Greetings and welcome to the Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #287. Thanks for stopping by for this week's edition of the PENL. What a week it has been for so many. The HFS family prays you are all safe and healthy after the past week of tragedy and storms throughout the southeastern states. It has been an indescribable event for so many in multiple states. Words cannot describe the devastation ongoing.
Ms. Lucy and I passed through Hendersonville, NC on Thursday evening as the rain fell and 15 inches of water had already fallen. We met two other HFS Patriots for dinner and had planned to stay the weekend and attend Prepper Camp together but my gut told me we needed to continue the last two hours towards home in East TN. My gut was right. It was rough getting through Asheville, NC with all the water on the ground and trying to see the road construction out of Asheville. We finally made it through and journeyed home. Thanks be to God for our safety as part of the highway we traveled on Interstate 40 fell into the river within a few hours of us traveling across to get home.
Our community is fine but the damage and devestation starts in the adjacent community named New Port, TN. We lost power for about 60 hours from a fallen tree but that was minor compared to all the other locations. Our community chain saw team took immediate action to clear our road in the event emergency vehicles would need access in to our neighborhood. We also checked all our neighbors to ensure everyone was okay. All was good.
Since last Friday a lot of my time has been reaching out and getting some level of contact with our HFS family across TN, VA, NC, SC, and GA. This was through phone, text, signal, Bivy Stick Satelite and GMRS radio communications. We are blessed to share that all of our HFS family except for two has been accounted for at this time. We are still working to find out the safety status of the two. They are in Western, NC.
I will share more thoughts and information below in the "Thoughts for the week" section of the newsletter. This will include the lessons learned I have received to this point. I'm sure many more will come in to us in the coming week and I plan to share them all because we all must learn from what was learned by others to better prepare.
I want you to keep this in mind. Fifteen inches of rain fell in the Asheville, NC region before Hurrican Helene even hit land in Florida.
I want to recognize the fact that numerous HFS Patriots reached out to HFS to say "thanks" for getting them to prepare in the past. The praise goes to God always. I'm just glad for each family who listened and took steps to better prepare for the unknown ahead. It is not a time to shun the unprepared but a great opportunity to get them started. You will benefit from each family who prepares and develops self sustainability. It's proven with each and every disaster.
This week has been swamped working to get aid and supplies in to the disaster areas to help those in need. Between contacting folks, setting up deliveries and going with my church to take loads of supplies, it has been a busy week. God is good. Seeing how many citizens are stopping life to lend a hand or donate is amazing. This is what the real America is about. We the people.
If you would like to make a donation to aid in the disaster impacted areas please go to the donate button on the webpage. Please indicate DONATION on the note section so I will know. Any aid and support is much appreciated. Survival, Preparedness, Disaster Management for individuals or family (hopeforsurvival.com)
Let us move along.
Upcoming Preparedness Events:
Black Mountain, NC American Herbalist Guild Symposium 2024
Oct 4-7, 2024 - Black Mountain, NC
(Thanks to our Patriot sister from Western, NC, for this submission)
SHTF ( Survival Homestead Teaching Festival)
October 5, 2024. 3266 US-321, Hampton, TN 37658
(This event is being hosted by our Patriot sister Dr. Amanda Cartright who appeared on HFS Zoom and YouTube previously)
Here is the class schedule for this first-year event. If you live close by, please come out and support this effort in building a community group. If you are not familiar with the location it is fairly close to Johnson City/Kingsport, TN. Please note the changes to the classes available. Several instructors had to cancel out due to the recent Hurricane Helene disaster that has impacted much of this area.
8-8:15 Pledge/prayer/opening comments
8:15-9:15 Weapons manipulation (John Brady)
9:30-10:30 Ways to preserve and store food (Amanda Cartwright)
10:45-11:45 Meat rabbits on the homestead (Jeremiah Brummitt)
12:00-1:00 Herbal Medicine (Amanda Cartwright)
1:00-2:00 Lunch
2:00-4:00 Hope For Survival-Community Building (Butch Erskine)
4:15-5:15 Bug Out Bag essentials (Jeremiah Brummitt)
Show original message
West Virginia Thrive and Survive
Oct 3-5, 2025 - WV Off Grid Living (wvoffgridexpo.com)
Communications: You can now follow HFS social media on the following outlets:
Facebook – Hope for Survival -Join us for daily posts on preparedness.
