Tactics for clearing out the Florida Keys.

[Dr. Zaius]

Here’s the scenario, you are a member of a democratically led collective of some 500 to 1000 individuals. It’s about 2 years after the SHTF and the zombies, for whatever reason, are not rotting or dropping dead. Water (deep) seems to stop them and the suggestion is proposed to clear the Florida Keys so as to have some sense of a normal existence.

Your group has boats both military and civilian and virtually all of you are competent in self defense with access to decent reserves of current military gear and hardware. Supplies are not an immediate concern as you have large reserves of canned and preserved food, but growing crops is difficult as large portions of manpower are needed to protect those that tend the crops and livestock.

Your philosophy up until this point was to wait for decay to neutralize the Zs but this has not happened and it does not appear that it will happen any time soon.

Do you think the Keys would be a viable option and if so what are the tactics you would propose to clear the Keys of the Zs that are currently infesting the islands?

[LD!]

Why is it always the keys?
There are Millions of {potentally more}vaible ilands all around the united states.

Maine alone has more then I can count and some a large enough to farm

[Civilian Scout]

The Florida Keys do not have much in the way of freshwater resources.

[LD!]

The Florida Keys do not have much in the way of freshwater resources.

Not that passive desalition plants are hard to make

[Civilian Scout]

The Florida Keys do not have much in the way of freshwater resources.

Not that passive desalition plants are hard to make

True. I was just pointing that out as something to consider. Personally, I'd prefer to not rely on desalinization and cisterns any more than I had to. At the current population levels almost all of the fresh water in the Keys is piped in. Maybe his projected population of 500-1000 could survive on the available natural resources. That I don't know.

I agree with you that there are many islands I would think to be better choices for long-term living than the Keys, but honestly it's not something I've given too much thought. I live in Kentucky after all.

Unless, of course, someone just happens to like the warm weather. Maybe he wants to fight zombies in shorts and flip-flops.

[Dr. Zaius]

Why is it always the keys?
There are Millions of {potentally more}vaible ilands all around the united states.

Maine alone has more then I can count and some a large enough to farm

Jamaica? I hear they have many “Crops” already growing there? Would Jamaica be too large to reclaim effectively?

[crypto]

Why is it always the keys?
There are Millions of {potentally more}vaible ilands all around the united states.

Maine alone has more then I can count and some a large enough to farm

Jamaica? I hear they have many “Crops” already growing there? Would Jamaica be too large to reclaim effectively?

Remember, voodoo zombies can be dispatched with COM shots they arent real zombies.

[Dr. Zaius]

Why is it always the keys?
There are Millions of {potentally more}vaible ilands all around the united states.

Maine alone has more then I can count and some a large enough to farm

Jamaica? I hear they have many “Crops” already growing there? Would Jamaica be too large to reclaim effectively?

Remember, voodoo zombies can be dispatched with COM shots they arent real zombies.

I will keep that in mind. Better to just take the head shot to be sure.

[Ricky Romero]

Why is it always the keys?
There are Millions of {potentally more}vaible ilands all around the united states.

Maine alone has more then I can count and some a large enough to farm

I think people like the Keys for the really long choke points (Hwy 1) leading to each one, and if you start at Key West, you can secure a small land mass and move on to the next without the possibility (assuming zeds cannot swim) of losing control of an area that has already been secured. It's not a bad plan per se, but its ubiquity on these boards demonstrates that you may have A LOT of company. Maybe everyone hopes to live in a Jimmy Buffetesque fantasy world while the real world goes all to shit. Maybe it's proximity to the Keys that makes them more attractive. We have a lot of users from Florida on the forums. I guess every place has its own "go-to" place that immediately springs to everyone's mind. Usually it's a mountain or an island. I've noticed that Californians tend to go with Catalina Island.

[DFWMTX]

Why is it always the keys?
There are Millions of {potentally more}vaible ilands all around the united states.

Maine alone has more then I can count and some a large enough to farm

My guess is they think the undead retired people will be reeeaalllly slow.

[Rick Windau]

DFWMTX Said,
"My guess is they think the undead retired people will be reeeaalllly slow."

They'll also be easy to spot because they leave their blinkers on for 100+ miles.

If you live near the keys go for it I say. But that is assuming that water is a barrier. Just don't cry when a Hurricane picks up some Zeds from the main land and deposits them with you. Extermination is about the best alternative. Apply Murphy's Law to your scenarios and then you will be prepared.

"The First Casualty of every battle is the Plan itself".

[Blacksh33p]

Why is it always the keys?
There are Millions of {potentally more}vaible ilands all around the united states.

Maine alone has more then I can count and some a large enough to farm

I think people like the Keys for the really long choke points (Hwy 1) leading to each one, and if you start at Key West, you can secure a small land mass and move on to the next without the possibility (assuming zeds cannot swim) of losing control of an area that has already been secured. It's not a bad plan per se, but its ubiquity on these boards demonstrates that you may have A LOT of company. Maybe everyone hopes to live in a Jimmy Buffetesque fantasy world while the real world goes all to shit. Maybe it's proximity to the Keys that makes them more attractive. We have a lot of users from Florida on the forums. I guess every place has its own "go-to" place that immediately springs to everyone's mind. Usually it's a mountain or an island. I've noticed that Californians tend to go with Catalina Island.

