Catherine Drea: Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

My little granddaughter's favourite book is, ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ by Michael Rosen. Off we go to find a bear but all along the way we are dogged by swishy grass, splashy puddles and dark creepy forests. It’s a case of our survival and resilience being tested on every page. In the end we get back home just in time to avoid a big brown bear, we bound up the stairs and jump into bed. All cosy and safe again!

It seems that our last few weeks have been the very expression of this struggle for survival and resilience and it got me wondering about why some people are better at it than others.

If you have never been exposed to extremes of weather, or in my case many years of camping with four lads in tow, you are probably not cut out for losing your electricity or water for days, and even weeks, on end. With the exception of the very vulnerable and frail, I’m alarmed that the able-bodied amongst us are not better prepared for the worst.

Those of us living in rural areas are very susceptible to storm damage and loss of power. I remember when we had a very shaky ESB pole on the top of a hill that supplied us. Every single time there was a bit of wind it would fail. It was only in 2010 when we were snowed in for a week that a foreign crew came and replaced it with something that usually holds its own.

During the last week of storms the nearby substation failed and many of us were without power for about 24 hours. It almost made me nostalgic for the old days when we all huddled around the one fire in my childhood home every night of the winter.

When my parents eventually installed a storage heater in the hall, the run up the stairs to bed became a leisurely stroll. Much to my Dad’s annoyance, myself and my sisters would linger in the hall sitting on the heater and clutching our hot water bottles unable to face the cold beds up above. This sounds like the dark ages but growing up in a mostly cold house was good training for a bit of hardship now and then.

Even more than that, just like my granddaughter, I was always attracted to games and stories about the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. One of my favourite games was to dress up in warm clothes, hats, scarves and wellies to run up and down hills and crouch under trees. This was the game of Arctic explorers, spending hundreds of days lost at the North Pole waiting to be rescued or trudging through imaginary snow trying to reach the whaling station.

Or there was the game of being marooned on a desert island. This happened on hot days. A white flag made from an old pillow case could be attached to a branch and used to wave down passing ships. Starving and thirsty we would end up crawling up the garden to the tap parched and dying of thirst.

I once travelled all over Europe in a small VW van with five lads, a guitar and a set of Uileann pipes. Year after year, I took a bunch of kids travelling and camping in another van. I slept in the mountains of Italy in an old army tent and almost froze to death. OK, I admit that was the folly of youth but I still love to sleep outside under the stars and meander without a compass.

All of this has led me to be excited about snow and happy with candles and a camping gas stove to cook on. Luxury to be honest!

Besides all my romantic ramblings there are a few practical things that I’ve learned along the way. Mainly this, all of us should be better prepared for the possibility of the worst happening, be it the loss of power, water or some other unforeseen catastrophe. I have seen the Swedish preparation plans for citizens and they are already practicing drills for something unforeseen that might happen in the future.

This plan includes groups of people undertaking training in rescue, First Aid and knowledge of the strategy for each area. There will be stations of shelter identified in each area, as well as key people who will organise evacuations or information gathering.

As we don’t seem to have anything in place I would suggest a few simple preparations that all of us could make. It breaks my heart to hear of people not having water when a communal rain collecting station of a rain barrel could provide a back-up alternative. Or imagine not having a camping gas stove to make a cup of tea or a hot meal?

Hot water bottles, thermals, a larder of emergency food supplies and battery-operated radios are essential for cold winter storms. If the WIFI goes and your phone no longer works you will need information about what and 'why?' A battery operated radio, just like we had in the old days, will keep you in touch.

Then, please be grateful for weather warnings! We whinge far too much about the people trying to keep us safe. A warning is your chance to prepare. And if you get off lightly, like we did this time, then thank your lucky stars.