Either by accident or by the whim of Mother Nature, human history is filled with natural disasters. However, within the history of disasters, there are some that stand out as the world’s deadliest disasters.

Haiti Earthquake

On January 10, 2010, a severe 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti. Its epicenter was 25 miles west of the capital Port-Au-Prince. Following the initial earthquake, 59 aftershocks were eventually recorded. The quakes led to more than 150,000 deaths and destroyed over 250,000 homes and 30,000 businesses.

Tenerife North Airport Airplane Collision

The deadliest aviation accident that ever happened occurred at Tenerife North Airport, in the Canary Islands. On March 27, 1977, a bomb detonated at Gran Canaria Airport. There was suspicion that a second device had yet to explode. Because of the possibility of a second bomb, authorities rerouted a number of Gran Canaria bound aircraft to Tenerife North Airport.
Unfortunately, Tenerife North Airport was not designed to handle so many planes. Because of limited space and a large number of planes, many aircraft parked on and blocked taxi ways. This forced planes to both taxi and takeoff on the airport’s only runway, a problem compounded by dense fog. This problem resulted in tragedy when two Boeing 747s, travelling towards one another collided, killing 583 passengers.

Cyclone Nargis

The first Indian Ocean cyclone of 2008 was Cyclone Nargis. After forming, it made landfall in Myanmar on May 2, 2008. As Nargis came ashore, its storm surge pushed 25 miles up the Irrawaddy delta, flooding the region. This flooding ravaged the areas towns and population, killing over 135,000 and causing $10 billion in damages.


The Black Death

You have probably already read about it in your history books; however, you may not know the specifics. This Black Death was a pandemic that swept across Europe in the mid-1300s, lasting seven years. It is estimated to have killed up to 200 million people, reducing Europe’s population by upwards of 60%. Another way to think about the Black Death is to do so in a modern context. In modern terms, 194 million people would lose their lives if the Black Death were to happen today. Yeah, almost 200 million people would die.

Mount Pelée Volcano Eruption

The Mount Pelée eruption is the greatest volcano disaster of the 20th century. The volcano, located in the Caribbean on the island of Martinique, erupted on May 8, 1902. The eruption killed 30,000 people and completely destroyed the city of Saint-Pierre.

Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami

On December 26, 2004, an earthquake occurred off the coast of Indonesia. The earthquake measured over 9 on the Richter scale and triggered massive tsunamis. The tsunamis traveled through the Indian ocean and eventually devastated 14 countries. Of the nearly 230,000 dead, over 130,000 occurred in Indonesia alone. The death toll caused this earthquake to be one of the 10 deadliest, and the tsunami to be the deadliest in world history.

Lessons Learned

​Human history is full of examples of natural and human-initiated disasters. In spite of our best efforts, predicting disasters with any certainty is a thing of science fiction. Disasters usually strike with little to no warning, unleashing devastating consequences. So, while people try to predict them, the safest bet for overcoming their tragic effects is to prepare now. By preparing in advance, you are giving you and your family the best opportunity to survive where they may have otherwise perished. Ultimately, it’s up to you. Do you want to be the victim or the survivor?


Lastly, never forget, you’re  just one prep away.


If you have any other information, suggestions, or thoughts about the world’s deadliest disasters, please leave a comment below.


Stay safe, secure and prepared.

Ancient Times – 1900​
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The history of prepping and preparing for adversity can be traced back to the earliest of human times. One only needs to look to the story of Noah and his ark for an example of preparing for a natural disaster. Following the great flood, both human history and the history of prepping is riddled with examples of people who prepared in advance to overcome future challenges.

Humans have preserved food since the earliest days. Without our modern conveniences, people had to plan and prepare well in advance for difficult times. For example, in the Middle Ages, people preserved food in the summer so that it could be eaten in the winter. Because of the expense associated with feeding animals in the winter, most were slaughtered in the fall and preserved to provide a supply of meat through the winter.

This basic need for preparing for adversity continued for thousands of years. It continued because it was necessary for survival. Without preparing, most would have surely perished. Imagine a winter in the 1800s without pre-chopped wood, or preserved food. The history of prepping is full of examples of those who did not think ahead or prepare and proved Darwin right.

1900 – 1970s

Even in our recent history, preparing for adversity was an accepted and encouraged the practice. Through most of the 20th century, people and governments encouraged people to prepare for challenges and seek some level of self-sustainability. In many cases, this was done in an effort for a country’s citizens to help support a national effort.

World War I & World War II

Numerous countries involved in the wars encouraged their citizens to plant “victory gardens.” The promoting of victory gardens went hand in hand with the rationing of food. These campaigns for preparedness and self-reliance were promoted as patriotic endeavors that would help win the wars.

In the United States, the effort to motivate the population into improved self-reliance was successful and resulted in the planting of 20 million victory gardens. In 1944, these victory gardens produced over eight million tons of fruits and vegetables. This accounted for 40% of all fresh fruits and vegetables consumed in the United States and was equal to all commercial U.S. production.
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During WWII, some feared that German aerial bombing was not far behind the U-Boat attacks that targeted the eastern coast of the United States. Therefore, another preparedness action taken by many was the construction of home bomb shelters. Many of these bomb shelters still exist today.

