Bottled water finally being delivered to Flint, MI, residents four days after emergency is declared. Are you prepared?

Tuesday, January 12, 2016 by: Daniel Barker
Tags: Flint Michigan, contaminated water, preparedness

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(NaturalNews) There are several lessons to be learned regarding the ongoing water emergency in Flint, Michigan, but the most important of these is that being prepared on a personal level for unforeseen disasters is absolutely crucial – because the authorities cannot be depended on when the SHTF.

The continued slow and inadequate response by local, state and federal governments in the Flint water debacle, is clear proof that maintaining an emergency stockpile in one's home (with clean water being the number one priority), is not just for paranoid doom prophets – it's actually a common sense safeguard that every family should practice.

The situation in Flint also highlights the typical ineptitude and corruption on the part of authorities at every level. To believe that one can rely on the government's response in the face of a disaster is not only foolish, but potentially deadly.

What went wrong in Flint?

Flint's water crisis began in April, 2014, when the city began obtaining its water supply from the Flint River rather than from the city of Detroit in, as The Washington Post put it, "an effort to save money."

It was meant to be a temporary measure as the city waited to be connected to a new regional water supply, but immediately after the switch was made people began to notice something was wrong.

Residents reported that not only did the water smell, taste and look bad, but it was also causing health problems such as rashes and hair loss.

During the summer of 2014, three boil-water advisories were issued after the water tested positive for coliform bacteria.

Then, in January, 2015, even after a General Motors plant quit using the water because it rusted parts, and despite growing concerns that there were other contaminants in the water besides bacteria, the city refused an offer from Detroit to reconnect to its water supply, maintaining that Flint's water was still safe to use.

The city of Flint and state authorities began pledging money, creating committees, and pretending to do something about the crisis. By the end of March, Flint officials claimed that the water quality had improved and that it met all state and federal safety standards.

In September, however, a group of physicians urged the city to stop using water from the Flint River after it was discovered that abnormally high levels of lead were being detected in the blood of children. It turned out that the corrosive Flint River water was leaching lead out of the water supply system and into the drinking water.

State regulators continued to insist that the water was safe.

Finally, on September 29, Gov. Rick Snyder acknowledged there was a problem with lead in the water, but it took until January 5, 2016, for a state of emergency to be declared. Several days passed after that before the Michigan National Guard was mobilized to begin distributing bottled water and filters to Flint residents.

It was then reported on January 13 that cases of Legionnaire's disease had increased in Flint in the past two years since the water supply was switched

On January 16, the federal government declared a state of emergency in Flint.

The moral of the story

The water crisis in Flint is far from over, and no one has yet been held accountable.

Aside from the criminal negligence, denials and delays on the part of local and state officials, the federal response was long overdue as well.

Meanwhile, the health impact has not yet been measured, and the long-term effects on residents are still unknown.

It's an illustration of how little trust we can put in the authorities, and a grim reminder of why self-reliance and a healthy skepticism regarding the government are key to survival.

Flint residents who trusted in the authorities to tell the truth and take appropriate measures to keep them safe are now paying the price in terms of their own and their families' health.

Those who knew better and who were prepared managed to escape the worst of the effects.

If you do only one thing to prepare for a disaster, make sure you keep an adequate stockpile of clean water on hand.

And never, ever trust the government to do the right thing.

Sources:

TheEpochTimes.com

WashingtonPost.com

LansingStateJournal.com