Predicting your disaster

[gr8cook]

I look at the weather that frequently affects my area and try to imagine what it would be like if it was really extreme. I also think about what would happen if there was some sort of man made emergency (i.e. terrorists, riots, etc.)

I use the results of these imaginings to tailor my preparations.

I am not really pleased with the depth of this method.

How do you anticipate your potential problems?

Cook

 

[BullfrogKen]

There have been multiple threads in this forum about "bug-out bags", "what gun for", "how do you prepare", and the general "SHTF" discussions. The moderators watched those conversations take off after Katrina. After rehashing the subjects over, and over . . . and over . . . they got annoying.

For a short while we had a moratorium on this topic. As this is actually a thoughtful question, not about WHAT we would do, or WHAT we would carry wandering about the wilderness in some post-apocalyptic scenario, but a question about how you evaluate your potential problems . . . let's try to respond in that light.


I'm personally glad to see those threads don't fill up the S&T pages anymore. Literally, for a period, we had 5 or 6 going all at one time. Please use the search function to find them if you wish, gr8cook. They are plentiful.

 

[Bob F.]

gr8cook: Your method may well be the best, assuming you're sufficiently realistic and imaginative. Sounds mutually exclusive, huh? Actually. the same method I use. Worst event here likely to be ice storm or haz-mat incident on I-77, 3/4 mile away, upwind. BTDT in both instances on a minor scale.

Maurading bands of houligans? Possible, but this is a gun friendly area. Trouble not likely to make it this far, but stocking up on 00 just in case.

Stay safe.
Bob

PS: I'm a great cook, also!!

 

[sm]

History.

I am one that does not Project - instead I Plan.

I use History to Plan. Now growing up, older folks shared where paths of tornadoes historically followed, and where historically they had hit, for example.

Older myself now, I can share tornadoes still have the same historical paths of travel, and some areas are still prone to getting hit. Same applies to flooding, difficulties with ice storms, the Civil Unrests, Riots...etc.

Personally- Projecting is defining a situation and the outcome. I cannot be that accurate, I cannot be assured the situation will occur as projected nor will my supplies, or any steps taken be correct.

Planning ahead best can, using history best can, affords me the best preparedness, and steps to take as matters unfurl.

Tornadoes coming from one known path is one situation, another set coming thru via another, then yet another set ...I have not backed myself into a corner by projecting only one set coming, from one direction and will continue to...
- instead I am flexible to adapt to changes as I have 3 or more sets historically doing something - and me being raised as was - am going to figure something totally out the blue and new is going to happen. Which it has...then made additional notes to the History notes.

Just like someone asked me not long ago about some property, priced "right".
Yeah, it not only has a history of flooding rea easy, if civil unrest/ riots hit - one does not want to near that area.

He did not consider the property anymore. I was able to suggest, due to history and growth, where he might want to consider looking instead.

New to an area? Local Library. Folks know and have information to assist you. Asking folks while checking out areas,
"So tell us a little about the history of this community..."
Every topic one can imagine can be learned before moving or buying. Internet is a huge help today as well.


History.

 

[Keith Wheeler]

Amen on the "History".

The whole "what to do when it all falls apart" is a massive pet peeve of mine, and a bit of a paradoxical one.

See, I have to laugh at the "when civilization falls apart and I have to fend for myself with rifle made by German machines run by American designed semiconductors using ammo shipped from Russia". Uh huh. Just how many times in human history has their been a collapse of civlization? And in those very rare occasions, did the lone warrior standing and holding his ground really accomplish much? History has taught that we should run away from the big problems, whether Pompeii, Warsaw, or N'Orleans, getting the heck out of Dodge is the only proven way to survive a total "SHTF" game.

I say this is a paradoxical pet peeve of mine because I find myself playing out the same thoughts. It's kind of like flying -- I hate flying on airliners, even though I know the odds. I just don't like it. And the odds of a major socio-economic collapse are much much slimmer than death by 737...and still I find it hard not to think about it, "just in case"....

But history. Weather history is a big one, perhaps easier to think about if you talk with the old timers. Folks new to my neck of the woods are always afraid of tornadoes. I find going through a tornado much like the earthquake I experienced when living in San Diego -- once you figure out what's going on it's pretty much over. What people should really be afraid of here is the once every 5 or 10 years huge ugly ice storm. There was one the year before I moved back from Cali; it practically shut down central Arkansas for a week. That's the reality of it; no use for an FAL and a gazillion rounds of ammo, and MREs are okay, but pretty much any food was fine. The big issue was being stuck at home for a week with no electricity. Warmth and food.