YouTube Channel – Hope for Survival
HFS Thursday Zoom Rally - No Zoom session this week.
Check out HFS YouTube. - No new videos this week. Sorry. Between the 60-hour power outage and working the disaster, I haven't had time to do a video.
If you have not, please consider subscribing to the HFS YouTube channel by hitting like and then subscribe. Connect and give me a shout. Again, hit subscribe and share with family and friends.
Guest and Newcomers
If you are a guest or newcomer to the HFS journey, please check out this link for additional.
information offered through HFS. https://www.hopeforsurvival.com/post/guest-and-newcomers-information-page Â
Hope for Survival books and HFS Thumb Drive for Emergency Documents -: You can obtain information on the two HFS books at this link: Survival, Preparedness, Disaster Management for individuals or family (hopeforsurvival.com)
Hope for Survival - How Food, Water, Shelter, and Security Could Save Your Life (Book 1)
Hope for Survival - The Mindset (Book 2)
HFS Thumb Drive for Emergency Documents - We just restocked the HFS Thumb drive and have them available now. Follow this link and you will see the add at the top of the page. Blog | Survival (hopeforsurvival.com)
We must make this brief public announcement to protect the innocent.
Ding, Ding, Ding....Attention HFS readers..... Opinions shared in this newsletter are just that, opinions, and nothing more. Read at your own risk. The owner and author of this site is not responsible for hurt feelings or thin-skinned readers. I do my best to show restraint and respect to the best extent possible. I take as many precautions as possible and try to remain as nonpolitical as possible, however, there are times when I just can't help but point certain things out. Occasionally I use words only Patriots recognize and understand. It's not personal against any non-Patriot. It's just the truth. Sometimes we must pull up our spenders and suck it up. Just saying. Stay the course, read what you want, and avoid the rest. Avoid fear porn as much as possible and the day will be okay. When all else fails… Keep the faith and always have Hope.
Thoughts for the week - The storm and post disaster
I really don't know where to start. My heart is heavy for all the families who lost loved ones, homes, businesses, neighbors, animals and everything else. Words can't fix or console the level of destruction so many faced and continue to face today. I have lived through earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wars, and civil wars. I have witnessed the brutality of humans slaughtering other humans over religion and beliefs. I don't think I have ever witnessed the degree of destruction delivered by this storm. Much of the rain has already fallen from another storm front before Hurricane Helene arrived to the Florida coast. The level of flowing waters destruction and its determination to clear new paths to take out roads, bridges, homes, towns and communities on this scale is almost beyond what the eyes and brain can comprehend at once.
First and above all. If you aren't a spiritual person or don't have your life right and where it needs to be, now is the time to fix it and make it right. The number of natural disasters happening around the world, and recently in our region, are happening closer and closer together. Where ever you may be, you may not have time to fix it before a disaster strikes in your area. Don't wait. Just look around to what just happened and how fast it happened.
When a governor or local official declares an emergency heed the message and take action. Do not blow them off, ignore their call, or the siren blowing. They are all for a reason. To save your life. If you don't get a message from authorities and feel the need to evacuate then do so. Better to be safe. You may not get a second chance to get out. Just look at much of the Carolina area where roads are gone and helicopters are air dropping aid in because all the roads are washed away. You can prepare now and ensure you can survive for some period of time. Don't be dependent on a broken failed system that's focus is on higher priorities.
Toxic waters. I keep reading stories of people getting in the water or reaching in the water to get driftwood or some other item floating. STOP The water flowing from the storm damage is toxic. Think of everything that could possibly flow from upstream. Dead animals, gasoline, oil, chemicals, broken glass and sharp metal. There is also the possibility human remains could be in the water because of the number of people still missing that could have been slept away.
