What Do I Prepare For?

Before you prepare, you must determine what you are preparing to survive.  Ask yourself this question: "What natural disasters or extreme conditions am I (are we) likely to face?"

Natural Disasters:
Hurricane, tornado, severe thunderstorms, flash flooding, floods, mud/rock slides, high winds, hail, severe winter weather, avalanche, extreme heat, drought, wildfire, earthquake, volcano eruption, tidal wave/tsunami.

Man-made Disasters:
Toxic material emission or spill (from a train, semi-truck, or nearby plant), riot/civil disorder, nuclear threat, terrorism, fire, chemical threat, biological threat, stock market crash, radiation threat, severe economical depression, explosion.

Other:
Disease outbreak, comet or meteor strike.

Personal Emergencies:
Kidnapping, mugging, robbery, unemployment, financial disaster, death in family, home destroyed by fire, random acts of violence.

Next ask yourself this question: "What are the ramifications of each disaster on my list?"  How would each disaster or emergency situation on your list affect you and your family?

For example:

Thunderstorm with electrical outage for 2-48 hours would mean possible food spoilage; no lights; no stove, oven, or microwave; no running water; telephone outage; lack of air conditioning or heating; damage to house or car from nearby trees; possible local flooding; local transportation impaired by fallen trees or wires; lightning damage/fire potential.

Severe winter weather with electrical power outage for 4-72 hours would potentially mean no furnace operation, exposure problems, frozen pipes, disruption of travel, you may be stranded away from home, no running water, no lights, no telephone, and possible food shortages and empty shelves at local stores.

Nearby train derailment could mean possible leak or spill of chemicals, short-term exposure problem, long-term cancer problems, and evacuation may be necessary with little notice.

Keep in mind that you cannot prepare for everything!  Every family is different - different size, different location, different specific dangers, different needs.  You need to prepare to meet the needs of YOUR family.