We don’t have to believe the end of civilization as we know it is near. We can prep for so many reasons and for so many different scenarios. There was a time when I mostly prepped for storms – hurricane, ice storm, or tornado. Lately, I don’t even really think about any specific threat but my goal is to be ready to live completely without any outside support (no groceries, no power, no banking, maybe no transportation, no mail order) for at least a year. Can we do it? I don’t know. Is there a chance there would ever be a complete breakdown of everything at once? I don’t know. I am less confident about our “society” than I’ve ever been. Maybe it’s because of what I read, maybe it’s because I’m older. I feel very uncertain about a lot of things.
I do know that living where we live, we’re better off than a huge percentage of the country, simply because of the distance from town, the “can do” attitude of the folks who live around us, the wild critters in the wood that we can eat, and the garden/orchard space.
For us, we no longer prep for any specific threat or possibility. The better prepared you are, the better you will be able to deal with whatever may come your way, foreseen or unforeseen.
When we lived in Kentucky, Vince was on some kind of county wide emergency team and it was there that we learned, though we probably should already have figured it out, how little food is stored on site at most grocery stores. Let a truck not make it in on time and you’ll see empty shelves. Prepping isn’t totally about food, even though it seems I mostly talk about food. The minute a boil advisory is issued, bottled water is gone from the shelves. Try finding a good flashlight or lantern after the electricity goes off in an area.
Your reasons for prepping may be different from my reasons. These are listed in no particular order . . definitely not in an order of which I feel one thing is more likely to happen than something else.
- Sickness. Not only could you end up sick and wanting to have soup in the pantry but there could be sickness in your community and you just don’t want to be around other people. Think of a bad flu season . . or worse.
- Storms. When Joplin was hit by the tornado, they lost a Wal-Mart, Dillons, Aldi’s and maybe more. That was about the only three grocery stores I ever shopped at in Joplin. There were a few other stores but for weeks, Joplin was short on groceries. You got what was available but not everything was always available. After Hurricane Rita hit the area where my parents lived, they traveled over an hour away to get to a grocery store that had electricity. One year when we were in Kentucky, about three days before Christmas, we got 18″ of snow. We were in an area where this amount of snow was really unusual and it shut down our entire town. Those who hadn’t bought their food for Christmas dinner probably had grilled cheese sandwiches!
- A Shortage of Supplies. This is something that hasn’t happened much in the United States but certainly could. Do you remember the recent toilet paper shortage in Venezuela? The temps in Florida drop below freezing and the price of citrus fruit and orange juice doubles . . overnight. There could be a problem with the truckers bringing the supplies in to the grocery stores. It isn’t just food either. During the Joplin tornado, they lost an entire hospital. One of the two hospitals . . gone in a matter of seconds. Doctors’ offices, pharmacies . . shut down. Even the local quilt shop was blown away.
- Power Outage. This could be the result of an ice storm, any kind of storm really, a terrorist attack, an EMP, which could be caused by nature or a terrorist. If there’s no power, there’s not going to be any cold food in the grocery store . . no meat, no dairy, and chances are, no cash registers. Many stores have few, if any windows to let enough light in so you could shop anyway. Generally, we think of a power outage as being fairly local where we could just get in the car and drive to the next town to do our shopping, but in the event of an EMP, which I feel is not a far fetched idea, half the United States (or more) could be without power. In the case of an EMP, most vehicles are not going to work so we would be pretty much limited to whatever we have on hand. In the event of an extended power loss, the municipal water and sewer plants may not be functioning.
We don’t lose sleep over any of these things but just knowing there’s a possibility for them happening would help us deal with it when it did happen.
I’ve come to learn that our grocery supply is tenuous. I would not be comfortable at all if we relied on several trips to the grocery store each week to meet our food needs.
How long would you be comfortable if you couldn’t get groceries for a week, two weeks, a month? What if supplies were very spotty . . hit or miss with long lines and possible violence from those trying to get food?
