Practical Disaster Prepping

The number of Americans who spend some of their household income on disaster preparation doubled to more than 20 million since 2017 and has expanded to include people from all walks of life. Categorizing yourself as a “prepper” isn’t required, and since disaster preparation reduces dependence on municipal resources, it also tends to reduce environmental impact. This has brought together people with very different philosophical and political views, but who share common goals.

Most disaster preparation books/podcasts assume the permanent collapse of civilization and promote a rural fortress retreat with a Rambo arsenal. If civilization ends, that may be the only path, but most people don’t have the resources, time, or level of OCD required. Even if they did, a cataclysmic disaster so extreme it wipes out civilization will also eliminate wipe out the need to worry about preparation for almost all of us. This series is from the new Disaster Prepping for Dummies and focuses on survivable disasters from minor blackouts to events that require some time for society to reboot. These disasters span everything from hurricanes to asteroid impacts, earthquakes to artificial intelligence. In each case, we’ll either stay and figure out how to get by for a while with little or no municipal infrastructure, or we’ll evacuate. Both scenarios are covered with smart, simple, practical steps for those of us who aren’t ready to remodel that abandoned missile silo.

We’ll highlight some simple, inexpensive preparations that will get us by without power, water, and grocery stores for a week. Most of these apply whether we live at the beach, in rural areas or in downtown Houston. Here’s a quick example. Water is one of the most important resources we have and one of the most susceptible to disasters after electricity. It’s easy to forget that water heaters (other than the instant on type) hold 40 gallons or more. If sized correctly to the number of people in a household, a water heater tank should provide enough drinking water for about 10 days (one gallon per person per day). Water heaters have a drain spigot on the bottom of the tank. Make sure yours has a spigot knob or you have a pair of pliers handy to open the valve. It’s also good to drain a little water now and then to flush the sediment that collects at the bottom of the tank.

We’ll also cover strategies that require a little more effort and investment but can get you by longer and more comfortably. This includes leveraging technology, dual-use items that are useful with or without a disaster, and even things that are fun or might be good investments. Disaster Prepping For Dummies also touches on more advanced strategies that move us toward permanent independence from municipal power and water. These include using an RV or vacation cabin as a survival destination and short-term rental.

Dave Stevens

Dave is a retired Navy Commander, F-18 pilot and served as the Strike Operations Officer for the Persian Gulf. He did the TED talk "How Do We Prevent Our Inevitable Extinction," wrote the bestselling Fuzed Trilogy (in development as a TV mini-series) and the newly published Disaster Prepping for Dummies.

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