I've been thinking about this for a while. I did a web search, and didn't really come up with anything, so I thought I'd just think through it on paper and see what I come up with.
The first thing, I suppose is to think of scenarios where you would shelter in, or perhaps SHTF faster than you expected and there's no time to bug out.
If we had to bug out, and had time, we know what to do. We have individual bug out bags for each member of the family, and a family one that holds cooking supplies, pet supplies, etc. We also have a plan on where to meet if the house is not safe. Time allowing, we also have camping supplies all in the same place in case we have time to grab it. I have our bug out bags in just back packs, but we have frame packs for each member of the family, too. We have a cat and a dog, so I know where the leash is, and a carrier for the cat. They're family members, too, and I won't leave them behind.
But what if it comes on so suddenly that we don't have time to leave? What can I do to make my home safer?
The first scenario I could think of in my neighborhood is rioting because EBT cards crashed. I live in a fairly bad neighborhood. I just got new windows that are double paned. They're supposed to handle a thrown brick. Also, supposedly, the first one would break and the second would remain intact. We do need a new door, I don't know just how sturdy it is. We have a chain on the screen door, which would slow someone down long enough for me to get armed. We don't have a lot of contact with our neighbors, so no one knows we're prepping. It won't be a case of no one can get food, let's go to that house because we know they have lots. We have extra doors (mostly in the attic space above the garage for storage floors) that we can put over the windows in case they do get broken. We have lots of brackets and hardware that we could improvise a barred door for the front. We have an old fashioned lock on the garage door, that would mean they would actually have to break in the door.
Which brings me to my store of food. If we can't get out to get to a store, or the stores run out of food, we have about 3 months worth of planned meals, and then it's whatever is left. I mean, I can survive on a number 10 can of green beans for lunch if I had to. If it's just rioting, there may still be power, so cooking wouldn't be a problem.
And having a store of food leads into the next scenario. Economic collapse or hyper inflation. If prices just sky rocketed, and we had to make a choice between buying groceries or paying our bills, we could eat. If it's a case of a slow rise, banks will be foreclosing on non-payment of loans, vehicles will be repossessed for non-payment, etc. So we need to make sure those payments are made. If we lose things like EBT, SSI, Social Security, etc., there will be a lot of people affected. I've got a budget page in my budget book on just that scenario. Right now we have my husband's income, my oldest son's SSI (due to be permanently disabled) and my husband's military retirement. I've worked up a budget relying solely on a 40 hour check. If it's a sudden and total collapse, I don't think they can come for every one's stuff. I know in my head that the closer you are to being debt free, the better. But I'm not going to lie, I have debt. We are underwater on our mortgage and are making 2 car payments, and have about $3,000 on a credit card that' been riding from leaner times. That's my first goal, pay off the credit card.
If I were preparing for a natural disaster, I guess I'm as ready as possible. In Texas, the most likely natural disaster would be a tornado. We don't have basements in this part of Texas, so they safest room in our house is the main bathroom. Luckily it has a storage cabinet as well as the cabinet under the sink. I put a small chest of drawers in there (it's a large bathroom) for towels and sheets, so the storage now holds our 72 hour kits. I need to go through them and replace everything as some items just went past the expiration date. I used a milk jug as the holder for everything. So I have the 4 milk jugs, a couple survival books and the cooking gear in there plus pet food. I suppose I need to keep a couple cases of water in there as well. Something to do today.
More on the milk jugs: I cut through the middle of the opening, then down below the handle on both sides, leaving it attached. So you pull it apart by the handle to have access to the inside. Then you pack your food, drink mix, etc into it and tape it back shut. It's partly held shut by putting the cap back on, but the tape seals it. I also taped an inventory and sample menu on the outside. Me and my sons are celiac disease, so we have a special diet. I put the names on the outside only for that reason. My husband has different food in his.
Another scenario would be an EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse). This could be naturally occurring, from the sun, or from a nuclear explosion. I live in a metro area, heavily populated. We'd be screwed. My older son stays home with me, but my younger son goes to school and my husband goes to work. Getting back together would be difficult, but doable. We have a plan that says my husband swings by and gets my son out of school and heads home. If it's a naturally occurring EMP, I hear it's not strong enough to knock everything out for a long period of time. BUT, if it's strong enough to knock out a power station, we supposedly don't have the big transformers on stock to replace everything in the country. There would be parts out for a long time. This would put us back to before the industrial revolution. No phones, no running water, no electricity or natural gas. That means no communication, and no utilities. Of course it would mean I would stop paying my utility bills, because if they're off, why pay for them? But it also means people can't use their debit/credit/EBT cards to buy food. I would LOVE to have a treadle sewing machine that worked for this scenario, but the cheapest I've seen was out of my price range. I would have to mend by hand.
An EMP would be a drastic change in lifestyle. Think primitive camping for an extended period. I found this article on EMPs. It states that most things that have electronics will be damaged. I suppose if you had replacement parts, it would be fixable, but that doesn't help the power grid. I have a couple dutch ovens, and could dig a fire pit outside. I have a fire place, but it's gas and we were told if we wanted to convert it back to wood burning, the chimney needs work. The last thing I need is to burn my house down trying to cook in the fireplace. I made a rocket stove, but I'm not good at getting the thing started. Might just be my fire making skills. We have a privacy fence around part of our back yard, with chain link around the other part. Ideally, I would like it all to be privacy fence, but my budget won't allow it right now. In Texas, we don't worry about the cold so much as the heat. I don't know how I'd cool my house besides opening the windows.
The problem with the EMT is that all businesses would stop. My husband is a metal fabricator, which uses a lot of electrical equipment. I suppose he would be out of a job. But, it would be on a massive scale, so everyone would be out of a job. In this case, learning primitive skills would be a must. My husband has worked on power plants, and knows engines. We have 2 small generators as well as a moderate sized one. I can sew (even by hand) so I can make quilts. My first quilt was made totally by hand. We have started saving old clothes, either salvaging everything we can off of it before throwing it away, or keeping it for patches, etc. This would be worse than going back to the great depression. I can also knit and crochet. I will have socks even when Walmart runs out of them. Of course, when I raid the Walmart, I'll be looking for yarn.
As a funny aside, we had a tornado threat a while back. I put my son in the bathroom with the pets and my knitting needles. I have a complete set of regular, double points and circular in bamboo. I wasn't going to let a tornado get those.
I also have a binder with emergency patterns, like gloves, socks, hats, basic sweaters and even underwear. I have another one with recipes that are completely shelf stable, using only what I can store without refrigeration.
So, I've covered a crash of the EBT system (which I think is entirely possible if Obama wins the election because he doesn't REALLY care about his base) which would cause riots, an economic collapse, either fast or slow, and an EMT. I left out an outbreak of flu because I think that's a slim chance. Biological warfare maybe, but not bird flu. In my last case, martial law, I wouldn't shelter in, but bug out. If martial law were instituted, they would go house to house and arrest people they considered terrorists, which with this administration is everyone who preps. We'd be on the run with a tent.
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