Photo Credit: Healthier Workforce Center
With September being National Preparedness Month, I’ve decided to discuss, well, emergency preparedness. It’s important to note that not every piece of information will be applicable to your specific situation as you have to take into consideration the location, available resources and situation (i.e. civil unrest vs. blizzard). In this post, I’ll provide historical and current data along with tips on how to get started.
Why Have a Plan?
The main reason as to why you should have a plan is because even the smallest disaster can have the potential to overwhelm fire, police, EMS, hospitals and utility companies. In an emergency situation, the 72 hour mark can mean the difference between life and death. With that said, you will need to prepare for those times when our civilization is momentarily – or even permanently – thrown off the rails. It’s important to note that there are a variety of disasters that occur every year with the numbers increasing year after year. Allow me to put both natural and man-made disasters into perspective with the annual statistics.
Hurricanes
- According to Insurance Information Institute, there are 12 named storms in a typical year; 6 hurricanes with 3 reaching category 3, 4 and 5 storms where wind speeds reached at least 111 mph.
- Hurricane Katrina resulted in 90,000 square miles, 15 million people being affected, and more than $81 billion in property damage.
- To learn how to stay safe during a hurricane, click here.
Tornadoes
- According to the National Oceanic and Atmospherics Administration (NOAA), an average of 1,253 tornadoes strike the U.S. every year with an average of 22 per year categorized as “killer tornadoes”.
- 1,520 tornadoes in 2019 compared with 1,126 in 2018.
- 41 people were killed in 2019 compared with 10 people in 2018.
- There were 180 tornadoes documented in 2020 compared with 154 during the same time period in 2019.
- To learn how to stay safe during a tornado, click here.
Earthquakes
- According to the U.S. Geographical Survey, more than 1,500 earthquakes of magnitude 5 or higher occurred around the world during 2019.
- “Magnitude” is a measure of the size of the earthquake source and is the same number no matter where you are or what the shaking feels like. The Richter scale is an outdated method as it’s not used for measuring large, teleseismic earthquakes.
- In 2019, these events reached magnitude 6 (133 times), magnitude 7 (9 times) and magnitude 8 (1 time). Combined, they have caused an estimated 289 fatalities, 9,199 injuries, and more than 274,000 damaged buildings with 630,000 people forced to be evacuated or relocated.
- To learn how to stay safe during an earthquake, click here.
Snowfall & Ice Storms
- 3 Michigan cities are on the Top 15 list of snowiest U.S. cities – 1. Sault Ste Marie with 105.7”, 8. Grand Rapids with 54.9” and 11. Muskegon with 42.5″ (Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 2022).
- From 1960 – 1994, the U.S. averaged 9 blizzards per year. Since 1995, the average increased to 19 blizzards per year (Source: USA Today).
- In the U.S., blizzards are more common in the upper Midwest and Great Plains regions but occur in most areas of the country except the Gulf and California coasts (Source: UCAR Center for Science Education).
- Ice storms and freezing rain are most common in the Midwest and Northeast regions; but, because they require warm pockets of air, they can occur much further south than other forms of winter weather – including areas of Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Alabama and the Carolinas (Source: Erie Insurance, 2022).
- To learn how to stay safe during blizzards and ice storms, click here.
Wildfires
- 90% of wildfires are caused by humans in the U.S. via discarded cigarettes, unattended campfires, burning debris or equipment malfunctions. While lightning strikes and volcanic eruptions can cause wildfires, it’s less common [Source: WFCA, 2022].
- The Top 10 most dangerous states for wildfires in 2022 were 1. Alaska, 2. New Mexico, 3. Texas, 4. Oregon, 5. Idaho, 6. Oklahoma, 7. California, 8. Washington, 9. Florida and 10. Montana [Source: Statista].
- From 2001 – 2020, there was an average of 68,707.25 wildfires that burned 7,000,513.55 acres, which is 103.92 acres burned per fire. For 2022, 66,255 fires burned 7,534,403 acres, which is 113.72 acres burned per fire in the U.S. [Source: National Centers for Environmental Information, 2022].