For what I think would be the real "worst case scenario" for my location we have to dig further back in history. See tornadoes happen all the time here, so it's no big deal. Siren goes off, get in your hidey hole, it's over. Folks know about them, there's infrastructure in place to help. What to look for in digging through that history is something that has happened before, is likely to happen again, but is so oddball or rare that your community can't justify the expense of preparing. Or perhaps so obscure most people don't know about it.

In my case, (and in my opinion) this would be another quake on the New Madrid fault, like the huge series of quakes in 1812. If these happened today Memphis would be gone. The damage along the Mississippi would be terrifying. Little Rock, based on my understanding, would only suffer minor to moderate damage. But, we would most likely become one of the primary support centers for earthquake refugees and recovery. So, looking back across history and being honest, it seems that my "worst case" would be having to deal with a bunch of regular American "people" who have lost everything. Kind of goes back to the more common occurance, ice storms -- no real use for an FAL, just have to find folks a warm place to sleep and something to fill their bellies.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Just how many times in human history has their been a collapse of civlization? And in those very rare occasions, did the lone warrior standing and holding his ground really accomplish much?

Apparantly you have not watched the news much lately......we are in this little place called Iraq where it seems to be pretty effective.

Not that it would happen here, but don't underestimate the power of an armed and determined populace to disrupt things and cause change.

But, for the real world, it's likely to be a Tornado where I live so I use history to make my plans; history of past tornado damage, history of how long it takes to clean up, and a little history lesson or 2 from Katrina on how people will behave if it's a big one.

 

[Keith Wheeler]

Apparantly you have not watched the news much lately......we are in this little place called Iraq where it seems to be pretty effective.

Yep. I'm sipping coffee, getting ready for work in a really nice high rise building, reading the news on CNN and posting to a web forum.

My point is that total soci-economic collapse, as pondered by the SHTF worrier and the paranoid NWO types, doesn't happen that often. I mean, what a handful of times through-out ten thousand years of "civilization"? And even then, the entire Roman empire didn't collapse...

Localized "collapse" happens fairly often, but in those conditions, it has historically proven more reasonable for the individual to run away from volcanoes, hurricanes, SS troopers, Shi'ites, whatever rather than play lone Hollywood Mad Max hero.

Do not interpret that as a "we shouldn't fight"....of course we should fight the darkness. In my world view that's one of the reasons we're here. But the lone "dude", worried about life and family, should just bug out. The collapses are localized; go somewhere that hasn't collapsed. Want to stay and fight? Join the army, or the police department, or the fire department, or the CIA...some organization that has the organization and infrastructure to deal with such a scenario.

 

[Lou629]

The liklihood of some collapse of civilization into a 'Mad-Max meets The Omega-Man' scenario is laughably remote at best imo, but that's the sort of thing you see all the time in the average 'SHTF' threads.

Compared to that, you'll probably find yourself having to deal with some pretty mundane ( and much more likely ) things. Giving some thought to how you might deal with them in advance is probably a good idea, since planet-killing comets are much rarer than forest fires, floods or severe winter storms.

The Walter Mitty types whose only version of 'preparation' is keeping dozens of firearms, ordering ammo by the pallet-load, and having a stash/depot to rival the 101st airborne, are delusional at best.

 

[Big Calhoun]

My methodolgy is to prepare to respond. I can imagine what potential problems could affect me, but in reality, anything can happen. My thinking is that I'd want to be in a position where I can evaluate the situation and form a plan of action.

Communication is probably my biggest thing. During 9/11, my wife was in NY and I was working in NJ and neither of us (along with the rest of the eastern seaboard) could reach anyone via phone. For this reason, I keep spare cellphone batteries charged at all times and have a pair of Garmin Rhino radios which also stay charged until/unless needed. In addition, I have a wide-band scanner which I listen to for enjoyment occasionally, and could also use in an emergency.

