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Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #288

Writer's picture: Butch ErskineButch Erskine

Greetings and welcome to the Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #288. Thanks for stopping by for this week's edition. It has been a while since the last newsletter posting. Matter of fact it has been over three months. I want to thank the Hope for Survival family and others who supported HFS through our Hurricane Helene outreach and continue doing so at this time. From prayers to volunteered time manning relief stations in multiple states, drivers moving resources from state to state with HFS purchased and donated resources. My HFS brothers and sister who dropped life and drove for 10 hours one way with chain saws, chains, and basic survival needs to come from North Alabama to rural east TN to support the recovery. Our HFS Kentucky family who drove multiple loads of donations to TN and NC. My HFS brother here in my community who drove numerous loads to NC and East TN even while having transportation issues of his own. Everyone asked stopped life and lent support in some way. Bless you all.


The HFS family and outsiders donated $24,000 in monetary donations, and incredible resources donated by our sister and brother, Jan and Bill, at Carolina Readiness Supply out of Waynesville, NC. My family in Southern WV worked hours collecting donated clothing and funds to send to East TN. It has been an amazing team effort since the start and though the media has moved on to other stories, the relief effort continues now.


I could tell you story after story of God's presence through the relief effort. Daily events, supplies showing up, volunteers arriving at crucial times, and more. The countless days of showing up at a house that needed prayers and often times it was the victim lifting up a volunteer with encouragement. I often had a volunteer pull me aside in tears because the weight of the disaster and needs could be overwhelming to anyone never working in a disaster zone. The response was amazing and considering the division in our nation at the time of Hurricane Helene, I was blown away by the love, giving, and effort by so many. Inside the zone there was no politics or division by color, socio-economic class, or any other label. It was Americans lending a hand to pick up total strangers while down.


I want to ensure I include the countless number of non-HFS members who contributed prayers, clothing, heating resources, and monetary support. The many letters and cards sent to me with prayers and checks to support the effort. As wonderful as this sounds, the HFS effort is small in the big picture because thousands and thousands of volunteers dropped life and rushed to the disaster zones to help those in need. From as far away as California, skilled workers pulling trailers with construction equipment, medics, nurses, doctors, communication pros, college students coming from New York and the north, church groups pulling mobile kitchens to provide three hot meals per day to victims and workers. The list is long. I met strangers who are now my friends for life. I have worked disasters from Africa to Eastern Europe, within the United States and I will say nothing compared to the Hurricane Helene disaster impact in NC and TN. The level of destruction and vastness of the damage can't be described. I'm certain the level of destruction from the California fires is the same, just a different type of disaster.


A lot has happened in our great nation during this period. Events such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks on the homeland, a presidential election, a border crisis, transition of our government to a new President, and more. We have endured a lot as citizens, but we remain standing. Time will tell and history will reflect this period as a time our nation recovered from so many issues or a nation that failed to compromise and pull together to regain its posture as a leading superpower and land of fruits, prosperity, and a return to its original moral foundation.


While so many watch with eagerness to see what steps our newly elected president and appointed government will take to change the direction with new leadership and policies, I firmly believe the fix is not in Washington DC but must be addressed and fixed from the ground up, not the top down. It starts with individuals, families, churches and communities and the return to what made us a great nation and one desired by millions from around the world. Not a welfare nation full of handouts. Instead, a nation of faith and opportunity and a place one can achieve a good life with hard work and a willingness to sacrifice. When a government promotes dependency on a welfare system that is long term, failure is eventual outcome.


Just be prepared, even with so many exciting things happening out of the White House, it is going to get ugly before it can be pretty again, if at all possible. What's the old saying about anything worth having is worth fighting for?


Let us move along.


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 - Zoom rally #140 was conducted and the group discussed AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the impact it will have on our nation and families. We also discussed lessons learned from the recent freeze in the southeastern US.


