Cumbre Vieja

Christine H brings one of the most fascinating disaster scenarios seen on Doomsday Preppers and one that not many are aware of. She is worried about a megatsunami resulting from the eruption of Cumbre Vieja, a volcano near the Canary Islands.

According to geologists, an eruption could trigger the western half of the volcano to slip into the sea. The resulting debris would create an apocalyptic tsunami almost 2000 feet high at some points, cooling down to about 200 feet once they reach the east coast.

England, coastal Africa and the Eastern United States would be devastated. Estimated casualties in New York, Boston and Miami would be in the millions as buildings were leveled. According to studies, the wave would hit the east coast roughly 6 hours after an eruption and be able to flood areas 16 miles inland.

Preparing for the Tsunami

Christine is leveraging an impressive level of OCD to organize her food stores to the point of being portable. She wants to be able to get up and go as soon as possible. With 6 hours to escape following an eruption – no time could be wasted. Her plan is to bug out to a friends house located inland with 3 months worth of supplies.

The getaway plan is by car with a backup of going by boat. There are some obvious problems with this. Paddling at a speed of 1.2 miles per hour would put her within the path of the tsunami’s flood range if they were able to get moving the minute Cumbre Vieja erupted. It beats wearing a snorkel in traffic and hoping for the best but that’s about it.

Personally, if I were committed to redundancy I would invest in a better watercraft than an inflatable raft. I would also get an outboard motor to increase my speed. Solutions like the zodiac are very affordable and available secondhand, my brother purchased one when he was in highschool.

Food preps

Christine was able to get some of her friends within the community interested in prepping by showing easy to make meals. Everyone likes making life easier, so showing a meal that can be made in minutes in a jar is a great gateway to prepping.

She makes a point of low acid food being much longer lasting. This is true, but not necessarily the entire truth. Both low acid and high acid foods can be successfully canned, with different methods required. Water bath canning is required to kill microorganisms with high acid foods and pressure canners can be used to destroy bacteria with low acid foods.

To pick one nit, there was a moment where Christene said there was a great thing to add to protein – carbs! While I staunchly disagree with this logic, it is not entirely untrue. Using carrots, celery and corn is more of an addition of fiber than straight carbohydrates. Celery is ridiculously low calorie and carrots have a relatively low glycemic index of 39-45. I would avoid the corn due to the abundance of fusarium mold and fructose but other than that great meal!