Self preservation comes next. IMO, I have to be alive to carry out a response. At home, I keep things like MREs and some presciption meds for my asthma as a back-up. We also drink bottled water so there is always at least 2 unopened gallon bottles around. Basic first aid kit, clothing, weather gear, fishing pole (even though I'm allergic to fish), hunting knife, matches, cash, some other stuff I need to probably update. All of that is in a waterproof bag in bedroom closest...I guess it could be called my 'bug out' bag. There's also a small fire safe in the room which has all of our important papers (birth certificates, wedding license, social security cards, HS and college diplomas -- everything needed to 'rebuild' and reintegrate.

Travel is another concern and one that I don't have any concrete plans for. We only have one car at the moment and if the roads were unusable, we'd be hit. I live, literally, 2 minutes away from DFW, so that would be my only saving grace if I could get a flight.

I guess, overall, the biggest thing is to have a plan. My wife and I have a well rehearsed plan if there was an intruder in the house. We have a plan that includes meeting points and contact methods if something disasterous were to happen and we were separated. I've 'trained' her on various practical survival skills for different situations.

I guess I don't mind being caught offguard in case of a natural or manmade disaster, as long as I have some means to take care of myself. The firearms...I don't add those to the equation because to me, it's like wearing a watch, it would just be instinct to have one with me.

 

[SamTuckerMTNMAN]

one thing I say

to people who are like, "Why are you so afraid?"

Think of it this way. Some people like to have hobbies, most people really. Some people know everything about sports scores since 1942. Others are great with car engines. Some like to sew or operate ham radios. Some study civil war history, learn about semiconductor technology or follow the space program with avid interest. Me? I love learning about preparedness. It's not fear, but a passion, an interest, a hobby. Considering possible scenarios and weighing them, debating them, 'preparing' for them, whatever, this is all just part of the game. It has the second benefit of providing at least an awareness that there is a world outside of the clean wrapped plastic covered meat in the bright shiny stores, police who are there every second to save you, and politicians who will keep you and your country safe at any cost.
In fact just considering the possibilities encourages a free thinking and independent mind which I believe is important for the country.
So in that light, don't knock the SHTF'nners, the TEOTWAWKT'tters, or anyone else who is simply pursuing an interest and a passion. There will always be freaks and weirdos , but there will also be plenty of people who think the light switch will always 'make' light!
Both are just as bad, perhaps one a little more so than the other.
ST

 

[Sharps-shooter]

I like to use the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) for assesing the sorts of events one needs to be prepared for at any given location. Except for this application, I like to work backwards from threats, and end with opportunities. So for my house in town:

Threats-- Ice storm, interruption of services (i.e. energy crises), bad economy, epidemic.

weaknesses-- house is primarily reliant on electric heat by design; Located in poorly-designed urban area where mass evacuation would be problematic; In the event of an epidemic, sick people would be likely to seek me out (due to the nature of my job).

strengths-- house is located in a prosperous neighborhood with little thru traffic; in walking distance of necessary services (groceries, ammo, our jobs); Good community of friends in 1/2 mile radius.

Opportunities-- get secondary heat sources (such as kerosene heaters) and fuel. Stockpile antiviral and antibacterial substances, as welll as any maintenance drugs needed by the family for existing medical conditions. Develop a clear exit plan with contingencies for leaving town if necessary....etc.

Of course, this is a very abbreviated analysis for illustration purposes, and the real thing is several pages long. For our place in the country, the analysis is completely different, and includes forest fires as a threat, but does not include interruption of utilities, as there are none to be interrupted.

I find this to be a useful way of analyzing and mapping out the situation; that way it's planned out and you don't have to keep turning it over in your head.

 

[LanEvo`]

How do you anticipate your potential problems?

Having spent my whole life in large urban centers, I've always felt the major "survival" issues always seem to reduce down to health and sanitation. Even in post-Katrina New Orleans, the major issues for the vast majority of people were simply inadequate sanitation and a lack of clean water.

A G.E. XP214 minigun and 500,000 rounds of AP ammo won't really help you in that situation!

Most urban dwellers are totally dependent on having clean water pour out the drain each time they open the tap...not to mention immediate access to electricity, heat, cooking gas, communication (TV/radio/cell phone), and fuel for their cars. When these essential services are disrupted for a significant length of time, people start to get unhealthy.

Whether the immediate problem is caused by hurricane, tornado, earthquake, or terrorist attack is largely irrelevant. The basic problems always seem to come down to water, sanitation, and essential services.

 

[WolfMansDad]

Plan for small disasters first

The plumbing goes out in our building a lot, so I plan for a disruption of water supplies. We have bottled water and field towels, enough to last a week or two.

