Different parts of the country experience different disaster scenarios - the west coast has earthquakes, the southwest has wildfires, the norhtern states have blizzards, the midwest has tornadoes, the southeast has hurricanes, etc. Then there are general problems like getting lost on a road trip or having a vehicular malfunction.

Each of these problems requires some incident-specific gear and supplies in a home, vehicle, or portable PSK and FAK.

So, inspired by mrwilmoth's EDC thread, which I found a lot of fun and very informative, here's a new topc: What are your most likely SHTF situations, and what gear and supplies do you have in your various kits and BOBs to tailor them to those situations?

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I'll start with mine:

In Maryland our disaster scenarios are fewer and farther between than in other parts of the country, and they're mostly weather-related.

Storms
In my part of the state, around the city of Baltimore, we sometimes have heavy storms that bring wind and rain, only occasionally getting rough enough to produce tornadoes. The most common damage caused by these storms is power outages from downed lines, and flooding from backed up storm drains, both of which are fairly short-term problems that usually last less than 3 days. The last hurricane to directly hit us caused a lot of flooding in low areas from storm surge, and lots of power outages, but my power stayed out less than 12 hours and I never lost water and had no trouble getting out of my building and complex.

I'm on high ground, and in a 3rd floor apartment, so I don't have to worry about flooding, but for extended power outages I keep flashlights, candles, a portable TV, and plenty of extra batteries. I also keep a few gallons of bottled water in case of water main breaks (a possibility even in non-disaster times), some canned foods like soups and beans, and a sterno-fueled mini-stove to heat them.

Snow
Winter sometimes brings heavy snowstorms to Baltimore. In this part of the country, any snow accumulation greater than 18" is commonly called a "blizzard" (even though it's not, it's just a heavy snowfall,) and effectively shuts down the city for at least a day, sometimes 2-3.

Again, the most likely problems I would experience from these storms would be power loss from downed lines, water loss from frozen mains, and inability to get out of my complex for a while until the roads and my parking lot get plowed, and I dig out my truck (no, I don't have 4wd.) But the worst storm we've had in my lifetime left me stuck in my apartment for a grand total of 36 hours, and I didn't even lose power or water. However, if I had, the same stuff I listed above would come into play, along with some extra blankets and clothing.

Big freeze
Here is where I take my biggest risk - everything in my apartment is electric, so if power goes out I not only lose lights, I also lose my heat and my kitchen stove. But I DESPISE kerosene heaters and refuse to own one (my brother is a firefighter and has many horror stories about "safe" kerosene heaters burning homes to the ground and killing people), so if I lose power for an extended time in cold weather, I will have to rely on clothing and blankets for warmth until I can get out. Again, roads around here are typically clear within 24 hours of even a major snow storm, and I can always dig out my truck and sit in it for a while to warm up, even if I can't get it out of the lot (yes, I know to make sure the exhaust pipe is completely clear to avoid exhaust gas build-up inside the vehicle.)

Accidental Man-made disasters
Baltimore has had a few major fires, water main breaks, and chemical leaks over the years that have caused isolated neighborhoods to be evacuated and closed off; these incidents also affected me only slightly (mostly by traffic disruption), but would affect me more if they were closer. In the event of an evacuation, I will simply grab my laptop bag and, if I have time, pack a bag with some clothing and personal items not found in a survival BOB and head out for my parents or a friends house till the crisis passes.

Deliberate Man-made disasters
I live and work far enough from the city center of Baltimore that any terror attacks or civil unrest will most likely not directly affect me except to make it difficult to get to my parents, who live on the other side of town. And anything that happens in D.C. would barely affect me at all, except for the irrational panic that inevitably sets in during times of crisis; 9/11 hit D.C. pretty hard but I was not affected much at all by any of the direct consequenses that day.

A terror attack would most likely occur in the downtoan area, almost 20 miles from me, so my best preparation is to stay where I am and not panic. The idea of a riot or terror attack in Cockeysville is ludicrous, to say the least.

However, the idea of a workplace shooting is not. Again, this is an area where I choose to incur greater risk by not preparing as much - I know my workplace well enough to know potential hiding spots and evac routes, and I know how to lock the main door to our office space. But if I got trapped by a lunatic with a gun (likely since my office space has only one door) and had no other choice but to defend myself, my options are severly limited. "Weapons" are forbidden in our workplace, so the only weapons I could improvise would be workplace sharps such as scissors and Xactos, plus the big kitchen knife I keep in my desk for bagels and birthday cakes, and any heavy object I could use as a club or missile like a computer, book, full bottle of water, etc.