That or Alcatraz.

[Ricky Romero]

Oh! I forgot Alcatraz!

A lot of people point to the occupation of the island by Native American activists in the early 70's as an example of the island's sustainability, but they don't realize that the occupiers had supply boats headed to the island regularly.

[Impus]

I dunno, I prefer to have a location with fallback options both laterally and in depth. That is, a number of inital options each with further fallback points.

Except for boating it, the keys are a back-to-the-wall scenario. And if a hurricane pops up boats don't look so good.

I think most folks prefer to hunker down, dig in, and stick with the situation they know. Myself, I'd rather stay as flexible as possible and work on my strategic positioning.

[Dr. Zaius]

The more I think about it the more I think that almost any of the Caribbean islands would present a better choice then the Keys.

http://www.mapsofworld.com/caribbean-islands/caribbean-islands-map.jpg

[Ricky Romero]

The Keys actually don't sound too bad. You can always retreat and blow the bridge an island if things get really heavy. Lateral retreat can be accomplished by way of boat if the need should arise.

Back to the question, my plan would be to begin at Key West. Airlift 4 teams of 10 with 20,000 rounds of ammo per team to rooftops scattered throughout the island, and drop 1 team of 10 near where the highway meets the island. The 4 teams on the roofs make a lot of noise and snipe until the major work is done. The team near the bridge builds fortification on the bridge itself to make sure that any zeds coming from the other islands end up in the water. Since the highway there is two lane, two 18 wheelers side by side with slight modification so that no zeds can squeeze under or between the trucks would be sufficient, and the fortifications would be mobile for future operations. Once the bulk of the zombie clearing had been done from rooftops, the ground efforts could begin. Since a decent amount of manpower is available, you could build barricades and post guards so that secured areas would stay secure as you worked across the island. When you reach the highway, the island is all clear. Repeat.

[LaserCool]

I'll offer this: One should visit the location before deciding if it would make a viable retreat area.

Having lived in South Florida ll my life, I've had many, many opportunities to visit the Keys. They would make an awful location in general.

On the plus side is
-Defensability
-Small land area
-Relative ease of transport on and off islands
-Easy fishing.

On the negative side
-No potable water. The Keys receives all of it's water supply from Miami by pipeline. Only one desalination plant exists there I'm aware of, in Big Pine Key, serving Key West, and it's only to suppliment the supply from Miami.
-Insufficient rainfall. They Keys are the driest part of the state. The daily rains that drench Miami in the summer are caused by the geography of the land, but the Keys don't recieve that kind of rain. The winter season is even drier. No aquifers, now streams, no rivers.
-Insuffiicent topsoil. These are ISLANDS mostly formed of sand. There is precious little topsoil, all imported from other places for landscaping. The local plants that grow there are salt water resistant (e.g. mangrove, sea grape) and none provide food! Did I mention that there's little rain to water your crops?
-Heavy metals in the water. Remember, you're on an island in a watershed off the coast of a major (5,000,000+ inhabitants) metropolitan area. As it stands, authorities recommend limiting fish intake to 2/month to avoid excess mercury in the diet. I doubt that will change in 2 years.
-No natural resources. Nothing to hunt, no trees of any substance to build structures out of, and the water table's less that a foot deep. And it's salt water.
-Temperature. Frequently in the summertime, temperature reach 95F and humitidy is stifling. Even in the winter, tempreatures rarely fall below 70F. With little potable water, and actively fighting zombies, how will you stave off dehydration?
-Tropical storms/hurricanes. A major problem before a ZPAW, how will you manage one after all civilization has broken down? How will you know when one is approaching? How will you effect repairs afterwards?

[Ricky Romero]

Thanks Laser. I had no idea. To clarify, my endorsement of the Keys as a viable option was from a strategic viewpoint only. But I guess therein lies the reason so many think the Keys are a good idea.

[11mongo11]

[quote="Ricky Romero"][quote="LD!"]Why is it always the keys?
There are Millions of {potentally more}vaible ilands all around the united states.

Maine alone has more then I can count and some a large enough to farm[/quote]Maine gets REAL cold. I'll be in a decent size building, giving directions to Florida.

I think people like the Keys for the really long choke points (Hwy 1) leading to each one, and if you start at Key West, you can secure a small land mass and move on to the next without the possibility (assuming zeds cannot swim) of losing control of an area that has already been secured. It's not a bad plan per se, but its ubiquity on these boards demonstrates that you may have A LOT of company. Maybe everyone hopes to live in a Jimmy Buffetesque fantasy world while the real world goes all to shit. Maybe it's proximity to the Keys that makes them more attractive. We have a lot of users from Florida on the forums. I guess every place has its own "go-to" place that immediately springs to everyone's mind. Usually it's a mountain or an island. I've noticed that Californians tend to go with Catalina Island.[/quote]