I was having a talk with my girlfriend at lunch yesterday and she pulled out the stash of cash she feels she still must have on hand all the time. She tells me that in her early days, when she was involved with a man she wasn't always comfortable with, she prepared for the day when the relationship would go very bad. She always made sure she enough cash to get to the next state. I'm sure a lot of women see a few more hazards around the house than men might.

This raised the exact same question in my mind that you asked. I live where I have already seen a 100 year storm and came through unscathed, where there is relatively little risk of quakes, 0% chance of hurricanes, extremely small to zero chance of a tornado, brush fire, and so on. A dam burst up river could wipe out much of the local infrastructure but I would be safe where I live at least in the short term.

I believe my biggest risk in the desert Southwest is a long-term failure of electricity or of the water utilities -- especially during the summer. I have some water stored away now but will probably increase that before next summer. I'm not really that worried about it though.

Of course there is always the random act of crime or a lightning strike....