Road trip
I don't travel much, and when I do it's usually not far from home. I am in the process of putting together a complrehensive PSK for my truck in case I do somehow stray into the wilds and have a breakdown, but mostly I keep a FAK, some bottled water, and a few tools in my truck to supplement my EDC tools and flashlight.

Well, that's about it for my SHTF scenarios and prep. What are yours?

I live in a large urban area so these would be mine:

1.) Terror attacks
2.) Black-Outs
3.) Earthquakes: not likely but you never know
4.) Blizzards

I've lived through most of these and have gotten by with these absolute basics:

1.) Pair of sneakers/comfort shoes: In urban (NYC) shtf scenarios you must absolutely walk home. No busses, no trains, and no cars (street light power failures will have you sitting in your car for hours and hours)- cars jammed for miles.

2.) Flashlight: If you walk home in a black out or after-dark terror scenario, street light will not be working. A flashlight is indespensible. Flashlight and LED micro light too.

3.) Portable Radio: This is of MAJOR importance. We live in the days of iPods, which have no radio. A radio will allow you to hear what's going on if you are in the middle of the street and can't get on the subway or into your place of business. Radio, radio, radio.

4.) Charged cell phone

Good thoughts.

I am in very similar circumstances to you, except MUCH farther from the ocean, and the chance of a big storm like a hurricane is very remote (been over 50 years since one got this far inland). Should be adequate warning time.

However, I am on the tip of a tornado belt, but they have never quite made it to my street! The nature of local tornadoes is they form and dissipate extremely rapidly, there will be no warning. I have no defense except to keep my eyes open.

For winter stuff, I have lots of propane and propane camping appliances, as well as stored water/food/etc. Can use relatively safely inside with fresh air. Gas heating, which may work when the power's off (not the fan)...I hate to admit I don't really know, your post made me think of that. This winter stuff is by far the most likely urban survival scenario for me.

It's not so bad when power fails in the summer, it may be unpleasant but not very threatening (to me). My friends think I'm nuts, but for me it's like an impromptu camping trip... We are geared up for this one!

Now the biggie. There is a nuclear plant (actually, 2 of them) maybe 4 miles away. And another maybe 20 miles away. They use a different tech than U.S. plants, so they won't melt down in the traditional sense, nor "explode". What they will do is release a very radioactive cloud, and the danger zone will depend on the wind. The local plan is evacuation, but there are just so many problems with that, besides that there's no way to know exactly which way is best to go until the time it happens, and that may change as the wind does. Road capacity is already stretched in normal times, never mind when everybody wants to use them at once. Again, tough to make personal plans for this one, except to have the BOBs ready. Battery (weather) radios to keep abreast, assume all power will be out, will have to wing it. For evacuation, very fast response will be paramount to beat the crowds. Since this sort of emergency has never happened at one of this type of nuclear facility, nobody knows exactly what will happen, they just think they do...

A real good thing is to always keep the "escape vehicle" gas tank as full as possible. Running may be the best strategy for the more serious situations around here. You do not want to have to compete for gas when everyone in an urban area needs it at once.

I assume we are talking about specifics here, so I'll go in order of likelihood - and I'm thinking SHTF is REALLY serious, so I'm leaving out normal nasties:

1) Monster Winter Storm
2) Tornado
3) Flood
4) Nuclear power plant accident

I'm not ranking it, but an extended energy outage, such as gas, NG or electricity, would make for some pretty nasty living conditions in the winter. And it would be certainly uncomfortable in the 95 deg. F/70% humidity Illinois summers.

I'm even less concerned about any sort of attack, as there really isn't a ton of critical infrastructure or high-value targets in my area other than the nukes.

I haven't tailored anything, other than leaning heavily toward "winter storm" scenarios to make sure we have plenty of food and water on hand in case things freeze up and we can't get to a store (or they are cleaned out due to delivery issues). For floods I should probably consider keeping some water and gear in upstairs and maybe get an inflatable boat. But where I live there hasn't been a flood in 50 years since the Army Corp of Engineers built a dam system. This year was scary though - we had some rains that pushed it to capacity... and they are 50 years old.

As for the vehicle situations, I rarely consider those "SHTF", but maybe I should rethink that for a winter scenario. I do carry quite a bit of supplies and I beef them up regularly.

I carry quite a bit EDC, including a man-bag that goes with me pretty much everywhere. And my vehicles are loaded up fairly well - but this reminds me to get some MREs for the car-packs.

