Cascadia Currency Conundrum

[CountryGent]

Some months ago, I was in a voice meeting with, among a number of other individuals, the Commissioner of Financial Institutions in Puerto Rico. There were other government officials, at least one lawyer, management types, and IT professionals. I was one of the latter. The chief concern of, well, the chief of that organization was getting power running (and other supporting systems) to the banks so that the ATMs would function for the good citizens of said island.

And I've been reading everything I can get my hands on regarding a Cascadia subduction zone event. (In fact I'm still working on a resource guide/book review on that.) Such a disaster would be in a middle zone between a localized, short term disaster (think an earthquake in California or a hurricane in the South) and on the other end an event that would be the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI). In the former, currency is a great asset, in the latter the only real value is starting fires to keep warm.

Most sources indicate the power will be out for months in a large Cascadia event:

"Oregon's resilience plan, released in February 2013, estimates electrical service in Portland and surrounding areas will be knocked out for one to three months.
...
In tsunami-ravaged coastal areas it could be six months before power is restored to pre-quake levels." — Full-Rip 9.0: The Next Big Earthquake in the Pacific Northwest, by Sandi Doughton, Chapter 14

"Damage State High

Extensive damage to generation plants, substations, and buildings. Up to 20% of the generation plants have critical equipment damage. Up to 50% of critical substation equipment is damaged. Relays tripped in 75% of the substations. Up to 15% of the regional power transformers are damaged and non-functional. A significant number of distribution circuits are damaged and a large number of transmission lines are non-functional. Up to 20% of the substation control buildings are damaged and repairs are needed to regain functionality. Restoring power to meet 90% demand may take months to one year." — Exercise Scenario Document: Cascadia Rising, January 2015 (Emphasis added)​

"Miyamoto [H. Kit Miyamoto, Ph.D., S.E] said. 'I wouldn't be surprised if the city [Seattle] is down for more than twelve month.' The same could be happen Portland and Vancouver." — Full-Rip 9.0: The Next Big Earthquake in the Pacific Northwest, by Sandi Doughton, Chapter 11
​

Questions to ponder:

• Do you have enough currency and related stashed for such length of time?
• While the US currency will still hold value outside of the disaster area (parts of the Pacific Northwest) have you considered barter items in the event greenbacks become less valuable?
• Have you pondered how basic economics (supply, demand, etc.) would change radically in such event?

I figured it was a topic to kick around.

(Note: I'm not asking for specifics as to amounts, etc. I wouldn't answer that question, nor would I expect anyone else. We have preps along these along these lines, stored, secured, and hidden in different locations. That is as much as I would volunteer.)

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[Mike aka BandAid]

Toilet paper, or BIG Seattle telephone books for TP, will become a barter item within a week. Also, batteries! Half the stuff we rely on runs on AA batteries. Lastly, bleach. It can be used to sanitize items, as well as purify water.

 

[pdempsey1097]

Sawyer water filters are less than $20 each, and will be gold to those in need. I read in Puerto Rico, there were a few people drinking water from a Super Fund Site within days.

 

[Colts4me]

Currency in Venezuela has failed to the point people are buying a haircut with a banana and two eggs. Paper dollars may not be the best currency in a failure, a fresh chicken egg with the butt feathers still on it may suprised you what you can buy.

 

[41mag]

bags of lime could come in handy

 

[coltemp]

Another good trade good is Salt. Cheap, keep it dry and basically lasts for ever. Critical for preservation.
Sugar is another good item.
Most suggestion I have heard. Keep 10,000 in cash around. Good mix of small and large bills. Fact is that even in large scale disaster it takes a long time for a fiat currency to loose value. Granted having something some on needs is better. But people are so used to exchanging goods for green backs outside of the rural and prepper community. It takes time to change standard operating procedures.

Just like everything in being prepared, you are better off having a well rounded plan with decent amount of everythign if you can. This included supplies, trade goods, defense, and green backs and/or precious metals.

 

[coltemp]

To the OP's post info.
It takes very little damage to bring the power grid down for weeks and months.
Those big transformers in the stations have only a couple of spares even in the state. There are rarely more than a few dozen in the entire country. Part of the reason it takes so long to restore power. It's not just the poles and local transformers. It the distribution stations that are the critical piece.

 

[turbo_vanner]

if a subduction quake hits, I don't plan to be around long enough to worry about money. Anything east of the Cascades will still be civilized.

 

[HB of CJ]

Our long gone resigned with notice County Emergency Services Directer was a MD. Good guy. White Hat. He told us to expect about 6 months with no meaningful intervention. Josephine County Oregon USA.

Water purification tablets. Common household bleach. Toilet paper. Common canned goods food. Mosquito netting. Cheap tents. Bug spray. Warm clothing in winter. Sun screen in summer. Liquor. Pot.