Where we live now, electricity has never gone out, but it happened a lot where I grew up. For that, we have flashlights, candles, and propane camp stoves.

Sometimes we go camping, so we have a stash of food and extra gasoline, should the supply chain for either be interrupted.

My kids are rowdy, and my dog is INSANE, so the first-aid kit gets a lot of use. If you use it a lot, it's easy to maintain. (EMT gel works on kids, too!)

These are the kinds of things that are likely to happen, and they are worth preparing for individually. It seems to me that a major disaster would really be just a collection of mini disasters, all of which happen at once. The central cause might be flood, ice storm, earthquake, or whatever, but the effect would always involve loss of water, electricity, food, gasoline, or some combination.

 

[sefus]

It helped me to take a look at the different variations of maps for my area. A weather map showed me I'm down wind from a Nuclear powerplant and a refueling air force base. Another showed me I am under the flight path of an international airport (like I didnt all ready know it from the noise), anther showed me I'm sandwitched between some major railways, I'm backed into some forest land and so on. The possibility for a NBCemergency, plane/train crash, forest fire... are all there, so I plan accordingly to those threats.

 

[gr8cook]

Wow

This is some good stuff.

Something that has been brought up, and that I have been thinking about, is displacing.

When you think of places to go to what are you thinking of? Near (under 10 miles), far (over a hundred), rural, urban? I see a good argument for staying put and another good argument for "bugging out."

I found the SWOT idea very helpful.

Cook

A G.E. XP214 minigun and 500,000 rounds of AP ammo won't really help you in that situation!

I don't know. It seems like you might be able to dig a latrine pretty quickly with one!

 

[Thin Black Line]

How do you anticipate your potential problems?

It doesn't matter what it is. Weight of my gear and sustenance for
myself and my family are chief concerns. I see people post here about how
they have 3 battle rifles, 6 assault rifles, 10 handguns, 1000 rounds of ammo,
and no water filter, and it always brings a smile to my face. These are the
people who I will be trading a gallon of filtered water one at a time for 3
battles, 6 assault rifles, and 9 handguns, and 990 rds of ammo

Just how many times in human history has their been a collapse of civlization? And in those very rare occasions, did the lone warrior standing and holding his ground really accomplish much?

Apparantly you have not watched the news much lately......we are in this little place called Iraq where it seems to be pretty effective.

I've been to Iraq and have seen what the "end" of the world looks like. Some
rubble here and there and a lot of services that don't work well or no longer
exisit --but life goes on. Yes, one person can hold off an onslaught as long
as he or she is supplied. This isn't just ammo. Food, water and medical
care must figure into any equation for disaster management first.

Too many people here place too much emphasis on firearms, less on training,
and even less that goes into true life support and preservation. It's a recipe
for making the post-disaster situation worse if it takes "too long" for outside
help to arrive when people have been raised on fast-food instant gratification
TV culture. Well-armed, poorly pre-planned people are the very ones who
could be part of the onslaught. Afterwards, I will provide the survivors medical
care in trade for their weapons.

 

[Keith Wheeler]

When you think of places to go to what are you thinking of? Near (under 10 miles), far (over a hundred), rural, urban? I see a good argument for staying put and another good argument for "bugging out."

Depends on the issue.

Look at a Katrina or a New Madrid earthquake sort of event. If you live someplace that can expect an event like that, where's the closest city that you have ties to that won't be affected? Friends, family? Look at the reality of Katrina. Hurricane is coming, you've got cash, fuel, and family in Dallas or Memphis. You go there, wait out the scary stuff, then head back to pick up the pieces. Beats sitting on a roof waiting for the coast guard.

SWOT is a good tool -- my MBA profs hammered me with that one.

Another good one is a threat matrix. One axis is severity of event, the other is likelihood of occurance. This allows you to make a rational decision about where to spend effort and resources. You ignore the remote chance of occurance/low severity ones, and focus on any moderate or high severity likely to occur events. It's a basic economic tool -- economics being the study of how to deal with unlimited wants and needs in a world with limited resources. You can't plan for all events, and planning for some very unlikely events is just a waste of time, effort, and money (unless, as someone pointed out, you get personal satisfaction from this, a resource very much indeed limited in this world and one we should all strive to obtain).

