I'm probably a very bad prepper. My plans are to prepare for the things that are most likely to happen & actually affect me. Those include but are not limited to blizzards, tornados, power outages, job loss/personal economic issues and recessions. I don't much plan for "black swan" events, ie things that are possible and certainly do occur on long enough time scales but are unlikely in any given year/generation/lifetime. Those include but aren't limited to civil war, supervolcano, giant asteroid, full scale nuclear exchange, super-powered EMP, etc. The black swans are extremely rare so the odds of them occurring in my lifetime are relatively low, and also so devastating that no preparation on my part will significantly improve my odds for survival.

This may seem trivial; one of my concerns is losing the Internet. We have no power. Maybe something else happened. In any case, we lost communication. I realize there's nothing we can do about that other than to hopefully find an alternate means of communication.

Jeanette Isabelle

Yeah, we take it for granted! I use the internet all day every day, for work and for entertainment. The only shows I watch are on Netflix, Hulu, YouTube or Amazon. There are several people, including family members, that I primarily keep in touch with via email or Skype. Lack of communications would be more disconcerting in a 'grid down' situation than most other concerns. If it's cold I have heavy cloths and sleeping bags. Without power I still have gas stoves, flashlights, etc. But without communications you're cut off from the outside world, and even from those just miles away.

I have some Baofeng radios but the range is naturally pretty limited. Eventually I'd like to get into proper HAM radio.

Most of my family lives in Texas. My sister Brittany does not prep. However, she is married. Therefore, she at least has someone there in the event communications are down. That is unless my brother in law is away on a business trip.

My youngest sister has limited house preps; no car preps. I'm most concerned about her because she lives alone and her long commute to work is through southeast Dallas county where there are miles of nothing. She does not have the luxury of pulling into a gas station or store if something goes wrong. If communications are down or experience temporary chaos, she would be venerable.

Thank God for our elderly neighbor across the street whom we have known since we moved to that house in 1989. [My youngest sister owns the house we grew up in.] Our neighbor would only be of help if my sister were at home and not on the road.

You mentioned getting a ham radio. That will only work if every person I need to communicate with has a ham radio. If even one person has a ham radio, that's enough of a reason to get one. If one sister only preps a little and the other not at all, what are the odds of either getting a ham radio?

I may talk a lot about Mom and I being ready for a big event and what we do to get prepared; my biggest concern is something I don't talk about much and that is our other family members.

Jeanette Isabelle

All you can really do for family is keep them informed (lead the horse to water), but they need to take action on their own (drink). People set their own priorities and unless they see a need that’s higher than other needs, they won’t do anything.

Some people need to feel pain before they’ll recognize a threat. Unfortunately, being able to buy stuff on credit and the “just-in-time” mindset has put a lot of folks in a bad place if something catastrophic were to occur.

I tend to think 'situational' in that what I may have to deal with with will be local and/or short term. Such as storms, electrical outage, accidents, flood, etc. I am a bit generic in what I prepare to face but it generally covers most likely situations I would expect to have happen to me and mine with ways to cope. Also, short-term may be defined several ways but I think it means for me is really short (a day or less) but can stretch into a week or so.

For something long-term I would have to adapt and try to cope as it developed and build from the initial ability / resources I have and likely relocate or 'bug out' as it's said. Each situation would evolve and I would have to do so also. I try to think of versatility when selecting ways to prepare and cope with less then optimal conditions.

As for communications - I got into ham radio and think of it as an additional tool not a solution. If I have a ham radio connection, I can then get that connection to relay a message to the "other end" so who ever I am reaching out to doesn't necessarily have to have a ham radio too. It can also be used to connect with others for help or support. There are also techniques for using amateur radio (ham) to connect to the internet, send texts and email as well as other data while also connecting with voice and code. Heck, there are even smart phone apps that let you connect to a home base and run it from where ever you are. US Emergency Management traditionally supports and works with hams in such situations too.

So, my biggest concern is really more about me being able to rise to the occasion and properly deal with the unexpected. Hopefully I will have the right training/knowledge with the proper tools be able to deal with the situation I find myself in.

Paul -

Living in SoCal, it is no surprise that my concerns involve wild fires and earthquakes, possibly accompanied by a tsunami. At least I don't bother with hurricanes and tornadoes.

Mrs. Hikermor and i have a well developed evacuation plan (tested twice and implemented once) for wild fires. People, pets, and important papers and photos are the priorities. The rest is covered by insurance.

When a really big tremor hits us, we will most likely shelter in place. I have lots of outdoor gear - stoves, sleeping bags, tents and shelters, etc.,so that should be feasible if the home is damaged or uninhabitable. I have solar capability to recharge phones and lights. over the years, i have gotten completely away from the traditional white gas powered lanterns and stoves which I used in my younger days. A lot of this stuff is stored outside the house.

So what happens when a fire follows a devastating EQ (Think Frisco 1906). That is where improvisation and clear thinking will be necessary, as will be the case in some entirely unanticipated event, of which there could be many.

First aid material is well distributed though the home, vehicles,and back apcks. I have lots of emergency medical experience,but I really shoud refresh my training. In any significant situation, assistance will not be immediately forthcoming.

I have taken the local CERT course, but the administration of the program is basically a joke. It has been described as "catch and release." CERT has never been activated or utilized locally.