I live in the PNW and it's astounding how many people here aren't prepared at all. And I don't mean "aren't prepared" as in "aren't Preppers", I mean they don't even have a basic emergency kit.

I don't consider myself a prepper at all, and I have dried food (beans, rice, etc.), water, space blankets, and a few other things all tucked into a rubbermaid next to my camping gear. By contrast, I know people with young kids that pretty much don't do any prep at all beyond having a first aid kit in the house.

I suppose the difference is that we had an "atmospheric river event" back in November and for me, it demonstrated just how poorly prepared the government is for dealing with this stuff, and how fragile/tenuous our link with the rest of the country is (I live on Vancouver Island).

Same thing with Southern California. 40 years later, people are barely aware of the sheet panic raised (manufactured?) in the 80s. There were a couple movies in the last few decades, at most.