What would you do if your municipal water supply was interrupted? It could just run out (very real possibility around here) or be contaminated?
What if the public sewer system broke down and you had raw waste flooding into your home?
What if electricity was out for 10 days, a month? I will tell you that I am not a fan of generators. We have them, we use them when convenient but we do not count on them.
Just a few more things to think about? What other things do you see as a possibility . . either very real or remote?
Lynne in Hawaii says
If the electricity goes out, many urban areas will be without water within 3 days….no electricity to pump water up. Keep up the good information.
liz says
I read that there will be a problem with electricity in the coming years. Coal powered plants are scheduled to be closed, but there are few nuclear or gas power plants being constructed. The power grid was stretched to its max with the very cold temps this winter. California has had rolling blackout/ brouwnouts in the past. And the grid can fail over a large area because of one section failing. When there is a storm, there may also be a priority of who gets back on line as well as the supplies available. Does your city have backup transformers to replace those which blow up?
Rationing of items may occur in the future. My mom told me of how her grandfather had bags of salt squirreled away. People teased him, but then went to him to get salt during hard times. This was in an European country in the 1920s. We are seeing rationing of gun ammo – many stores still have 1-3 box max purchase. And, it is possible that someone may decide that people in certain areas should get supplies over people in other areas (urban vs rural).
There is also a possibility of mega-inflation, so whatever cash you have may be better used as TP. So, bartering may be more important in the future.
Norece says
We also prep for whatever may come our way. We have planned for 18 months,, more or less, depends who else we will have staying with us. Each week we add something to our preps and every single trip to town I always purchase a lg pack of TP – that is one item I wouldn’t want to run out of. On your list the only one that really scares me is the collapse of the US dollar. Thanks for being our guide through this challenge.
Dianne S. says
No power? no gas for cars, generators and etc. Also, no power at some point if you have no water that means no water for the toilets! Not using my bottled water for the toilets!
We moved to Chester,, Va the day that hurricane Isabell hit! After the movers unloaded the truck they headed west. We then had time to go to the store….Ooppss!!!! Shelves empty, no dry ice, price of a package of batteries had tripled! The hurricane was still off shore. After the storm, ice trucks were being hijacked, people had no phones, power, gas, medicines, baby items. It was bad!
At that point we learned our freezer would always have a couple of gallon milk jugs with water in them frozen strategically placed in chest freezer. It does help.
All of our important papers were put in ziplock bags and then placed in a water tight container to help protect them.
Now we are back home living on a farm in Tennessee and we are very aware of how quick things can change in a minute.
Let’s all continue to become more aware of what is going on around us and in the world.
Anything can happen in a blink of an eye!
Prep on!
Terri in BC says
I just encountered a problem this weekend that if I thought ahead, wouldn’t have happened. I went to every pharmacy in town to buy a simple over-the-counter drug (Polysporin Eye Drops) which apparently has been suffering from a manufacturer shortage for some months now. If I had a back-up bottle, I wouldn’t have had to take my child to a doctor to get a prescription instead. Good incentive to start my prepping – I’ll be buying a year’s supply as soon as they are back in stock.
Tinkerfeet says
Please no one jump down my throat but we also have to prepare for riots. They can happen for no reason and by anyone. It is so much easier to be prepared so if it does happen you can just stay home and be safe.
Linda H says
This is exactly the reason my husband wanted to retire FAR from a large, metropolitan area (which we did). He was concerned about civil disorder should any of the infrastructures that we take for granted collapse. Scary but a possibility…..
Pat says
My thought is, how prepared are the two of you to protect your stores? How many people know exactly where you are since there are so many who know what you store up? In the sort of times you are prepared for I’d worry about you being ‘jumped’ for what you have. Mind, I don’t need to know your precautions and it’s best you don’t spell them out. I just hope you have that sort of PLANS!!!
Theresa says
I hadn’t thought of it like that– since you can’t be sure what can happen, being prepared for most things can only help.