- To learn how to stay safe during a wildfire, click here.
Chemical Spills
- More than 100 chemical categories are listed in the Emergency Response Guide, which if spilled, require up to a 6 mile evacuation zone downwind.
- There are more than 31,000 facilities in the U.S. that manufactures or stores hazardous chemicals and with hundreds of thousands of shipments per year by rail and highway, according to the Emergency Response Notification System, the U.S. experiences more than 30,000 spills per year.
- At least 10,000 deaths at Union Carbide pesticide plant in 1984 (Bhopal, India).
- Click here to learn what the Red Cross recommends during chemical spills so that you are safe.
Economic Meltdown
- The U.S. has more than $100 trillion in debt and financial obligations that will be coming due in the next 10 – 20 years to pay for unfunded liabilities (i.e. Medicaid, Medicare, and social security). When the U.S. dollar does crash, it could happen in as little as 48 hours.
- The U.S. federal government has funded over $4 trillion in relief in response to COVID-19 as of July 2023 [USA Spending]. Those funds have to come from somewhere.
- Ex: Argentina in the 1980s – 1990s (monetary value).
- Based on my personal opinion, I believe that we’ll experience a market crash that’ll be as bad as 2008 – if not, far worse – in the coming years.
Pandemic
- 41,400 people die per year in the U.S. from influenza on average.
- According to the CDC, as of September 2023, more than 1.1 million Americans died of causes involving COVID-19 from 2020 – 2023 (approximately). With panic buying occurring during COVID-19, imagine what the outcome would be like if the mortality rate was 10%, 20% or higher if another pandemic occurs.
- Approximately 50 – 100 million (3 – 6%) worldwide deaths from the Spanish Flu from 1918 – 1920.
- Pandemics is one of those disasters that I recommend sheltering in place for.
Besides the “ordinary” disasters you see every year, would you be prepared for an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack over the U.S., a dirty-bomb attack in a major city, or a nuclear, biological or chemical attack by a terrorist organization? Regardless if those scenarios were to ever happen or not, could you survive a scenario that shuts down utilities and commerce for days, weeks or months?
If you read the Bible, Jesus even mentions in Matthew 24:6-8 that we’ll be experiencing wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines more during the last days. The fact that the Bible has been accurate for thousands of years should tell you something. However, regardless if you believe what the Bible says or not, things will progressively get worse before they get better so the best time to get prepared for the worst-case scenario is NOW!
Next, I’ll cover the four pillars of survival – water, food, shelter and security.
Four Pillars of Survival
Water
- More than 85% of U.S. homes are fed by a municipal water system while the rest are from private wells.
- After 24 hours without water (or less time in hot and humid conditions), the average adult will be weakened and unable to function normally.
- Normal circumstances: Average adult will consume approximately 4 liters (1 gallon) of water per day, but will sweat off a liter or more per hour during situations of extreme heat which means the daily requirement jumps to as high as 20 liters.
- Failure to deliver fresh water: Flooding has tainted the wells, extended power failure has caused pumps to fail, earthquakes or other forces have disrupted the water mains or branches, or a terrorist attack.
Food
- Average adult requires between 2,000 – 3,000 calories per day to function normally, and many estimates show the average American consumes up to 4,200 calories per day.
- Lack of calories for 72 hours or more will dramatically decrease your ability to function and can make you an easy target.
Shelter
- Definition: Nothing more than protection from the elements, allowing you to regulate your body temperature within norms (ex: clothing, tent, home or another structure).
- Average adult can slip into hypothermia or hyperthermia in minutes without protection from temperatures below 50 – 60 degrees or above 90 – 100 degrees.
Security
- Plans rarely go off as scripted; loved ones spread out across multiple locations (at work, school or sporting events) and an immediate departure isn’t possible.
