I look at it this way. Being prepared for a major disaster prepares you also for myriads of smaller problems.

My pocket knife will probably never save my life, but it will open thousands of boxes. I'll probably never need my EDC flashlight to get out of a building after a power failure, but I often need to look for something under a desk or in an unlit closet.

It is seldom a difference between survival and not, but rather a difference between major and minor inconvenience. It just turns out that many of the things that make major inconveniences minor ones also can make life threatening situations less so.