Check out HFS YouTube. - Three new HFS videos posted:


Plans and Risk Assessments - Why do most preparers ignore the most important step in preparedness? https://youtu.be/FzuBJNQ51QA?si=SD6pDBjIETmjTv1T


A chat with Otis - A discussion on Oupes solar generator testing, the initial stage of hurricane Helene and being trapped in Hendersonville, NC, and Revelation Chapter 2, VS 16/17.


HFS Preparedness Training Block 1 - The Mindset - Kodak, TN - This is block 1 of four blocks to be taught on preparedness. https://youtu.be/QrnarueG7AE?si=4ukfzLw9n830qX9p


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.


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 - Disasters and continued observations and lessons learned. What is the biggest lesson learned,.


There's so many exciting things taking place in our nation at this moment that it's hard to not lean back and take it all in. Executive orders, firings, illegal immigration sweeps across the nation, cleaning up the military and Pentagon of the destructive DEI policies and promoting of sex changes and transgenderism over war fighting and protecting our nation. I want to ask you a question. Is it just me, or did anyone else find it odd that a nation whose elected officials swore to uphold the laws of our nation and enforce said laws, such as documented laws making it illegal to cross the border and gain entry to our nation, are the same elected officials who had been paying the law breakers large sums of money to be here? Who is truly breaking the law here? Hmmm


I want to talk about recent disasters impacting our nation and specifically the citizens in the disaster areas. Though different types of disasters, the impact on the people was comparable in the fact many victims lost everything and had immediate displacement from their homes. This means immediate need for support from the unknown. Who is going to provide shelter, food, water, medical care, and other needs? Yes, in the cases of both Hurricane Helene and the California fires, victims fled their homes or was fortunate to survive the raging waters as their homes and possessions washed away. In Hurricane Helene most victims had minimal warning and, in some cases, got trapped and couldn't escape the rising waters. In the California fires, most individuals received warning to flee. In both cases, individuals chose to stay in their homes, and many died from their choice.


One major difference in the two disasters is Hurricane Helene struck mostly small communities, rural living, and mostly a lower socioeconomic environment. I witnessed very humble citizens who wanted nothing for free in handouts. We basically had to beg them to take food, water, heaters, first aid, and other needed essentials. If we offered two, they would only take one and would say "give the other one to someone who needs it." We dealt with basic core survival needs. In California, some of the initial calls for help was asking for monetary donations to help these folks rebuild their multi-million-dollar estates. I'm not here pointing fingers at one or the other. I'm simply making points. We had mostly Appalachia people in Hurricane Helene and wealthy city people in the California fires, In both disasters, a percentage fit in the opposite case pointed out. In Hurricane Helene many of the victims offered survival skills from living in the mountains and off the land. They planted and raised their own food. In California they offered a different kind of skill and that was higher education, high tech, working jobs and they paid someone else to plant the food and grow it. The impact of the disaster was different. In Hurricane Helene the raging waters destroyed roads, interstates, key infrastructure, and the ability to escape in many cases. In the California fires the roads remain and escape was possible, though the traffic jams and congestion severely impacted getting out of the disaster area timely. The commonality here is when the disaster hit, it was survival time and nothing else mattered.


Both prepared and non-prepared victims did NOT have the ability to survive independently unless they previously established a cache properly and it was buried with a proper method to protect the resources from water or fire. In NC/TN it would not have mattered to have the CACHE located outside the disaster area because it was weeks before it was possible to get to the resources. In CA a CACHE could have benefited the prepare victim once evacuated out. Trapped or fleeing, they depended on a community for survival. One may now ask, what good does preparing do if you lose everything in the disaster or if you don't have your resources available when the disaster occurs. Great question. This is the difference in prepping and preparedness. Think about how many disasters or other events an area goes through while waiting on the big one preppers wait for, As we have taught from day 1, preparing is building a self-insurance policy for daily life. Preparing for the unknown that changes your life from its normal routine. While a person waits for the big prepper event, disasters like Hurricane Helene or the California fires strike, or a person loses a job, be in a car wreck, or become ill and can't work. The point is self-sustainment to get you through the event. The goal would be personal sustainment, family sustainment, and community sustainment. When all else fails, sustainment from the outside coming in as a last resort but sometimes unavoidable based on the event. In NC and TN, Hurricane Helene type events could be a once in a lifetime occurrence where in CA, the wildfires occur more often and will continue doing so until change are made to the states forestry regulations to clear undergrowth.