- Your first priority is to locate missing family members and get back to a central location like your home, whether it takes minutes or hours.
- In 2006, an “Emergency Evacuation Report Card” by the American Highway Users Alliance is used to determine exactly how long it would take to evacuate the 37 largest urban areas (more than 1 million residents per area). Out of the 37 cities, 20 cities received a failing grade (no more than 60% would be evacuated in 12 hours).
Tips
As someone that’s new to this, where do I begin? How should I prepare myself and my loved ones for the worst-case scenario? I’ll provide a basic list below.
- Click here to learn how to become your family’s first responder as it’s important to be PROACTIVE rather than REACTIVE. Don’t wait until an incident happens or after the fact to begin your training!
- Click here to learn how to stay safe in public.
- Follow this checklist from the Red Cross:
- Agree on a meeting place in advance outside of your neighborhood in case you can’t return home.
- Plan out routes to meeting point including alternate routes and modes of transportation.
- Communication plans as phones lines may be down. Make sure everyone has an emergency contact card on hand. Have a clear division of responsibilities for each person if you’re bugging out.
- Have at least half a tank of gas and maintain a full backup of at least two 5 gallon cans.
- Turn off electricity at main fuse or breaker and turn off water at main valve, but shutting down electricity also means shutting down any security system which is more inviting for criminals.
- Leave natural gas on unless you’re leaving due to an earthquake and aftershocks.
- Each family member should have an individual backpack that contains the supplies to survive 72 hours. If required, you should grab 72 hours worth of supplies and leave in a few minutes or less.
- Longer term (30-days) supplies can be stored in a larger tote or foot locker.
- You should have a small (EMS is less than 10 minutes away), medium (EMS is an hour away) and large (EMS is over a day away) first aid kits that include both comfort and life saving items. I recommend having one of each in your vehicle as well as in your home. As long as you’ve been properly trained and have the funds, I also recommend investing in an AED.
- Your supplies should include shelter (ex: tent, clothing, generator, fire starters, etc), food (ex: prepackaged, MREs and diet staples), water (including filters and purifiers), health (prescription medication and any alternatives), and security (ex: firearm and ammo, flashlight, phone and radio). Furthermore, include a map, compass and, for the cooler nights / winter months, HotHands products.
- If you decide to go the MRE route, it’s important to note that MREs take up more space than comparable dry supplies as each box weighs approximately 20 pounds. With that said, a 30 day supply for a family of 4 will weigh 600 pounds and take up about 380 sq. ft. of space. The cost is approximately $70 per case of 12 meals. During an emergency event, the prices of food and food-rations can skyrocket (ex: menu-bundle jumped to over $500 in some places in 2020).
- If traveling, have a portable 12V DC tire inflator / air compressor from FBK which costs approximately $27 on Amazon if you have an auxiliary power outlet and/or Airmoto which costs $79 – $129 in your vehicle. Also include a jump starter from Weego, which costs approximately $75 – $185.
- Check with your doctor or pharmacist to find out what it would take to have a 30 day supply of your prescription medicine and what the shelf life would be. Also, ask about natural or other alternatives in the event of widespread disaster.
- How much ammo should I have? You’ll want to think of ammo volumes in terms that go beyond what you might believe you might need in the next 30 – 365 days for 2 reasons…
- Panic buying (ex: COVID-19).
- During an extended period where commerce halts, the method of currency may dramatically change so ammunition could become the new currency.
I hope this brief list provides you with a good idea of where to start and gets you thinking about the subject matter more.
Conclusion
If you’d like to learn more, register for our Emergency Preparedness, as well as Concealed Carry and Home Defense Fundamentals and Emergency First Aid courses where we dive deeper into being properly prepared. We also have the textbooks available for sale in our online store. I also recommend taking a hunter’s safety course, as well as start a garden. Other books that are recommended include Urban Survival Guide by David Morris, One Second After by William Forstchen and The Rugged Life by Clint Emerson.