One of the first articles I wrote when starting the HFS movement was titled When the trucks stop rolling. Does the current disaster in the Eastern states tell you anything? The US is set up on a three day supply and demand cycle called, Just in time. This means every gas station, grocery store, and pharmacy is stocked for 72 hours. This means no resupplies for 72 hours. This means the store has enough food for 72 hours based on percentages sold in the past. What happens when the disaster hits and the roads are blocked? That's right, trucks can't make it in to resupply. What does this mean? When disasters or storms are predicted, local patrons rush the stores and deplete the stock. This seventy-two hour supply does NOT take in to consideration for over buying from storms. What happens if the area now has additional patrons who evacuated an area and also stock up on resources? The food is gone faster or the fuel is gone faster. What is happening in western NC and northern SC right now? No fuel. Why? Folks filled up all their cars and gas cans for generators for the storm. Now the resupply trucks cannot come In to resupply. Roads and highways are blocked. You are now stuck with what you have. Your local insurance provider that always has Twinkies and ice cream is now empty. Where does this leave you?
In the blink of an eye, the storm hit and out went the lights. No power. No internet. No phones or cell phones. In some cases no water. Now you are on your own. What happened? HFS has been trying to wake people up to the possibility of having to function alone or in a community without access to the outside. We have beat the drum until the drum rim is bent and the drummers hands are raw to stop worrying out what you can't fix. Focus on your home and community. Why? Look at the states and areas currently trying to account for their people and piece things back together. Until then, how will the individuals survive? You must have a community team of some form or fashion. We even broke it down to describe how to do it and what skill positions you need to find and assign a role. I got a message from one stricken HFS family member describing how their community is trapped behind downed trees with no power or communications. They now started to put together a team to find out what skills are available amongst the neighbors. Better late than never, but these are steps individuals must take prior to any disaster. Then, when the event happens, individuals will already know skillsets and who is going to do what role. You need to know what you have and what you are working with from day one. Community teams bring many capabilities to your area to help get you through any type of event. This could be short term and long term.
Communications - Ouch. This skill didn't fare so well from the start. Our of fairness to everyone, this is maybe the hardest skill to perfect. As I said earlier, I used text, email, phone, walkie-talkie, Bivy stick, and Signal App, to reach out to confirm the status of the flock. A success story comes from a NC community that lost all communication abilities to reach out. I was able to reach one person connected to this community but lived justs outside the area. By cell phone, he confirmed to me the community was connected via GMRS and everyone in the community flock was safe. The communication pyramid worked. Originally, HFS worked to set up team leaders in community areas to monitor their flock and the leader could then communicate outside to HFS for information and status updates. The HFS roster wasn't put together for tupperware parties. It was designed and send out exactly for this type of event. Another success story with communications was the individuals attending a training camp in NC when the storm hit. Many of this group had to travel back to Western VA and Eastern TN where road conditions remained questionable and fuel was iffy. They teamed together and caravanned home over five plus hours with multiple communication capabilities to stay in touch during travel. This is thinking on your feet or outside the box. Good job fellow Patriots.
Resources - One is none, two is one, and three is better. I will speak for myself until I get more information fed to me to share. I want to talk about power and solar batteries. I have spoken to at least five individuals who all had the same issue. We had several days of overcast skies and solar didn't get enough charge from the sun to keep the batteries functional over multiple days. I had mentally thought through my process to have solar generators and batteries available to specifically power a couple freezers and a large fridge. Draining the batteries through demand required recharge either from solar panels, electricity, or plugging in to the vehicle cigarette lighter jack. The electricity was down, The sun wasn't bright enough to charge fast enough, and the time it took to recharge a battery wasn't sufficient. I was saved because a couple HFS folks who didn't lose power allowed me to bring the batteries to recharge them. This saved our need to put battery power on our freezers and fridge. We need more back up battery capability for any event over 72 hours. In NC and other regions where individuals used gasoline generators fuel was an issue because the stations quickly ran out of fuel. Fuel supply when personal supplies are depleted must be available and it wasn't. This occurred in less than 72 hours. We all must reassess our demand and need again and then have a backup when our initial plan fails due to lack of sun or fuel availability.
Pre assessments of our neighborhood or community. I can only speak for our own community on this one because I don't have information from outside locations. In our own risk assessment where we assessed preparedness levels and and projected expectations of our neighbors we marked each house. When this disaster happened those we assessed as unprepared and no support to our efforts quickly packed up and left to seek a safe haven providing power and water. This is important when planning your community, skills, available resources, and security. Who will you have to work with when the time arrives?