In the initial phase of Hurricane Helene so much damage had occurred it was nearly impossible for help to arrive due to downed trees and utility poles, washed out roads and bridges, as well as mudslides. To some degree, the community was trapped inside the disaster area and had to survive and sustain on its own, prepared or not. In the area I spent seven weeks as a volunteer working in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on site, we arrived on site a week after the event. What we found in the small rural Appalachia community was noteworthy because it was an example of how people and a community should respond. Everyone pretty much knew one another and responded to aid their neighbors.


Within the first 24 hours of the disaster, the small community rallied and responded. Leadership was immediately established, and accountability was conducted to the best it could be based on washed out bridges and roads and the need to use four wheelers, horseback and mules to get up in the hills to locate their people. Desperate and unsafe indeed, nothing stopped the locals from going forth to help their own. Why not, it's how daily life was lived before the disaster. Local citizens rallied to bring food, water, basic medical needs, shelter, and hygiene needs for those in need to obtain. Locals waded through muddy and dangerous rivers to build two makeshift bridges to allow trapped community members to escape. This was all local community working together to survive and begin the accountability and initial recovery phase. All without any type communications. Cell and communication towers as well as ham radio antennas had been washed way.


In CA it was different because it was a much larger area with supporting first responders and air assets to respond. This was not the case in TN and NC. In the community I served, there was no first responder response. The fire department was washed away in the flood and outside response could not respond due to downed bridges and road outages. In CA, the supporting cast was much larger because of a much larger community and undamaged highways. The CA response was also to support key critical infrastructure and ensure it did not burn. In CA first responder radios worked and communication was possible to control and manage notifications and evacuation orders per neighborhood. Because it was a large populace in CA, the city Emergency Management Agency was able to send evacuation orders to resident's cell phones. This was not the case in most East/TN and NC locations. These notification systems are very costly and requires cell towers or fiber optics to send messages. In the remote area I worked, cell service on a good day was sketchy. In most Hurricane Helene locations outside of the Ashville area, Starlink was the saving grace for our operations. Around day 10, Starlink was obtained, and it opened up features to allow us to communicate via cell phone with volunteers headed into the hills to locate victims and homes not reachable except by alternative transportation. If you have the financial means to purchase and pay the monthly fee, Starlink is the way to go. Personally, I carry a Bivy Satellite stick with me and I was able to connect to a satellite and send text messages outside the disaster zone as needed.


When we arrived at the location we supported, the fire chief stated we were the first outside faces he had witnessed, thanks for coming. After several initial meetings, the locals handed over control to us to handle security, logistics, communications and medical. I was a volunteer asked by a good friend to support the International Alliance of Chaplains Corp, Dr Tracy Elder from Columbus, OH and is a member of Hope for Survival. We both have the FEMA certification for Emergency Operations and Incident Command. In CA trained and established EOCs and responders handled these processes. In most TN and NC locations, few, if anyone responded other than volunteers showing up with trailers carrying equipment and four-wheelers. In several cases in NC, veterans coordinated helicopters to search and drop aid in the mountains to trapped victims, hikers, and tourist.


By now, everyone knows there was minimal to zero response from state and federal authorities to assist in the response and recovery effort leaving thousands of victims homeless and without basic provisions. If it wasn't for initial community response, then church's, veterans, and volunteers, the death toll would likely have been much higher.


