Living in the unincorporated towns of San Diego County comes with a specific reality: We are the end of the line.
Whether it’s a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) during a Santa Ana wind event, a wildfire cutting off the main road, or the grid vulnerabilities we discussed here at Mayor Town, help will not reach us as quickly as it reaches the city centers.
We all have that “earthquake kit” in the garage or the extra pantry shelf we feel good about. But there is a massive gap between having supplies and living off them.
This weekend, I am inviting our community to take the Two-Day Weekend Challenge. It is a low-stakes simulation of a very real San Diego scenario. The goal is to prove to yourself whether you are actually prepared for the three-month isolation our protocol recommends.
1. The Scenario: “The Big Cut”
It is Saturday morning. A major regional event has occurred.
- The Grid is Down: SDGE power is out indefinitely. No microwave, no A/C, no electric well pumps (unless you have secured your system as described in Independence Underground: Securing Your Well and Septic.
- The Gas is Off: Lines are ruptured or shut off for safety. Your stovetop is dead.
- The Taps are Dry: Public water or electric well pumps have stopped. You cannot use the sink to wash hands, flush toilets, or fill a glass.
- The Fridge is Dead: Assume everything inside is spoiled. You cannot open the refrigerator or freezer.
For the next 48 hours (Saturday morning to Sunday night), your household must live entirely off the non-perishable food, water, and tools currently in your home.
2. The Rules of Engagement
To make this useful for our specific location, we have to follow strict rules.
Rule #1: Tape the Taps and Fridge
Put masking tape over the refrigerator seals and the handles of your kitchen and bathroom faucets.
- Drinking: If you are thirsty, you must open a bottle or jug from your storage.
- Sanitation: Every time you use the bathroom, prepare food, or touch something dirty, you must wash your hands using only your stored water, sanitizer, or soap. Do you have enough to brush your teeth properly?
- No Flushing: If you rely on an electric lift pump, assume it has failed. As warned in The Unspoken Crisis: Why Every Mayor Needs an Emergency Sanitation Plan, you must use “gray water” (dishwater) to manually flush, or bucket-flush from your storage.
Rule #2: The “Red Flag” Cooking Test
In our dry county, you can’t always just “light a fire” to cook.
- Simulation Condition: Assume a Red Flag Warning is in effect. No charcoal and no wood fires allowed.
- Propane/Gas Only: You may use a propane camping stove only if you have it. If you have Cast Iron Cookware, now is the time to test its heat retention capabilities to save precious fuel. If you have no fuel, you are eating cold beans.
Rule #3: Manual Tools Only
- The Can Opener Test: You must use a manual, hand-cranked can opener. If you only own an electric one, or if you can’t find your manual one in the junk drawer, you cannot eat anything inside a can. See New Year Inventory Week for how to organize these critical tools before you need them.
3. The Reality Check: San Diego Specific Friction Points
During these 48 hours, pay attention to the friction points that hit hardest in our climate.
The “Dry Heat” Thirst
We live in a semi-arid region.
- The Observation: Shelf-stable foods (soup, crackers, Spam) are high in sodium. Combined with our dry air, your thirst will double. The standard “one gallon per person” rule often fails here.
- The Test: Do you have enough electrolytes stored? Drinking plain, warm stored water for 48 hours is harder than you think.
The Hygiene Tax
In a disaster, dysentery is as dangerous as hunger.
- The Observation: You will instinctively reach for the tap to rinse sticky fruit juice off your hands. When you realize you have to “spend” precious bottled water to wash, you might hesitate.
- The Risk: Note how often you compromise hygiene to save water. As detailed in Sanitation Is Civilization: Why Waste Planning Determines Whether a Town Holds or Fails, unmanaged waste and poor hygiene are what collapse a town, not just hunger.
The Information Vacuum
With the power out, the internet is quiet.
- The Observation: By Sunday afternoon, rumors will start. “I heard the water is back on in the next town.” “I heard the road is closed.”
- The Lesson: Do you have a battery-powered radio? Do you have printed maps? As we discussed in When the Internet Goes Quiet, Rumors Get Loud, having a single, reliable source of truth is critical for civil order.
4. The Math: Extrapolating to 90 Days
Once the sun goes down on Sunday, do the math.
Step A: Audit Your Consumption
Place the empty cans, boxes, and all empty water bottles/jugs from the weekend on the table.
- Example: 4 cans of soup, 2 boxes of crackers.
- Example Fluids: 4 gallons drinking water + 3 gallons used for hand washing/cooking = 7 gallons total.
Step B: The Multiplier
To survive the Mayor Town Protocol standard of three months (approx. 90 days), multiply your weekend usage by 45.
- Food Calculation: 4 cans of soup x 45 = 180 cans of soup.
- Water Calculation: 7 gallons x 45 = 315 gallons of water.
Step C: The Visual Verification
Go to your garage, shed, or barn.
- Do you see 315 gallons of water? That is roughly six 55-gallon drums.
- Do you see the fuel? If you used two green propane bottles this weekend, do you have 90 bottles stored? Or a large refillable tank?
- Do you see the Skills? Did you struggle to cook rice without burning it? You may need to visit the library—refer to Why your Town Library Should Stock Printed Survival Skills Books Now for the resources you should have on hand.
5. The Verdict for Our Town
If you finished the weekend feeling clean, hydrated, and fed, you are a model for our unincorporated community.
However, if you spent the weekend struggling with a rusty can opener, suffering from a dehydration headache because you rationed water too strictly, or realizing you had no way to cook without risking a brush fire, you have learned a life-saving lesson.
In the backcountry, we are our own first responders. Let’s make sure we have the tools, the water, and the practice to do the job right.