By Brian Duff How to start prepping is a question that many have asked, and many more will ask. It is an important question, because disaster can strike anywhere and at any time. Whether it is a natural or manmade disaster, everyone should be prepared for the worst. As Zig Ziglar stated, “Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.” Step 1: What Do You Have to Protect? The first step when deciding how to start prepping is to identify what you’re protecting. You may be protecting your family, friends, home, supplies, a combination of them all, or something else entirely. Whatever it is, that is now your mission. Step 2: What Do You Have to Protect It From? With step one decided upon, you now need to know what you’re protecting it from. Disasters, both manmade and natural, take on many different forms. Therefore, you will want to consider what problem you are most likely to encounter. If you live in the mountains, it’s doubtful you’ll experience a major hurricane. However, you may experience floods, blizzards, and wild fires. Manmade Disasters Don’t forget to also incorporate manmade disasters. Economic downturns, terrorism, and other such events, while not from Mother Nature, can be incredibly disastrous. One only needs to read the government’s report on EMPs to understand how terrible manmade events can be. Don’t Get Tunnel Vision While the big events, such as EMPs, are in some ways entertaining to plan for, they are not the norm. Normal events are the lesser but often impactful events. For example, losing your car to a 100-year flood has the same effect as losing it to a thief. Which one is more likely to happen? Step 3: What Do You Have to Protect It With? Now, you’ll need to identify what you must use to protect it. If you’re protecting your home from thieves, you can install an alarm, get a dog, etc. This will require you to assess your situation, and formulate possible scenarios with appropriate responses. As you do, you’ll determine if you have what is needed to respond to the threat. Step 4: Create Your Plan Once you have the first three steps figured out, you’ll be able to develop your plan. One obvious fact is that it’s important to make your plan before you need it. Planning after the fact does little good for you or your family. Know What You’re Planning For Prior to planning, you will need to have a general idea of what you are planning for. That’s where the first three steps come in. With that general idea in place, you have an understanding of your plan’s requirements. Fill in Your Plan With that understanding, you will need to gather any additional information that is relevant to your plan. Once that information is ready, you’ll be able to fill in the holes of your plan. Then gradually, your preparedness plan will take shape. As it does, you’ll address any other issues you identify along the way. Step 5: Review Your Plan When you think your plan is ready, review it. Look for areas that may not make sense, that may be confusing, or that may be ineffective. Revisit those areas that you identify and take a swipe at revising them. Bring in Others After a few reviews, your plan should be fairly solid and ready for others you trust to review too. Have them, review your plan and provide constructive feedback. Discussing and debating the plan and potential options together is a great way to improve it. Have a Realistic Point of View When reviewing the plan, make sure you do so from a realistic point of view. Far too often, we believe that something will happen in a specific way, regardless of the situation. The truth is, you need to expect the unexpected and prepare for the impossible. Do Not Assume In other words, there should be no assumptions made about the capabilities of the risk you are facing. A bad guy can scale the wall you thought impossible. A fire can jump the break you cut and thought wide enough. Remember, Murphy is always waiting to jack you up! So, don’t assume your situation will always unfold the way you think it will. Lastly, never forget, you’re just one prep away. If you have any other information, suggestions, or thoughts about how to start prepping, please leave a comment below. Stay safe, secure and prepared.
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By Brian Duff 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. |
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