Interesting Topic,

Where I am in Northern Ontario the winter weather is my biggest problem. I do not believe that my forced air gas furnace would run without electricity (no fan or ignition) so that means I would need auxillary heat or a generator to run the furnace.

It would be easy to convince my wife that we need a nice propane fireplace in the living room but a generator would be a tougher sell; she would see it as another toy for me to use in the bush.

We could "hole-up" at home for a long time if we had heat, but I really need to work on my family BOB as it is sadly lacking.

Mike

P.S. We did have a moderate earthquake here at 6.30am JANUARY 1, 2000, that millennium shaker sure woke everyone up, last one was in 1935!

Since power failures in the winter seems to be a common scenario so far, anybody know if there's a way to keep a natural gas furnace safely going without power? The fan wouldn't work, but at least it would be something. You could light it manually, and then with the battery-powered thermostat set high, would it keep fired up? I should know this. The worst/longest winter power outage we had, I was not at my home (big ice storm) and forget what we did, besides cooking in the fireplace. Thanks.

[Edit: maybe this should be a different thread in the campfire section?]

My plans are for (in order of most to least likely):

1. Accident in the woods
I think this is my most likely cause for alarm. The hazards I face include abandonned oil wells, alligators, poisonous snakes, feral hogs and injuries like broken bones.
My precautions include giving DW detailed travel plans and carrying the proper gear/clothing. I also practice many bushcrafting skills (edible plants, fire making, etc...).

2. Hurricanes
Houston is due for another big one. Precautions include custom window covers, plenty of food/water/batteries, emergency power sources, great neighbors.

3. Flooding
Our house is in a 500-yr flood zone. We have insurance and a written plan on what to do if flooding occurs.

4. Tornado
We are screwed.

5. Power outage
Battery powered tv, radios, backup power supplies for fans.

6. Stranded while travelling (local)
Flooding can trap me at work or DW while she's out and about with the kids. Both cars are stocked with food, snacks, tools, mess kits, personal hygine kits, maps, etc...
In my office I have assorted supplies stocked away to make an overnight stay in my office comfortable.

7. Stranded while travelling (USA)
When travelling dosmestically for work I carry maps of the area along with a country map. Thanks to Wildman, I have built a "scrounger's tool kit" along with my "Get Me Home Gear" which includes a small radio, flashlight, rope, knife, first aid kit, AMK heatsheet, etc...

8. Stranded while travelling (international)
Maps, phrasebook, addresses & phone numbers of American consulates, money, anti-diahrrea meds, water purification tablets plus scrounger and GMHG kits (except for knife when in Mexico).

9. Riots
Good neighbors, respectable firepower, plenty of poison ivy

10. Terrorist attack
Small to zero chance of being caught in the attack. Economic downturn is biggest worry. Living debt-free except for mortage, have saved up good emergency slush-fund to get us through. Food harvested from garden and assorted edible landscaping.

-Blast

I looked at my own furnace a couple years ago and after the power enters it it goes to a relay for the fan and into a 24v transformer. It seems that all the control circuitry in it is 24v so it could easily be battery powered. I thought about maybe a smaller 24v secondary fan mounted below the main fan might get some airflow, then if you added in a duct valve or two you could run a while from battery.

Living in SoCal the most likely scenarios would be earthquake and wildfire. I keep backpacks in all my vehicles with some bottled water, power bars, extra clothing, FAK, TP, tools, flashlight, etc. I keep a bunch of earthquake bug-in supplies at the house. Then I always have my EDC - cell phone, knives, lights, etc.

It's hard to get the rest of the family to take it too seriously, but they at least EDC cell phones and lights, and they know where the kits are.

Kevin B.

^ Thanks, it's starting to come back to me. I actually did the wiring for the electrics on my furnace...it was 20+ years ago and the memory ain't getting any better...

IIRC there's a 24V-operated gas valve in there. It needs to have power to stay open (partly a safety feature). I can manually switch the fan off, so yeah, getting 24VAC to the furnace at the right place at a minimum would be needed to keep it going. With the fan switched off, perhaps even a 12V (car) battery connected to a smallish inverter whose output is jury-rigged to the (isolated) 120VAC furnace input could work.

I am comfortable working with electric stuff, it's my job (but furnaces aren't!), so I can do things relatively safely, please ignore this stuff if you don't follow it exactly. You obviously shouldn't screw with gas furnaces ever, but in a serious emergency it's good to know an option...