The "where to go" can be influenced by that matrix. For instance I just heard a story about a home up in the Ozarks selling for a fraction of the cost to build. It was built in the late 90s by some wealthy dot-com geek. Solar panels, hidey-holes, all the "good" stuff. But Y2K didn't happen. He spent resources making a "where to go" that was never needed.

A good, honest, threat matrix chart would indicate that. It's like the guys planning for the end of the world. Severity of event? Incredibly high. Likelihood to happen? Astonishingly small. Why then spend so much on something that isn't going to happen?

Think about what's likely to happen to you in your area. Fire? Tornado? Extended power outage? Riots?

Like I posted early, ice storms are not uncommon event in my area. All the folk at my volunteer fire department head to the station -- it has days worth of fuel for the back-up generator.


Edited after Thin Black Line's post:

Some
rubble here and there and a lot of services that don't work well or no longer
exisit --but life goes on.

Yep. Life goes on. Life went on in the Warsaw ghetto. Anyone who is concerned about how to survive a "big ugly" in our modern world needs to read about the Warsaw ghetto. These horrific stories show a real life worst case scenario, that involves greed, corruption, government gone mad, the requirements for understanding when "run away" is indeed the only answer. Rubble in the streets, starvation, mass hysteria, major battles....all in a place that was once "progressive" and quite the modern civilized city.

I could say something obnoxious about "you're stupid if you don't"...but let's put it another way.

If you honestly want some food for thought about surviving a worst-case, please read about Warsaw. It won't tell you what to pack or what skills to learn, or where to hide your bug-out-bag, but it will give you insight into the furthest reaches of the human psyche, letting you see just how "life goes on" amongst the rubble and the dead.

 

[dragongoddess]

And how are you going to prepare for a 1930's event. A stock market crash.
A much more probable event that can occur in the next 6 months to a year.

We seem to make preparations thinking that the infrastructure of an economy that works still being present. Add a stock market crash into any plan and make your adjustments. For as sure as the Sun rises in the East we will have another "market crash" and that impact will ripple through everyone.

 

[Thin Black Line]

These horrific stories show a real life worst case scenario, that involves greed, corruption, government gone mad, the requirements for understanding when "run away" is indeed the only answer.

I'm quite familiar with this history and even more familiar with Stalinism and
his civilian gulags and military purges. If our government comes to this any
time soon, I will probably be swept up for one of the first train-loads before
there is even a whiff of a problem in the air for the rest of the sheep to sniff.
I plan for "less than" that in the sense of temporary disruptions for whatever
reason. I do not see a complete economic collapse without a conjunction of
major factors including, but not limited to, a nuclear exchange combined with
a pandemic both of which wipe out 1/4 or more of the earth's population
within a matter of weeks. If it does, it's the Apocalypse and no amount of
preparation will matter as I would expect to meet the Mashiach soon and act
according to His plan which has been made in advance for me.

 

[Keith Wheeler]

If our government comes to this any
time soon, I will probably be swept up for one of the first train-loads before
there is even a whiff of a problem in the air for the rest of the sheep to sniff.

You'd be in good company at least.

 

[MiamiARFan]

Many people prepare for the SHTF situation from a home perspective. Here in Sunny Florida, we've been preparing for years to counter the realities of Hurricanes. Each year, we adapt and improve our plans. Our Pantry is stocked for the family to get by for a period of 5 days minimum. Ever since Hurricane Andrew we've had a portable generator and a minimum of 30 gals of gas. Last year during Katrina, we received no wind damage, but the house did flood (not nearly as bad as Nola, but we did have a foot of water throughout the entire house) Luckily our BOT (Bug Out Trailer) was high and dry and so were the Gennys, so we moved into the trailer. Unfortunately the gas stations had runs on fuel and it was impossible to get. Not to mention that they were out of power and couldn't pump fuel either. This year, we've added a whole house generator running on natural gas.

One thing people often overlook is their work environment. I'm not so much concerned with civil unrest or terrorist attacks as I am about the 2 MILLION Gallons of Chlorine stored in railroad tankers at the water treatment plant less than 1/4 mile from my office. If that goes, we're in some deep stuff. How many work near the airport/flight path. Last year we had a cargo plane crash into an industrial / warehouse / retail area upon take off when his load shifted. There are also lots of Warehouses that store a lot of volitile/hazardous materials that if ignited could cause problems over a wide surrounding area. How much do you know about what surrounds you at work. It might be a real eye opener since you spend almost 1/3 of each day at work.

