If you have not yet begun your preparedness journey, you might have a number of questions running through your mind. The biggest questions tend to be: Why should I prepare and for what should I prepare? This short article is designed to answer those basic questions.
Natural disasters are one of the most common occurrences for which people prepare. This includes things like floods, wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, snowstorms, etc. In situations such as these, access to services can be disrupted for days. Grocery stores and gas stations have been known to run low on supplies, electricity can be disrupted, and it may be difficult to leave your home. Are you equipped to deal with being at home potentially without power and access to food and water for several days? On the flip side, it may be necessary to leave your home. Do you have a place to go? Do you have a plan for what to take with you should you need to evacuate?
Another type of disaster people experience are electrical outages. These can last for a few minutes or several days. Some last for weeks. They are often caused by natural disasters such as those listed above but they can be caused by other issues. Car wrecks have caused outages when an electrical pole is struck. High demands on the electrical grid have caused brownouts in some areas of the country. Do you have a way to deal with an extended electrical outage? Do you have backup heating, lighting, cooking, etc.?
Natural gas service can also be affected. In 2023, there was a gas line rupture during the winter in Washington state that caused homes to be without natural gas for several days. People that relied on natural gas for heating and cooking were struggling to keep their houses warm. Fortunately in this situation, they still had electricity so they still had the option to use electric space heaters. If you rely on natural gas for heating and cooking, do you have a backup option?
Personal financial disasters are another reason to prepare. Unexpected layoffs, medical emergencies causing lost work time and high bills, and even general inflation that outstrips your salary adjustments can all have a major impact on your fiscal resiliency and peace of mind. Do you have enough money saved to cover a month or three of expenses? Do you have enough food in the pantry to feed your family if you are not able to buy groceries for a month?
Another scenario that may not come to mind as readily is that of a cyberattack. We have seen forms of cyberattacks recently with data breaches. There was another case recently where an update glitch took down computer systems across several industries. Do you have cash on hand to get by if a cyberattack takes down the banking system or credit card processing for a period of time? Do you have enough food at home that will get you by until the systems are running again? Do you have a plan if you are away from home when something like this happens?
SHTF scenarios (stuff hits the fan) are less common than the scenarios listed above, but they are not unheard of. These would include any catastrophic event that would cause a breakdown of society and infrastructure. While major weather events can cause a SHTF scenario, these scenarios also include widespread problems such as war, economic collapse, pandemics, and famine.
Getting started is a lot easier than you might think. There are two basic scenarios to consider: staying in your home and evacuating your home. For either of these scenarios, you will want to have some basic gear.
Preparing to Stay
Most people begin by gathering supplies to prepare their homes. You can start by collecting items you already own and making sure they are in an area easily accessible in an emergency. We suggest reading the following article for a general guide on the basics of disaster preparation:
Preparing for a Disaster: Where to Start
It is highly recommended that you have items to get you through a minimum of 72 hours. Having enough to last two weeks or more is an even better idea, especially if you are in an area prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornados. Think about how long it took for electricity and services to be restored after some of the big storms such as Hurricane Katrina. The more widespread the disaster, the longer it takes for services to be back up and running.
You can find a list of items we suggest for both long-term and short-term preparations in the following articles. Keep in mind that these give you ideas for where to start and are not a comprehensive list of what you may need.
Preparing to Leave
In a disaster scenario, you may not be able to stay in your home. Wildfires, hurricanes, and floods are notorious for driving people from their houses. You should consider preparing for an evacuation as well. This involves identifying essential items to take with you should you need to leave your home. Having a bag pre-packed with some of these essentials will take some of the stress and worry about forgetting something crucial out of the situation.
When You are Caught in an Emergency Away from Home
A third intermediary situation could happen if you get caught in a disaster away from home. In this case, you will want to have a few items on you to help you get home, or at least help you through the immediate emergency. The article below is a good resource for putting together an emergency bag for your vehicle should you be caught in a disaster away from home:
Food and gear are important; the skill to use them is necessary. You must have the knowledge and skills to use what you store. If you have a backup heat source for your home, do you know how to use it? Do you know for sure that it works? If you have canned food stored, do you know how to heat it? If you have beans and rice stored, can you prepare a meal with them? If you are going to use a fire pit in the back yard to cook, can you light a fire? If someone in your home is injured, can you perform basic first aid? Practice the skills you need now so that if you ever have to rely on them they are not unfamiliar.