Most people living in the United States are ill-prepared, or not prepared at all for a major disaster. According to the results of a recent poll, a natural disaster would devastate the majority of the population.
A recent poll conducted by Business Insider partner MSN asked people about their emergency preparedness levels. The results, although not alarming, show just how poorly prepared most of the population is for a natural disaster. After conducting the survey, MSN used machine learning and big data, such as the census, to model how a representative sample of the US would have responded.
According to the poll as reported by Science Alert, only three in ten Americans say they have an emergency preparedness kit, 42 percent of Americans say they’re not at all prepared for a disaster, and 46 percent say they’re only prepared a little. What’s perhaps more troubling, some parts of America are even less prepared than this. In 16 states, 25 percent or fewer residents said they have an emergency preparedness kit. In those same states, almost half of the population said they’re not at all prepared for disaster, while more than 40 percent said they’re a little prepared.
Are you living in a disaster zone? If so, now would be a great time to start preparing for what could happen.
U.S. Disaster Zones: Are You Living In A Place Where Disasters Are Common?
States which tend to be more prone to disasters tend to also be more concerned about natural disasters. The majority of South Carolinians, for example, say they understand the need to prepare for hurricanes and unsurprisingly, South Carolina is one of the most prepared states.
But this isn’t always the case. Families in Washington, DC, which is considered a high-risk area for natural disasters, are the least likely to have an emergency kit or to report being prepared for a disaster. With 2017 being the most costly year on record for disastrous storms, it would behoove those living in DC to prepare.
The New York Times has put together a map showing which areas in the United States were subjected to the most disasters which caused monetary losses by ZIP code between 2002 – 2017.
$150,000 $500,000 $1 million $5 million
This map shows losses verified by the Small Business Administration for disasters in which a presidential disaster declaration was issued. The values of the losses are expressed in 2017 dollars.
The statistics for living in the “red zones” in the above map are not comforting either. About 90 percent of the total losses across the United States occurred in ZIP codes that contain less than 20 percent of the national population, according to an analysis of data from the Small Business Administration. –Ready Nutrition
Although preparedness is becoming more mainstream, many still lack the funds to begin the often daunting process.
A crisis rarely stops with a triggering event. The aftermath can spiral, having the capacity to cripple our normal ways of life. Because of this, it’s important to have a well-rounded approach to our preparedness efforts. –The Prepper’s Blueprint
Consider preparing for the worst. Afterall, it’s always better to have something and never need it, than it is to need something that’s impossible to come by. Especially when considering in recent natural disasters, clean drinking water, which is essential to life, has bee hard to come by.
I’m always prepared for a hurricane, which is the most likely problem I’ll see here in eastern NC. I have food, water, and batteries for the radios and flashlights. That was easy, and it didn’t cost a whole lot.
archivist im in eastern north carolina, about 40 minutes from the coast.Dont know of many preppers around here.
We moved from the Raleigh area about a month ago. The triangle are is turning into Chicago slowly but surely. We moved to the foothills on NC. Had a little flooding further up in the mountains this year but nothing that really effects us.
When I live in the City here in FL just a block from the Tampa Bay, I decided to get away from the coast and to higher ground. Every where south of Orlando is flood zone. I am now up to 47 Ft+ in elevation above sea level, for my residence. Hurricanes and flooding are the most costly. But at least we get a week advanced warning to prepare.. Put everything away and tie everything down. Then Hunker down with all my preps and drink beer and smoke cigars until the storm passes. Then clean up afterwards.
You would be surprised to know how many they actually are in East NC. Many keep it on the low down because of their background.
It has been said that the texture of the planet Earth, as in the sense of a 3d, topographical map, is analogous to the surface of a cue ball.
We are a bio-film.
Noone is prepared for cataclysm, on a planetary scale.
I think, if you were Tom Hanks, on the life raft, you would be sincerely grateful for whatever plastic crap you could have bought off the gas station peg board. But, it would be helpful to know the basis of common useful things if you were to start from square one.
Saying people lack the funds to start getting prepared is not correct. There are choices in life and priorities. People on welfare who get EBT Cards or food stamps still choose between a bag of rice and a bag of chips. Stop making excuses. Start.
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B from CA-
I agree! It’s all about priorities. My neighbors told me they don’t have the extra money to put towards prepping, yet I know they eat out a lot. They have three kids and usually eat fast food, etc. at least once a week, easily spending $50.00 for the whole family. I suggested they cut back on that and they could easily afford $100.00 a month in supplies for food, water, etc.in the event of an emergency. By the look on her face, You’d think I was speaking another language. Typical mentality of Why plan now for something in the future… Sad, but most people think this way. I will never be a burden to the state or our city in an emergency. My family is my responsibility and I plan accordingly.