The Cold War

With the end of WWII, the world entered the nuclear age. Along with the nuclear age came the fear of nuclear war between the world’s superpowers. This fear resulted in the building of bomb shelters throughout the United States by individuals and local and federal governments.

Perhaps one of the most famous and massive bomb shelters is the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. The Greenbrier began in 1958 as “Project Greek Island.” This was the code name for what would eventually become the potential shelter for 1,100 people, including all of the US Congress. The Greenbrier remained in operation until 1992 when it was outed by the media. Had it not been exposed by the media, it would probably still be part of the Governments survival plan today. However, while the US Government may not plan on using the Greenbrier as its future apocalyptic home, it is certain that there are other Greenbriers readied for a cataclysmic event.

The government not only built shelters such as the Greenbrier, but it also instituted “duck and cover” education and drills. Ask any elder who was a child of the times and they will most likely be able to recall watching public safety films, such as Atomic Alert, and conducting nuclear bomb drills. These drills were based on guidance similar to what is provided in the US Army’s Field Manual, FM 3-4 NBC Protection:

“Nuclear attack indicators are unmistakable. The bright flash, enormous explosion, high winds, and mushroom-shaped cloud clearly indicate a nuclear attack. An enemy attack would normally come without warning. Initial actions must therefore be automatic and instinctive. Dropping immediately and covering exposed skin provide protection against blast and thermal effects.” ​

These widely accepted Cold War preparedness measures continued well into the 1970s.

1970s – 1998 (The Survivalists)

Brief History of U.S. Preparedness
The next phase in the history of preparedness began in the mid-1970s. It was in 1976 that Kurt Saxon coined the phrase “survivalism.” It was also during the mid-1970s when Howard Ruff wrote his book, Famine and Survival in America. Ruff’s book, based upon the turbulent financial times, helped lay the foundation for many of the concepts that make up today’s modern prepper philosophy. At the same time, the start of the modern firearms training and competition movement began at the American Pistol Institute (now Gunsite Academy), which was founded in 1976 by USMC Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Cooper.

Unfortunately, as the 1980s progressed into the 1990s, the media and a large portion of society began to negatively label people who took preparedness actions. The media wrongfully combined anyone and any group who practiced preparedness into one targeted group of wrongdoers. Rather than identify people and groups based on their individual merits, the media used blanket accusations in an attempt to paint all preparedness people as crazy, racist, and anti-government. It was an untrue but effective tactic that drove many good but concerned people who engaged in preparedness underground to prepare in secret.

1999 – Today

Fortunately, in the late 90s, as the specter of Y2K approached, the media campaign against people who prepared began to soften. Y2K was the fear that due to a computer glitch, computers would shut down at the start of the new century. This resulted in the mainstream media running stories of potential power grid failures and society shutdown. Fortunately, 2000 started off without a hitch and the prophecies of a Y2K doom never materialized.

What did materialize though, was a rebranding of the survivalist movement and preparing for adversity, which resulted in an increased acceptance across society. The word “survivalism” was replaced with “prepper,” which turned “survivalists” into “preppers.” That acceptance, while not complete, continued to increase and does so today. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, ushered in a new age of ongoing worry and concern with preparing for adversity. That level of worry and concern is possibly unmatched in the history of preppers.

Media Driven FearAs time passed, the flames of worry and concern continued to be fanned across society by the never-ending 24-hour news cycle. It is this media driven news cycle, which sensationalizes such tragedies as swine flu, avian influenza, Ebola, increased crime, repeated terrorist attacks, financial upheaval, etc., with non-stop round-the-clock coverage. Because of the fear from the sensationalized news stories, many more people are becoming concerned for their future safety and security, and are preparing for adversity. As a result, the prepper ranks continue to swell as it has at no other time in the modern history of prepping.

This increasing population of preppers is further augmented by the explosion of the Internet. With more and more prepper-related websites, blogs, and podcasts becoming accessible, the availability of information is unsurpassed in the history of preppers. This allows for begging preppers to become proficient and prepared within a short period of time. It also serves to further demystify preparedness, increasing society’s acceptance, further increasing the number of people willing to identify themselves as preppers.

This has resulted in a widening definition of what is considered as ʺbeing prepared.ʺ Some preppers consider a few days of food and a family emergency plan to be a satisfactory amount of preparedness. Others, however, desire to have a fallback location ready in the event they need to evacuate their family due to a Hurricane Katrina-like event, or a bigger occurrence. Regardless of the desired amount of preparedness, one fact holds true today, just as it has through the history of prepping: Any preparedness is better than no preparedness.

Lastly, never forget, when preparing for adversity, you’re just one prep away…

If you have any other information, suggestions, or thoughts on the history of prepping, please leave a comment below.

Stay safe, secure and prepared.