A guide to staying safe in case all Hell breaks loose in America

When SHTF on a massive scale and all of society collapses, what are you going to do? Do you have a backup survival plan in place to keep yourself and your loved ones safe when the plots of disaster movies become reality? Preppers should be able to anticipate all possible scenarios, even those on a scale as large as this one. Here is a survival guide to staying safe when all Hell breaks loose. (h/t to TheOrganicPrepper.com)

Get home with your loved ones

The first thing you want to do when  chaos erupts is to make sure you and your family members are all safe at home. Your loved ones should all be familiar with this protocol as well. You should all learn multiple routes to find your way home. This way, you will be able to better avoid crowded places and angry mobs. If you are unable to find a way home, find nearby hiding places where you can safely lie low for a while until the chaos dies down and it is safe to continue. (Related: 5 Ways to survive when society descends into chaos.)

Bug in and lock down

While you may have a small window of opportunity to leave the city and head for your bug-out location, chances are that you will be forced to bug in your own home for the time being. This can be due to enforced martial law, riots out in the streets, blocked roads and thoroughfares, or any other combination of reasons. Your lock-down may last for a week or two, or even longer. It might not even be limited to being unable to leave your home. The power grid may fail due to damage, leaving you without any means of communication, refrigeration, lighting, and heating. To avoid starvation, keep a well-stocked pantry with at least a month’s worth of nonperishable food items that require no cooking. Secure access to a reliable source of clean drinking water. You will need about a gallon of water per person, per day. You’ll also want to stock up on first aid items, flashlights, spare batteries, and sanitation supplies. In case of cold winter weather, find ways to stay warm. You can find alternative sources of electricity as well.

Have a sanitation and waste disposal system in place

Bugging in for an extended period of time will only become more and more difficult when the plumbing and waste sanitation services fail to work. Your garbage and bodily waste will only accumulate if you don’t have a way to dispose of it safely. Improper waste disposal can easily become a breeding ground of disease-causing bacteria. Keep everything in your home sanitized as much as possible. If you have no functioning water supply, make use of a waste bucket in a secluded area far away from your sleeping and eating quarters.

Draw attention to yourself as little as possible

Your best chance of survival is to remain under the radar and wait out the insanity outside until society returns to normal. Keep all your windows and doors locked and leave no possible means of entry unguarded. You never know what might happen when desperate people get ideas. Cover all your windows with dark plastic sheets or heavy duty trash bags. If people take notice that your house still has some form of lighting or functional electricity, it may draw unwanted attention from all the wrong kinds of people. Do whatever you can to make your home look less like a potential target.

Sources include:

TheOrganicPrepper.com

Survival-Mastery.com