Low IQ Lazy slobs eat fast food aka: Remanufactured sawdust and unknown pig inner parts. Like what does it take to get up in the AM and make a healthy sandwich lunch for the day? Try carrot sticks instead of chips, and water instead of soda sugar drinks that make you more thirsty.
I don’t think you can buy chips, candy or anything with chocolate in it, or any cooked deli foods with EBT cards. But you can buy steak and lobster if you want to throw on the grill.
Any anybody who steals from me get shot multiple times then thrown into the wood chipper that spits out chum for the gators. Yeah try to bug out to the country then squat on someone else’s land.
This isn’t entirely correct. Faced with a SHTF situation, many people would resort in stealing from those that are prepared. None of them will admit to that. If you pressed them on it, they would simply say “I’ll do what I have to do!”. Guess what that means!
Brian, let any nonpreppers come take something from me and I’ll do what I have to do which is to shoot them. As long as they stay away they get to live. It’s their own responsibility to take care of themselves. No one else will do it for them. I’m prepared for a number of different scenarios. If you don’t prep you’re inept.
I am prepared every month when my wife has her moon time.
Potatoes: Study History. Tactical Tommy Gear. Gucci Tactical toys. A closet full of firearms, etc. These will be of Little Value, might even get you Targeted and Killed?
Potatoes are what you MUST learn to grow, harvest, store.
Ask any Russian that survived Lenin, Stalin, Soviet commie idiocy. ****Potatoes will save your families LIFE.
It takes time to become proficient. LEARN NOW. Time is short.
Chickens: While on travels in Africa, an ak-47 was traded for three chickens. I was told the price later went down to two chickens.
Chickens are valuable to people trying to live in the real world. Not “prepper” hoard up goods, and tactical toy land of the Internet. ****Buy chickens. Keep a small flock.
Book: “The Potato Book”-by Alan Romans
This is a good starting place.
Does anyone have a favorite potato how to grow book?
–Thanks for any info.
In the spring you get some potatoes that are like you want. Cut them in medium pieces, making sure that an eye is on each piece. Hill up a row in your garden and plant the potatoes a foot or so apart and a several inches deep. Water them and then repeat occasionally. Later in the summer, you can dig into the side of the row and pull out a few new potatoes if you want. When the plants start dying down, pull them up and dig through the dirt to make sure you find all the potatoes. Wipe some of the dirt off, but be sure not to damage the skins. Spread them out on the grass and let the dirt dry completely. Then you can put them in a single layer on wooden shelves in an outbuilding. They will be good until the following spring. Make sure they don’t freeze during the winter. My father would hang up a shop light in our building on cold nights.
This is what I remember from my father growing potatoes. The times for planting and harvest will vary depending on your location. They are easy to grow. You can even grow them in buckets, tubs, or barrel halves. Just make sure there is enough drainage so they don’t rot.
Try some now while it’s not life or death.
somewhere i heard that you start with 4 inches of dirt/spuds, like you said. they start with the leaves growing up, then dump another layer of dirt/spuds….give it a few more days, more sprouts, ….another layer of dirt/spuds, until you get to the top..never cover all the leaves from the ground floor……wait a while, and you got a bucket full of spuds. a friend tells me he does it that way, and the yield is pretty damn good.
I see your spud and raise you a sweet…:-)
“According to the FAO, sweet potatoes top the list, yielding 70,000 calories per hectare per day, nearly twice as much as wheat—and far more than that if you use one of several fast-maturing varieties. Jeavons also recommends potatoes, leeks, and parsnips for those looking to maximize calories per acre. (Cassava, a crucial subsistence crop in many developing countries, is less efficient because it takes longer to grow.) In the ideal subsistence farm, Jeavons says, roots and tubers would account for 30 percent of all the land cultivated for food.”
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Sweet potatoes are definitely one of the best to grow. My wife and i have sweet potatoes in our basement that are from two summers ago and still perfectly edible. You can also sprout many sweet potato plants from a single potato. Very productive and not that hard to grow if you have any clue about gardening.
We Love sweet potatoes but they don’t do well in the Northern lattitudes.
Being “prepared” does NOT mean having a second cup of Starbucks Coffee.
Bets are of those that said “Yes I’m prepared” have NO idea what that means, especially if you consider FEMA says 3 days….. What a laugh.
30% have a BOB ???? >>>> what a joke – nooooo way in hell is that an accurate poll of the emergency preparedness in the US …
3% is still high – and that’s counting the toothpaste & lip gloss BOBs for the California earthquakes ….