Cigarettes. Matches. Lighters. Can openers. Playing cards. Condoms. The aforementioned and very important water purifiers or filters. Soap. Luxury personal items. Tampons. Diapers. Body wipes. Butt wipes. Any and most camping edged tools. Tarps. Para cord.

Cheap hard candy. Satellite phone access. Ham radio access. Post cards. Camping gear of all types. Working bicycles. Gasoline. Diesel fuel. Basic construction hand tools. Again the aforementioned shovels and lime. Cheap 2 way radios.

The list is very long. Endless. The lady who owns and runs our local hard ware store is sitting on a gold mine. She knows. Our hope down here is that some local organization, be what it may be, might provide services.

Soup kitchens. Some stored resources. Our common problem down here in Appalachia West is that nobody to speak of has any stashed resources. They live day by day. How this would play out after Cascadia?

Too many guns. Too many starving people. Yikes!

 

[Siglvr]

1) "Do you have enough currency and related stashed for such length of time?" Yes, plenty.
2) "While the US currency will still hold value outside of the disaster area (parts of the Pacific Northwest) have you considered barter items in the event greenbacks become less valuable?" Yes, absolutely.
3) "Have you pondered how basic economics (supply, demand, etc.) would change radically in such event?" Yes.

To me, foundation barter items are those related to survival. You can look around and determine what those may be. Food (like salt, honey, etc), and fresh water are high on the list. Water filters, as an example, would be towards the top of the list for desirable barterable items. As soon as wood disappears in the city to boil water to make it safe, if you (or I) had children and but a single water filter, no amount of money or barter would make us part with it and risk Cholera or water borne diseases for our children. Yet if you had 2 water filters, the 2nd has a value which you may (or may not) make you part with just ONE, and worry that your remaining filter may die. Or would you keep both? Certainly the value to the holder would track like this:

1st filter- invaluable. Worth more than a car that you can't get gas for.

2nd filter- extremely valuable, but less than the first one.

3rd filter in your stockpile -You could more readily part with it for barter or sale, but ask yourselves this: to those without a filter, and this would be their 1st filter so I refer you to the top of the list, what would that be worth? As a prepper, why would you not have multiple filters? Why would you want only one? You can often find them used for cheap by backpackers looking to sell or on crazy *Amazon sales. Get some Sawyers, some MSR's, some of the Steripens.

Look around at your neighbors and realize that most of them do not have a single water filter. The preppers should have one, maybe even 2, but they won't have the 300-1000 others that would be needed if all your neighbors could have one. You may (or maybe not) be able to trade these for their weight in gold or worthless BMW's and Mercedes (?) when the time comes to all of your unprepared desperate neighbors. And they'll be happy to have access to a filter. If you feel guilty, then give them away, it's your choice. The government and good thoughts will not be able to help them if the cascadia event is as large or as widespread as a worst case allows.

Which brings me to firearms and ammo...., same evaluation vis a vis your neighbors, etc etc.


*From Amazon: "Hello, We're contacting you about order #002-8296594-xxxx for Sawyer Products SP123 Mini Water Filtration System (4-Pack). We recently learned that an error caused this item to be displayed at an incorrect price.

This was our mistake, and we'll honor the incorrect price for one of the items you ordered. However, we're unable to honor the price for multiple quantities of this item. Therefore, we've adjusted the quantity of your order to "1." We're sorry about that, etc etc.
(ie, Sawyer Products SP123 Mini Water Filtration System (4-Pack) $28.79)

 

[HB of CJ]

Excellent Answers All And Thank You ...

When things fall apart completely and totally, society will downward adapt. Depends upon local conditions.

Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs. .....

1) Environment. Immediate. Personal safety. Approaching tsunami. Hot lava. Approaching tornadoes. Immediate building collapse. Fires. Hundreds of feet under water. Naked in outer space.

2) Oxygen. Breathing. Air supply. Fresh air. Any air.

3) Immediate Temperature regulation. Get out of freeing water. Get away from extreme heat.

4) Shelter. Extreme environment, Outside blizzard white out conditions. Heat. Cold. Rain. Snow. Wind.

5/ Water. 1 to 4 days without it is all you have.

6) Food. Average American can go 14 days without. Kids less. Fat folks more. Immediate horrible hunger in 3 days.

7) Self actualization. Self aggrandizement. This one is an abstract. Human nature. Dominance. Alpha stuff. Brain stem regression.

-----------------------------------------

This is why it is important to think things through. Possessing stuff is good. Loosing it is bad. Controlling stuff may be difficult. It may get so bad all common human decency is destroyed. Anything goes. Anything. Survival is paramount. To what ends Cascadian survivors may or will regress is too horrible to contemplate.

 

[E4mafia]

lengthy read but I think it sort of is relevant and provides an insight.

 

[DB is Here]

Great read. I have 3-4 friends that plan like I do, I think living out of the city and 5 miles away from any main Hwy or freeway is pretty smart advice also.