Super Urbanites

Preparing in an Apartment Series

There’s no one size that fits all to becoming prepared. Prepping for disaster in a city apartment versus prepping in a 3,000 square foot suburban home is a matter of logistics. The same disaster, be it a flood or a tornado would look and play out different in a suburban setting than it would in a densely packed urban center. Even so, the process of preparing is the same; in the execution, specifically, the details matter most.

People live day by day. We make plans for the weekend, run errands, trade time for money at work, and celebrate milestones in our lives and the lives of those closest to us. As we go through our days, we’re largely constrained by what we can imagine, which informs what we accomplish. We tend to ignore situations, opportunities and events that we don’t view as credible or meaningfully significant to us. In practical terms, this manifests itself as a lack of readiness, resources and resilience for disasters that we’re both capable of preparing and able to endure without undue stress and discomfort.

Let’s further unpack this one because it’s important to understand why we don’t prepare, so we can get to how to prepare. Some of the resistance to getting started in urban environments are the space considerations. When preparing for a power outage in apartment and condominium communities, fuel-based generators are not options. Using them indoors is both unsafe and illegal. Additionally, the security risks created in placing the generator outside greatly reduces the potential benefits. I’m going to suggest some actionable steps you can take right away to get started right away and leave you with some general tips. There will also be links to other posts and checklists for additional guidance.     

First Things First

The first place to start is with a hazard analysis followed by a thorough needs analysis. In the interests of space, I’m not going to dive too deeply into either here, but I’m going to refer you to the following post, Key Terms for more instruction. Houston, New York, Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles and Chicago are all major cities, yet at risk of weather events and natural disasters. Living in a large urban area isn’t a guaranteed pass, especially when you consider that some hazards were baked into the cake.

For example, Chicago and Houston tackle the flooding problem in different ways. Chicago effectively made itself a massive bathtub with a vast system of drainage tunnels and reservoirs. You can argue that Chicago started this process when the direction of the Chicago River was reversed and they’ve never stopped. Houston, on the other hand, during a period of rapid growth and urban sprawl, prioritized highway development over flood mitigation. As a result, the city is highly vulnerable to flooding which is a regular, though manageable, disaster.

This is a simplified version of a hazard analysis that addresses the issue of flooding in both cities. Houston also experiences risk from hurricanes and extreme heat events. Midwest winters are nothing to joke about and Chicago hunkers down and pushes through. Now that you know the mechanics of an effective hazard analysis, let’s keep moving.

Once you’ve identified the hazards, the next step is to carefully examine what your needs are. You can find more details on the needs analysis here.  Once the heavy lifting is out of the way, it’s time to turn to cultivating your network.     

Community and Circle of Trust

In some ways, building a community is easier in urban settings due to physical proximity. The neighbors are across the hall or literally on the other side of the wall. The shared common spaces of mail and laundry rooms, amenities such as pools, rec rooms, and courtyards all serve to anchor and promote community. Of course, we often take for granted that elevators, stairwells and hallways are impromptu meeting places and the momentary closeness often encourages a quick smile followed by friendly or focused conversation. Don’t allow these opportunities to slip by. If you’re comfortable doing so and timing is on your side, strike up a conversation with a neighbor on a different floor or down the hall.

Homeowner’s associations and community meetings are great forums to attend to get a sense of who’s who, as well as get updates on the community. Sometimes government officials attend such meetings and make presentations on emergency preparedness. This is an invitation if ever there was one to move the conversation forward with a few careful exploratory comments and questions.

Enlisting the entire community is a stretch but a handful of serious members can accomplish a great deal. Large groups can easily become unwieldy and dominated by the strongest personality or the person with the most knowledge. Groups built on actual knowledge, genuine utility and mutual respect, rather than personality, have the greatest chance of long-term viability. It may be possible to accomplish more with ten members than fifty.

The purpose of the group isn’t to save the world or become a police force. Being a source of reliable information in times of confusion and a steady, trusted presence to others is the goal. Cooperation, trust and respect are the foundations upon which your community should be built.      

You’re Being Watched

There’s a high degree of social cooperation involved with living close to others. Shared spaces and being separated by less than a foot of drywall from the strangers next door is not possible without unwritten rules of etiquette. Most people are quite comfortable respecting the privacy of others, however, some view these unwritten rules as cute suggestions. Let me be blunt; some people are nosey and have never encountered a boundary they’re willing to acknowledge. This is a common dynamic the world over and there’s little to be done about it.

Given this basic human predilection, you’re not going to keep your preps a secret from everyone. Operational Security, Opsec, is more difficult in the close confines of urban living, but not impossible. Hiding your group activities from the larger community is guaranteed to create conflicts. Resource sharing isn’t required, and this is a point that needs to be clearly established and agreed upon upfront. Hiding your individual supplies is also not as easily done. Again, those nosey neighbors! Care, creativity and confidence are the biggest considerations here.  

Cities have always been dynamic, vibrant and a diverse collection of communities and services, rife with opportunities. Life in a big city can afford you the same level of readiness, resourcefulness and resilience as a home in the suburbs. Now that you know where to start, get after it!    

Tips

o   Don’t overlook the most obvious assets staring you in the face: your neighbors! Communities are all around you.

o   Familiarize yourself with the full range of services provided by your local government before a disaster. This information is usually found on its website.

o   In some cities, park district facilities, libraries, schools and police stations are often used as cooling and heating locations during extreme weather events.

o   Public transit agencies often provide buses for the same function.

o   Local food pantries and food banks are an often-overlooked resource both as a safety net and as a place to stock your pantry with the food you eat.

o   Identify how you would evacuate the city if necessary. By car, bike, bus or train; figure it out in advance. Identify the routes you’d take and how long it would take to reach your destination.

o   If you decide to get out of the city, leave early!