You have no control over when, where or how disaster strikes. The only thing you can control is how prepared you will be when that time comes. Don’t think you have need for worry? Think again.

• A CBS news study released in July of 2013 showed that a full 80% of Americans faced the possibility of unemployment and near-poverty. Imagine the impact on 8 out of 10 citizens in an emergency survival situation if they are already staring crisis in the face.  If that is the situation in the world’s wealthiest society, imagine how bad it will be for you if disaster strikes when you are traveling abroad. On the positive side, there are more than 2,800 organizations in the United States alone that support emergency preparedness. And the same is true in most modern countries as well.

• When you receive a hurricane warning, you do not have much time to get out of its path. The hurricane warning designation means conditions are perfect for a hurricane to strike your area within the next 36 hours. If you are not already prepared with bug out bags or hurricane survival kits, emergency food, water and portable shelter for your family when you receive a hurricane warning, it is probably too late to do a lot about it. Check out How To Survive A Hurricane for more information.

• If you are in an area which is prone to earthquakes, you know how devastating they can be. Aside from small tremors in some cases, there is usually no warning when an earthquake strikes. Don’t think an earthquake is a problem where you live? In 2014 there were a total of 1,733 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.0 or higher. That means that every week there were 33 earthquakes striking somewhere in the world.

• In just the United States, there have been 917 tornadoes reported in 2015 thus far. Tornadoes strike with almost no warning, and in 2013 55 people were killed by a tornado in the United States, and thousands faced instant emergency survival situations.

• Floods are one of nature’s most frequent and expensive natural disasters. Flash floods can strike instantly, devastating low-lying areas. In this emergency situation, you may have to leave home immediately. Between June and August of 2010, flooding in China directly impacted 230 million people. More than 15 million people had to be evacuated, and thousands did not survive the encounter.

• A pandemic describes a global outbreak of disease. Between April of 2009 and April 2010, the Centers for Disease Control in the United States estimated that anywhere from 40 million to 89 million people contracted H1N1 (swine flu). It is also estimated that 8,000 to 18,000 deaths during that period were directly related to contracting the disease.
• Heading into 2014, earthquakes, tornadoes, heat waves, floods and all other natural catastrophes caused $85 billion worth of damage annually, displacing millions. And those figures do not include the impact of disease, political unrest or global terrorism. It pays to be prepared.

 

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