Everywhere on planet Earth there are potential hazards, either natural or man made. Learn them and prepare/take precautions, which is what we are attempting to accomplish on ETS. The more knowledgeable you are concerning the hazard profile of your surroundings, the better you can prepare for problems.

I must say that I am glad for all the first aid/emergency services training I have received over the years. I have been able to apply it to perfect strangers, good friends, members of my immediate family, and myself. That goes as well for all the safety training I have endured - it actually did cause me to behave in ways that were better. I took risks from time to time, but I was usually aware of the costs and rewards involved.

This being the 11th of September, we all realize that trouble can rear its head even in what one would consider to be very safe environments. The best one can do is prepare for life's little glitches, and endeavor to act honorably and appropriately when the bell rings

In other words, stay away from Mona Island.

Jeanette Isabelle

At some point, one has to realize that there are very bad things that can happen that you can control and/or prepare for, and very bad things that can happen that you can't control and/or prepare for. At the end of the day, prepare for what you can, and those things you can't control and prepare for---simply stop worrying, as it is a useless waste of energy and will make your life miserable. Wisdom is knowing the difference between the two.

As Hikermor said, the purpose of this forum is preparation. In any area or situation you can understand the threat and mitigate it by being prepared. Whether it is through choice of where to construct a house, how to construct it, what to store in it, how to get out of it, preparing is possible and advisable for all situation. Except major asteroid impact, that one is a doozy.

Why not prepare for a meteor?

Jeanette Isabelle

Well said, sir.

Preppers are at their best when they are reaching out to help other, less prepared people. Developing policy to reduce the impact of natural disasters is beyond the scope of this forum, and the policy makers are doing a pretty good job already: more people die of suicide in one year than have been killed in natural disasters in the past century:
Suicides
Natural disasters

We have lots of agencies working to mitigate disasters, generating lots of unintended consequences. Our role is to be the person who has the FAK and the energy bar when someone else is hurt and hungry.

Jeanette

NASA has been very conscientious in looking for large meteorites - the kind shown in the Bruce Willis movie Armageddon. There are no space rocks close to Earth that are likely to surprise us in this way .. .real planet killers. Hopefully if one is discovered, there will be enough time to find a way to destroy it i.e. put out a call for real Bruce Willis volunteers :-) This type of scenario is not something that could happen "next week" or "next year". There would be a lot of time before the impact.

Smaller space rocks are a threat. It's just a game of rolling the dice. I studied this in detail about 10-15 years ago. We do not have a good map of all the smaller rocks. I am talking about rocks that are about the size of 50-100% of the length of a football field. These rocks will not destroy Earth, but they could "nuke" a whole city. However, since planet Earth is 70% water, the chances are pretty good they will hit the ocean. That will create a whopping big tidal wave for any country near the impact point. You can bet, though, that the military would try to destroy an approaching space meterorite with rocket - and the chances are probably good for some reduction in risk (not perfect).

So ... really we just worry about the disasters near us.
I thought that Floridians handled Irma really well. I hope that Californians (or Oregonions) will handle the next major quake just as calmly ... although I have some doubts about some people in L.A. :-) Anyway, we can only worry about our own neighborhood.

GEEZER IN CHIEF said ...
"This being the 11th of September, we all realize that trouble can rear its head even in what one would consider to be very safe environments. The best one can do is prepare for life's little glitches, and endeavor to act honorably and appropriately when the bell rings."

Amen to that!

You can not prepare for a direct hit by a meteor, except by living in a deep shelter all the time.
A near miss is of little consequence for a small meteor, one landed in Russia relatively recently without any very serious consequences.
As for a large meteor or an asteroid, impact by such could have widespread results in terms of damage to infrastructure and utilities. I am not aware of any SPECIFIC preps for such an event, but general disaster preps would be helpful.

Likewise aside from general preps there's no way to predict months and years ahead of time where an metorite/astroid could strike, especially a small one that may not even have been detected. For example there was no advance warning of the Russian impact captured on so many dash cams. It simply wasn't seen, perhaps not large enough to detect, until it began to burn in the atmosphere.

Well I would build a home or business in most of those locations,provided that the structure was designed for the foreseeable hazards of the area.

Flood plain----yes provided that the structure was elevated above the worst foreseeable flood level.
Earthquake area-----certainly provided that the building exceeded building code requirements for earthquake resistance.
Wild fire risk area-----maybe if of fire resisting construction and with fire fighting equipment to hand.
Terrorist attack risk-----probably unless the risk was IMO extreme, terrorists could strike almost anywhere.
In or near a caldera such as Yellowstone------Avoid as no reliable defence against that sort of thing.
Drought or heatwave risk area-----possibly with proper precautions such as designing for water storage and minimising the need for cooling. However I dislike the heat and prefer cold conditions to hot.
Blizzard risk area----yes with suitable construction to resist wind and snow loading, and off grid heating, cooking and lighting arrangements.
Tick and mosquito risk----probably avoid, defence is harder than it sounds.
Rural areas---fine despite being remote from healthcare etc, learn first aid, keep a stock of medical supplies, seek telephone or radio advice in an emergency.
Urban areas----Avoid, but NOT due to "everyday crime" more a fear that cities could quickly become killing zones in any major TEOTWAWKI situation.

As well as general preps, I would of course keep large stocks of supplies specific to the local risks, fuel, blankets and warm clothing in cold places for example.