I'm just sayin'.......Be aware of your surroundings.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Awareness & Innoculation

As a kid, my family lived in an area where we had seasonal forest fires but fairly mild winters, which would occasionally knock out the power and make travel to/from town difficult.

As a matter of practical everyday preparedness we had all the stuff needed to deal with the commonplace scenarios -- things we saw every year.

When we moved, those bits of preparedness were simply habits -- innoculation, if you like -- that we took with us. In our new environment, we assessed the new seasonal and common exposures and made sure we were ready for them. These new aspects became part of our habits.

However, situational awareness isn't confined to the common and everyday things in our lives.

Nature and society -- in most of the places where I've lived -- never presented us with a defense-oriented scenario. We would have fared poorly if such a thing had come upon us.

Only in the last five years have we (my wife and I) begun to assess outside-the-box scenarios for preparedness. At first we equipped ourselves to deal with extended no-food, no-water, no-power, no-medical situations. Then we expanded this to include the what-if-we-had-to-run concept (floods, fires, earthquakes, meteorites, extreme weather) and bolstered our kits accordingly.

None of our scenarios included what-if-we-had-to-stand-our-ground aspects. None of our scenarios included what-if-we-had-to-hunt computations. Extreme social conditions did not figure in our thinking.

The social conditions facet finally entered our contemplations about two years ago. I can be something of a slow learner given the proper denial framework.

So, more recently, in addition to our other preparedness habits, we've had to ask, "what's the most likely thing we'd have to deal with?"

We don't live in an extreme weather area. It gets cold and can freeze, but white-outs and floods are rare. No tornadoes, hurricanes, no quakes above 3.5, no volcanoes. Forest fires every year, but not right on our doorstep. Unlikely to have temperatures above 105 or below 0.

We are, however, a state capitol and we're placed at the intersection of a couple of major highways. This makes us a possible (if unlikely) target for terror, but more probably a destination for refugees from several other cities within a 150-mile radius.

Over the last year we've seen the likelihood of social unrest escalate higher in our probabilities with the increase of alien assertiveness. Being a state capitol makes us a focus for this stuff. Also, with some of the traffic through our very porous Southern border we have the increased likelihood of terror scenarios -- not for us directly, but for cities whose residents might flee to our town.

With those things in mind, we contemplate routes into and out of our home town, the kind of vehicle needed for an emergency jump, the kinds of things needed to stay put and to bail out. I've established safe spots with some of our friends (the kind who don't think we're looney toons) in a reciprocal arrangement -- goes bad there, they come to us; goes bad here, we go to them.

The more aware we become, the more we grasp how unprepared we are. My to-do list includes "learn to dress game" and "learn to build shelter" and "practice making fire from nothing" and so on. These are things you don't want to be learning on-the-fly from a "Survival For Dummies" book when the big day comes.

I remember, as a teen, that we camped regularly. I knew how to set up camp, build a fireplace and a fire, find water, stay clean, place latrines, and all that stuff. Now I have to learn it all over again.

The price of thirty years of denial and inattentiveness.

 

[lee n. field]

How do you anticipate your potential problems?

Looking around me.

I sincerely doubt that the jihadistas or the commies or the French are going to hit my little town with a WMD. We are so not worth bothering with. I'm too poor to have a place in the country to bug out to, so we're sitting right here.

Weather can get extreme, but it's temporary and we can deal with it. No hurricanes.

My assumption is that any problems we may have in the aftermath of any disaster with more than absolutely negligible likelyhood are going to be temporary problems with the neighborhood lowlifes.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

Living in the Appalachians means water is plentiful, but terrain is rough.
I live fairly near a major interstate so a hazmat situation is very possible - something I never thought of previously.
I'm within walking distance of a major river and several thousand acres of woodland and hunting areas.
I have a lot of seeds put back and am constantly growing veggies indoors as a matter of personal health.
In short, I feel like a major disaster would be an ice storm/blizzard and maybe a hazmat situation. Civil unrest may happen. But, medical emergencies, weather related disasters, and/or terrorism top the list.
I'm covered for most of that.

 

[10-Ring]

For me, I see potential disasters being either:
1. earthquake
2. wild fire
3. civil disobedience
4. flood

I've already had to live through the earthquake after math, wildfire is a real possibility in CA and as for civil disobedience, I've lived through the King Riots in LA. I'm more ready than I was and my family and I now have a plan JIC.