How do you prepare? First thing to do is focus on the basics.
Water, Food, Shelter, and Protection.
Water is necessary for life. We can't live more than a few days without it. In the event of a disaster situation (earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, terrorist attack, etc.) vital services may be cut off. You may not have water running out of the tap. So what do you do? You prepare for that situation. Stockpile water. One important thing to keep in mind is one gallon per person per day. If it's just you then you'll only need about three gallons minimum. You want to have enough for at least three days. Keep it stored somewhere where it is easy to access in the event of an emergency and also where it won't be damaged (like in an earthquake).
Food is also a necessity. In an emergency situation the first thing everyone is going to do is rush the supermarket to get more food. They will strip the shelves of everything and then there will be nothing for anyone else.
Like what occurred in Mexico before hurricane Dean.
It is vital that you stock up on nonperishable food items. Canned foods are an excellent and affordable way to stock up. Other foods like Ramen, dried beans, and rice are also excellent emergency foods. Also if you have a green thumb you could try your hand at gardening and can your own vegetables for later use. Check out Sootch00's video about gardening for emergencies.
Another vital component of emergency preparedness is to have some form of shelter. Let's say an earthquake hits where you live and your house is damaged to the point where it is unsafe to stay in. You are going to need some form of shelter or you aren't going to make it until help arrives. Right now in Haiti people are sleeping in the street because the buildings are too unstable to sleep in. A simple and affordable shelter option is a simple tent. Something to keep the wind and rain off of you and your family. Make sure you have sleeping bags though, because a tent may help, but it is not going to keep you warm enough at night. I suggest a sleeping bag that rates to at least 15 degrees, that way you'll be sure to stay warm.
One of the most dangerous things in a disaster situation is not the disaster itself, but your fellow man. After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans the looting was rampant and many innocent people were killed by the thieves.
It is vital that you are able to defend yourself! I am an advocate of gun ownership. I believe that every law abiding US citizen should own a gun. One of the best and most reliable home defense firearms is the good old pump shotgun. They tend to be more affordable than let's say a tactical carbine and the ammo, even in the current shortage, is easier to come by than rifle ammunition. Would a shotgun be ideal for neighborhood defense during an emergency situation, no, not really. However for home defense it is ideal, plus the sound of a pump shotgun being cocked is enough to scare any looter out of his wits. I suggest you watch Nutnfancy's combat shotgun vids.
Also an affordable and reliable tactical carbine option is the KelTec SU-16 line. Once again I suggest you watch Nutnfancy's review of this excellent tactical carbine.
Once you have a firearm you need to train with it. Learn proper safe gun handling techniques and become proficient in the use of your selected firearm. This is important because if the Fit hits the Shan you don;t want to be learning how to use the thing when it's life or death.
Communication is also important in an emergency. Cell phones won't necessarily work, service could be down. Having two way radios is an excellent way to keep in contact with friends and family members in an emergency. Also having a battery powered CB and police scanner is a good way to contact emergency services, just be sure to have plenty of batteries.
The final and most important part of disaster preparedness is to have a plan. Know what you're going to do in advance! And have a backup plan, and a backup-backup plan. I am a big advocate of the adaptive strategy. Build a general plan, but leave it flexible so you can adjust it as obstacles arise.
That's all for this edition of Observations. Please leave a comment if you liked this post.
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