A lot of people go through life assuming emergencies are for other households, right, like bad weather, power cuts, car trouble, supply shortages, and random inconvenient disasters only ever happen to people on the news or somebody’s cousin three towns over. You know, things and situations like that. It’s not like they’ll ever happen to you, right? Well, people who think things will never happen to them typically won’t bother doing any preparation for protecting their home from natural disasters. Chances are, there’s no first aid kit, no flashlight, no batteries for a flashlight, probably no power brick to charge a phone, just nothing in case of an emergency.
And that’s the thing, being prepared has somehow picked up this really silly reputation, like the second somebody mentions emergency supplies, people start acting like it means building a bunker and hoarding a bunch of canned food. Sure, some people are like that, but it’s not like you need to be. But you and your family, well, your home in its entirety needs to be better prepped for the unexpected.
Unfortunately, plenty of unexpected events have already happened, so chances are high that it’s going to happen to you. So, here’s how to prep.
Most Families are Pretty Underprepared
And it’s true, because loads of perfectly normal families are just winging it. Basically, there’s this whole “surely nothing too annoying will happen tonight” or “will never happen to me” that’s usually the thinking here. But things just happen, sometimes there’s warnings, days in advance, sometimes it’s just out of the blue.
But yeah, it’s true, though, because some homes really are out here with one half-used box of painkillers, a dead flashlight shoved in a drawer, and a couple of mystery batteries rolling around at the back of a cupboard, and apparently that’s the emergency setup. Actually, same with the car. As in, there’s no blanket, no charger, no water, no jumper cables, no little medical kit, no snacks, nothing. Just pure optimism and the belief that every journey will go exactly to plan, which is very bold.
It’s seriously a horrible way of thinking, bad stories that happen on the news to people, well, those things can happen to you too.
It’s Not About Thinking of Doomsday
Well, there’s a huge gap between sensible and extreme, and people really do need to calm down about that. Keeping a few practical things on hand doesn’t mean someone’s expecting civilisation to collapse, and yes, some people are maybe a little too prepared for something as ridiculous as that. However, this does actually mean just not making a very stressful situation worse because you weren’t prepared.
But you only really need a proper home kit, like working batteries, maybe solar batteries if you have solar panels (so if power goes out, you have backup power), shelf-stable food, medications, pet supplies, bottled water, copies of important documents, a first aid kit, and most of these things don’t even cost that much either. You just never know what could happen to you, and you just need to be prepared.
The Boring Stuff is Usually the Stuff that Saves the Day
Again, no bunker is needed; months upon months of food with a 20-year expiration date aren’t needed either. Instead, you just need to think realistically about what could happen to you and your family and how these things can be prevented; that’s literally it.
