Survival Tips to Prepare for Disasters
Survivalists may sound like doomsday prophets when they talk about TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it) and some may call them paranoid when they discuss tips on urban survival.
I’m not talking the actual “end of the world”, but events so severe that change our lives in a permanent way. These events change things so radically there is no going back to normal and you’ll need to exist in a new normal.
A comprehensive view of the past fifteen years shows that many disasters have befallen the civilized world. A partial list of these disasters includes the September 11 attack on the Twin Towers, Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 massive blizzard known as Snowmageddon crippling D.C., tsunamis in Indonesia, Japan, Peru, Samoa and numerous flash floods and earthquakes in various parts of the globe. And, now we have the coronavirus scare of 2020. Aside from these natural disasters, the global economic crisis is in itself considered a major disaster.
People living on the east coast of the U.S. have endured Hurricane Sandy and now what some are calling the worst winter storm in history, winter storm Nemo. The governors of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York all declared state of emergencies as snow dumped on the Northeast, and gusting winds swept through the region.
Modern society is highly defendant on the massive infrastructure we have built. We find it very difficult to survive without the goods and services provided – electric power, food in the grocery store. A TEOTWAWKI event will prevent the countries infrastructure from functioning and meeting our needs.
When one takes these things into consideration, it does seem as if it does make a lot of sense in preparing for disasters – even if you don’t undertake this with the same urgency as survivalists do. If you are entertaining the thought of being prepared for a disaster, here are some sensible urban survival tips for you to review and judiciously follow.
1. Determine the kind of immediate disaster you should be preparing for.
If you are in earthquake prone areas, you should be ready to ensure that you and your family can survive earthquakes. If you are in flood prone areas then you need to study how you can be less vulnerable to flash floods. Do you live in tornado alley? Perhaps you feel that a nuclear disaster is what you should be preparing for then you should go ahead and look into the matter of how you can live out such a holocaust. Anyway no matter what disaster you prepare for, you will be gathering some basic supplies that are useful in any kind of disaster.
2. Once you know what you are preparing for, you are now ready to move on to assessing how ready you are to survive it.
Your disaster preparedness should cover food, supplies, energy and communication, health, safety and your habitat. You can begin by assessing all these areas in terms of how well they can withstand the onslaught of catastrophes. Ask yourself if you have enough food, water and medicine to live out a crisis; if you have tools and equipment that can help you meet crises; if you have a space in your house that is safe in case of flood, earthquake or a nuclear fallout and also evaluate what ways you can use to communicate when phone lines are down, cell phones are out and nothing electronic works.
3. If you are serious about being prepared to survive disaster then you need to get your family or housemates or partner to be on the same page.
Everyone in your intimate circle needs to work on this and it helps a lot when there are no deprecating smirks or ridiculing remarks. In addition, each member of the circle has to be responsible for some aspect of the preparations – even if it is only for making sure he or she has an individual survival bag. Do you have a family emergency plan?
4. Once everyone agrees that being prepared for disaster, establish a communication procedure that everyone will understand and follow.
This includes steps to take should disaster strike at a time when people are in school or at work; identifying possible meeting places in case emergency and maybe even a buddy system. How do you communicate with family and friends if cell phones don’t work?
5. Once everyone has agreed to take this undertaking seriously, it is time to get your stuff together.
Draw up you’re a list of your survival supplies and assemble your bag. There are many resources that will tell you what things to collect and as you go through various lists, you will find that more than half of the stuff you need is probably already in your home. Involve everyone in making your survival list so you are conscious of special needs.
6. After you have your list and you know how to go about obtaining everything you need, begin with making your habitat safe or preparing an escape plan.
This may make you feel as if you are creating another Noah’s ark but remember that Noah and his family did successfully make it through the flood.
7. Finally, be healthy in all aspects: spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically.
Exercise, get your shots updated, go to the doctor and make sure everything is fine. Of all urban survival tips, this last bit is probably the most tirelessly useful and beneficial – whether there is a deluge or not – so get to it, pronto!