My conclusion to this point is having an established community is a must. Leadership with built plans is critical before a disaster strikes. Though the community I served did not have any emergency plans and it cost the County Emergency Manager his job shortly after the disaster was under control, the residents who rallied and responded to support the victims took resources from their own pantries to shar with others in need. There was no community food bank or location to house victims outside of good-hearted locals helping neighbors. Once alternative roads opened a path for aid to arrive, convoys of trailers bringing food, water, shelter, heaters, clothing, first aid, and more showed up. I want to note, there is a difference in response as well. Those who dropped their jobs and life to go put boots on the ground and others who loaded trucks and trailers and delivered the resources to the areas and then departed. Both are critical and needed. The problem is once the media pulls out and media stops talking about it, volunteers to serve on the ground starts slowing down just when they are needed the most. Skilled workers who can help repair and rebuild communities. Roads, bridges, homes, shelters, and other key essential task needed. We are now four months post disaster and the work crew working on the Ed Project that HFS is supporting, is from the Lynchburg, VA area working through a church organization to support victims. Some crews are rebuilding homes while other volunteers, like Ryan from Operation Boots on the Ground, are like the Uber of disaster deliveries getting campers, heaters, hot tents, and more, for victims still homeless and in tents and campers. You see, not all victims had a structured home as we would identify with. Many victims lived in the hills in tents and had minimal resources and no income. Everything they owned washed away and not with freezing temperatures and snow, they are searching for a warm shelter to call home and outside of a city, these shelters are hot tents, wooden sheds with no heat, and campers being donated. Point being, when a community starts building plans for the people, it must plan to take care of everyone. If you don't know your community, your plan will fail. Simply looking at Hurricane Helene vs the California fires, disasters are different, and communities are different. People and needs are different as well.


Always remember, a plan is better than no plan.


Preparedness -


.1. From Prepper Survive - https://www.prepperssurvive.com/power-outage-kit/ - Based on recent disasters everyone should consider establishing a power outage kit for emergency situations.


  1. From Ken J - Modern Survival Blog - How To Transport Water From Source To Home In An Emergency - From discussion to discussion folks who plan to collect and transport water from the source to the home fails to consider numerous critical steps in the process.


  2. From Sean Gold - TruePrepper - Survival Fire Starting Gear | TruePrepper - Do you have multiple methods to start a fire? Have you practiced doing so with each of your methods?


  3. From Jonathon Rawles - Survival Blog - A Red State Manifesto: Two Americas in 2025, by Jonathan Rawles - Good read.


  4. From Matt - Ask a Prepper - The Amish Never Store These Foods in The Root Cellar - Ask a Prepper - Great information and suggestions for anyone using a root cellar.


News for the week -


  1. From Greg Hunter - USA Watchdog - Devalued Dollar Will Crash the DOW – Martin Armstrong | Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog - One of the wisest and most turned to mouths for information regarding the dollar is Martin Armstrong. You may want to listen and head his warning reagrding the dollar. He is one of many voices warning about the upcoming challenges and potential failures of the dollar. (Thanks Festus, for this submission)


  2. From Sundance - The Last Refuge - Trump on Possible Misuse of AI: "It's the First Question I asked" ... "It Could Be the Rabbit that Gets Away" - The Last Refuge - If AI doesn't scare the socks off your pet rabbit you aren't paying attention. (Thanks Festus, for this submission)


  3. From Frank Bergman - Slay News - Trump Reveals Mysterious Drones Over New Jersey Were 'Authorized' to Conduct 'Research' - Slay News - Nothing to see here, move along. Have you heard how government and state officials are digitally mapping future American battlefield locations by collecting digital information on all residents inside the geo fenced areas? Could it be.........


  4. From Lucas Tomlinson - MSN News - Pentagon pulling Gen. Milley's security detail and clearance 'immediately,' may face demotion in retirement - This could get interesting. Could he be called back to active duty then court martialed for treason? Remember, it was General Milley who went by President Trump's back during his first term and talked to the Chinese government off the record going against President Trump's guidance.


  5. From Joseph Klein Front Page News - Transgender Cult Replacing True Religion | Frontpage Mag - Cough, cough, need I say more?


Let us move along.

 

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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Thanks so much for bringing back this great resource!

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Thank you and thanks for your patience during the delay. Your support to HFS and Hurricane Helene has been awesome and much appreciated. Blessings.

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