Stress level - You will find out how mentally committed inviduals are when stress goes up and demand of support is a must. You will find breaks in your pre event thoughts and reality. You will quickly find out who can muster the situation vs a life style of the past. This is not an insult to anyone. It is simply reality of the human factor.
Available support to the situation - This is not a slight or slam to any group or organization. It is simply a reality from this disater and past disasters. It always takes a while to generate people, locations, and resources. The No 1 priority in a disater is critical infrastructure. As I talked about in HFS Book 1, you don't matter. It's not personal. The priorty in any disaster is clearing roads, reestablishing communications to key agencies and facilities, getting hospitals and key facilities back on line. This could happen fast or take days or longer. In the meantime, where does this leave you? In each disaster I have experienced, established prepper groups jump to the occassion and immediately start conducting rescues, aiding those in need, and setting up some degree of communications in many rural areas. In NC, many citizens got left stranded on mountain top resorts and country homes. Roads washed away and all communication systems went down. Flood waters created erosion and mud slides putting life at risk for individuals trapped. No food, no water, and no way out. A specific prepper with a large network and the ability to communicate with ham radio and satelite phone capability, the individual reached out and networked to get helicopter rescues going to pull people off mountain tops, and drop food and water in to the areas.
Disaster areas. Stay out and don't go in without clearance to do so. Why? Disaster areas are titled just that. A disaster occurred. Rescue teams do not need individuals coming in to the area to save Uncle Bob or Cousin Sissy's dog. The individuals coming in now become part of the problem when they are consumed by the disaster. Disaster areas contain toxic waters, down electric lines, trees down, unstable terrain and falling buildings. You could go in to a disaster area to do a brave act and end up missing and no knows where you are at. Stay out. Trust those who are trained to do the rescue and recovery. You can feed information to them on the location of a loved one, but let them do it.
If you are not prepared, get started now. If you have questions, ask. We are here to help but you must make the decision and do the work. Preparing is an insurance policy. It is not easy and it requires constant work. You decide.
Preparedness -
HFS discussed this theory and possibility a few years ago and now Pastor Joe at Viking Preparedness is confirming the likelyhood of multiple terrorist attacks on US soil being imminent.
News for the week -
1.From Tylder Durden - Zero Hedge - "Modern Economy Rests On Single Road" In North Carolina Where Hurricane Collapsed Bridges | ZeroHedge - This is absolutely stunning to read. (Thanks Festus for this submission)
2.From Jim Quin - The Burning Platform - YOU DON’T NEED A WEATHERMAN TO KNOW WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS – The Burning Platform - Oddly, I do recall a statement from Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi about ten or so years ago bragging how the Democratic machine would never relinquish the White House again once they regained it. Hmmm
3.From Greg Hunter - USA Watchdog - From a Bunker in Israel, American Empire is Over – Charles Nenner | Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog - It certainly is looking that way isn't it?
4.From Liberty Nation - Weak Spots in the Food Supply Chain - Liberty Nation News - Yes, and its only going to get worse on the eastern coast area.
5.From Sara Zimmerman - Food Dive - Farm bill expires again. Here’s what it means for farmers. | Food Dive - Will Washington ever put aside politics and recognize the importance of our farmers?
Let us move along.
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Prayers - Please keep our great nation, our elected leaders, military and first responders in your thoughts and prayers. We pray for good health and wisdom. Please pray for our leadership to find answers and guidance to the problems facing our great nation. May your faith remain strong and answers to the unknown provided. God is good and may our prayers blanket and protect you and your circumstances. I pray for each, and every one of our Patriots.
Our HFS family has many prayers needs for health and moral. We love you all and continue praying for each of you.
May we pray for all the blessings and things in life to be thankful about and continued hope for revival around the world. We must continually pray for the unsaved, our family and friends who live each day without the protection for eternal life and salvation.
As Patriots we must stay strong and never give up. Our home, community, and nation need us now more than ever. Stay focused on your local community and things that will impact you around the nation. Don't allow the events around you to create fear in your life. Build your own self-reliance and focus on faith and hope. Remember we are a blessed nation, and we must continue to be great people today and make a better tomorrow. Keep charging.
Blessings,
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