile, low profile, LOW PROFILE.



LJ126
LJ126 		Latest page update: made by LJ126 , Jul 7 2012, 12:38 PM EDT (about this update About This Update LJ126 Edited by LJ126

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