I’m prepared, I have to be, as disasters in my neck of the woods is
real, varied, and common.
I can drive right up to a disaster happening right now in about 1.5 hours. Very impressive Lava flows.
It was surprising how many of those people were not prepared and are now living in government facilities and off my tax dollars.
Numbers wise something like 800 people or about 2% of the population of the Puna district, are in government facilities, but that 2% has pretty much chewed up all the local disaster resources.
I’m pretty sure if things go bad where I live, It would be months or years before things get restored to “normal”, so I prepare appropriately.
As for potatoes I’m growing them, but I need to find out what is digging them up and eating them, it is not people.
All those fucktards with more money than brains that built their homes on the slopes of an active volcano shouldn’t get a dime of taxpayer’s money. Fuck them, it was their choice, they should be on their own, their loss for their stupidity.
Rellik;
The only thing that does that in the Pacific NW is gophers. Do those shits live in Hawaii as well?
It’s difficult to prepare for a potential unknown event taking place. Whatever it may be don’t look for Uncle Sam to be providing any assistance because the common people just don’t matter any longer and with non warmongering funds the cupboard is empty, what with a new bomb them from space boondoggle needing more trillions to secure total dominance over anyone who might rock the boat USS Tyranny.
I’m letting the gubbermint take care of me.
To paraphrase Bill Clinton, “”It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is….” I guess it depends upon your definition of the word ‘major”.
Deplorable Braveheart – I have people depending on me so I will do what I have to do. The problem is in the numbers since looters can gang up on you.
I’ve been reading up on global solar maximums and minimums. Unlike global warming theories, this phenomena predict colder, wetter weather overall for the Earth. It also predicts more seismic activity and volcanoes. The concept is that the sun experiences longer cycles than the eleven year sunspot cycles. We either have entered a grand solar minimum or are moving toward it. Grain and grass crops are especially vulnerable and these form the backbone of the world food supply. If valid, we would be looking at a cooler sun with a weaker magnetic field. In the northern latitudes, they use polytunnels and choose plants that are more tolerant to cold, wet weather when they are gardening. Unlike most SHTF scenarios, this one sneaks up on us over time.
Brian, I appreciate the thought but I have more than enough bullets for lotters.
No you don’t Sir.
In the real world you will be overrun and die.
World History is full of people that refused to leave, and died. Yes you will likely take at least more than a few to hell with you. But dead is just dead. Don’t die.
If faced with a superior force, armed with military grade weapons,you must break contact. Then RUN. Study the Vietcong. Jews that fled Nazi Germany lived. Those that stayed, were rounded up. Put in camps. Murdered. FEMA at work. You would be advised that the government is there to serve themselves. (FYI: Study WalMart Sam Waltons background. Camps! Go to YouTube)
Never go to a camp. Not Nazi or FEMA.
Never stand toe to toe with a superior force.
NOTE: Your Small Arms are next to USELESS against Military Grade weapons, Air Power, Tanks, Artillary, US Army gas agents. These are the Looters you would face.
Buy yourself and loved ones a gas mask or two. More filters than you can afford. Them prepare to RUN for you lives when things go bad. RUN. Hide. Live.
The Looters will be in Military/Police Uniforms. Looters will be from FEMA, and “there to disarm and help you.” That is the real world.
Let’s see if this post makes censorship? Notice how few and sedate post are on this site now days? Censorship is EVERYWHERE. No free speech zone USA. Are they Ghosted by admin? Or has government already Rounded them up? What ever happened to the serial poster nut job from Houston? He is insane but quite entertaining. And YES. He was correct about CHINA having camps in Arizona and Texas. Seen them. Maybe that is what “Jade Helm” was about? To eradicate? Question is who? China? or You?
Coastal SC here always prepared for hurricanes among other natural and manmade disasters!!! BE PREPARED. great slogan from a once great organization BSA
BSA WAS great? as a boy scout leader, i know we are STILL great. we are america’s children’s last great hope. in the last two months i have taught first-aid, emergency preparedness, and cycling merit badges…..no, sir, i KNOW we are great.
Having your mind right and working smartly is the best prep you can make.
I live in Houston TX and can verify that virtually ZERO people here are prepared for a major disaster! Their idea of “prepared” is a tank of gas in the car! You saw what that brought back when the major evacuation was undertaken during that hurricane. More people died from the evacuation than would have died if they all stayed home! Note that in all three cases of the major hurricanes here it took the ENTIRE capabilities of the FEMA system to “handle” the problem. Even then many people were stranded sleeping in their cars with no food or bathroom facilities. We’re screwed if anything happens that is more than local. You will call FEMA and get a busy signal! Or an “out of service” message!