I read an article that said that during the Kosovo conflict, that batteries and kerosene were highly sought after items. If you’re considering bartering, having extra batteries or learning to make kerosene might be a good idea. He also said that having a skill that others need was a sure meal ticket– repairing plumbing or electricity kept people fed, too. I think sewing– mending or making clothes– couldn’t hurt either.
Sherrill says
Probably the bare medicine chest necessities would need a bit of stockpiling as well . I think we’d want to be sure we had the necessary items to dress minor wounds, etc. Just curious how much water you stockpile and how often it’s rotated. I HATE buying the individual water bottles just because of all that plastic! And no clue if there’s an expiration date on water.
SarahB says
I think it’s one gallon of water per day per person. We use clear plastic gallon jugs that had juice in them (washed out really well before filling) because the plastic is thicker than milk jugs, and we empty and refill once a year. We use the water for plants in the summer so we don’t just dump it. We dedicate one shelf in out storage room for just water and have about 40-50 gallons. Also, remember your hot water tank is also drinkable water so count that in your storage numbers.
Cindi says
This is an interesting topic, and I plan to use this time to become better prepared. However, there are lots of smaller, more likely to happen things that people are ill prepared for. Car emergencies for one. Do you have food, water, and blankets in your car? Shoes that you could walk a few miles in?
You didn’t mention earthquakes, which is a possibility where I live. Thanks for doing this Judy.
Toni Wood says
I stocked up on cold/flu items last fall and it was a lifesaver when hubby and I both were sick at the same time. Everything we needed was at hand.
Judy S says
In our area besides storms earthquakes are a possiblity; we had one in 2001 that was pretty strong but didn”t do too much damage fortunately. We’ve had windstorms that did in the power for almost 2 weeks for some, and that’s when getting gasoline became a problem, and then there was the recent landslide north of here which was a real wake up call for everyone. I guess the Girl Scouts had it right when they adopted “Be prepared” as their motto over 100 years ago! Anyhow, one thing that no one has mentioned is prescription drugs; if you’re on one that’s crucial to your health, it’s a good idea to have some extra on hand. One thing I’d find interesting to discuss also is a system for how to keep the Necessities fresh.
Susan says
You’ve covered a lot of possibilities. I wonder how many people know where the shutoff valve is for water to the house, or other similar things. The day could come when we need to know those things! Water is the one thing I know I don’t have enough stored. It’s on my list for this year, along with a few other things. You and Vince have done a great job of being prepared.
Dianne S. says
Great post Susan, most people have no idea where their shut off valves are or how to shut them off!
When a tornado came through our area a few years ago, it destroyed a neighborhood our daughter had moved out of 5 weeks prior. We went to help the folks we knew there and most people were in shock and just wandering around. There were houses with natural gas spewing.
Stock up on tarps, rope, flashlights, batteries, duck tape, reflective tape for marking things.
danielle says
Question…..you mention your (fantastic) garden.but it seems as tho what you plant are a lot of plants. Do you save seed from your plants and then start seedlings in your green house?
Deborah Harmon says
I am glad you are tackling this subject for us. I live in Charleston, WV where we had the contaminated water in January. At my home we were without water for five days. FEMA brought water to us, but it was difficult washing dishes, washing clothes, personal hygiene. Even cleaning my toothbrush was a bother, cause I didn’t want to use enough water to clean it! I want to be better prepared next time. Debbie in WV
Shelley says
One year our town was cut off by landslides on one end and a bridge out on the other. No one could drive in or out and we’re many miles from the next town. The tourists grabbed all the milk and perishables, as well as all the gas, in one afternoon. There was no traffic in or out for over a week. Meanwhile the milk soured in the motel rooms in spite of the snow outside their doors!
Part of being prepared is just being smart and creative.
Rebecca in SoCal says
I thought of another scenario: personal financial disaster. What if the main wage earner gets laid off, or even worse, injured or seriously ill? If you have to stretch tour money for a while, it would be nice to have the things you’re used to at hand!
Rebecca in SoCal says
Aargh–Your money!