Index of possible disasters (tiny and SHTF)

[Pvt. Pirate]

Work In Progress i will edit this post and reorder the list.
also you might notice i'm not a native speaker, but eager to learn, so just state my faults and i'll correct them

Intro:
Hi, this is intended to become a list of possible events to prepare for.
This list will contain disasters from "running out of toiletpaper" to "end of the world as we know it".
It is a Work In Progress and i'm asking for your ideas on what to add, so i'll edit this post from time to time.

It is not a priority list, but everyone can sort it for themselves, as the odds of certain disasters vary from region to region and while SHTF-Events are worth prepping, many tiny disasters are more likely and could be evaded by proper prepping too.
(did you ever have to go to bed hungry, just because you forgot to buy food the other day and all stores were closed on the long easter weekend and the 24/7 was way too expensive for your budget? I did!)
If i sort disasters into categories of severity, this is because "having to drink your hot chocolate with water instead of milk" is less terrible than "having no paycheck for 3 months" which is less terrible than "World War III".
I'm single, so forgive me if i forget valid points that apply to families with children -> tell me and i'll add those points.
I want to link every disaster to one or more threads on how to prep for it, so this is NOT replacing the other threads.
Also, feel free to send links to those threads and i'll add them.

- disaster : (link to forum thread with) possible solution / preparation


All disasters (natural or manmade) can be summed up as an initial catastrophic incident with the loss of one or more of life's necesseties (which we like to take for granted) as result:

- Health (including mental health)
- Source of income (employment/welfare/pension)
- Food-source
- (clean) Water-source
- Home/Shelter
- Stable power supply grids (electricity, gasoline/fuel, gas)
- Logistics system
- (fast responding) Health-support-grid (hospitals etc.)
- (responsible) Law Enforcement

And now remember those who never had all of those things in their life.

While you can be prepared for some of those initial Incidents themselves (e.g. having a hurricane shelter), it is equally important to be prepared for the results.


Tiny disasters can be unpleasant, but also don't make your world crumble, as they can be easily fixed (e.g. ask your neighbor to borough theirs)

- Running out of <insert consumption good here> : have a nice neighbour or have some in stock
- Temporary electricity blackout ( <= 1 day) : flashlight with spare batteries, food and water source with no need for electricity


Small disasters mean the temporary loss of life's neccessities but with improvising and/or a nice neighbour who let's you use theirs until you can fix yours, you will survive

- Vehicle (necessary for work etc.) broken
- Water pipes need repairs
- Heating needs repairs
- Energy provider cuts your electricity, because you couldn't pay
- Loss of the source of income : financial cushion / unemployment-insurance (where available)


Medium disasters are a big deal, because it is absolutely gone, but society still exists and there are enough people that can help you. It's still wise to be prepared on where to find help and/or knowing how to fix the situation.

- Unability to work = loss of the source of income
- Bereavement/death of a friend or family member
- House fire
- Getting kicked out of your home (end of relationship; landlord hates you; chemical spill)
- Burglar's broke into your home : viewtopic.php?f=6&t=74360
- Getting mugged


Bigger disasters affect almost everyone around you and help from outside is needed

Natural disaster
- Hurricane/Tornadoe
- Blizzard
- Earthquake
- Flooding
- Tsunami
- Wildfire
- Solar flare strafing earth
- Water scarcity (aquifers dying up, drought, overuse/ poor irrigation management etc.) : viewtopic.php?f=29&t=115808
- Epidemic/Pandemic : viewtopic.php?f=22&t=111846
- Volcanic eruption (travel disruptions, damage, etc)
- Decline of honey bee population (beekeeping) : viewtopic.php?f=39&t=93950


Manmade disaster
- Sinkhole due to collapsing old mine
- Surface/subsurface water contamination (fuel spills/fracking etc/industrial farming contamination etc.)
- Reactor meltdown (reactor "stress test" like in Chernobyl or as result of a natural disaster, like in Fukushima)
- Riots/Looting
- Civil war / Revolutionary war
- War
- Epidemic/Pandemic : viewtopic.php?f=22&t=111846


End of the world as we know it

- Solar coronal mass ejection
- Zombie-Apocalypse
- Rise of the apes
- Nuclear War
- Huge Asteroid/Meteorite hitting earth

[Mikeyboy]

Here is one I threw at a hardcore prepper, when he got all over me when I said I keep some extra cash in my BOB.

You get kicked out of the house due to a house fire, local chemical spill, or something as simple as a bad argument with a spouse or your significant other. Guys and gals don't think that you may have to quickly leave your house because you are handed divorce papers, or you catch your spouse/significant other cheating. Like I mentioned before, you should have the bare basics to sleep in the wilderness, or some post disaster wasteland, but your BOB should above all else be your life raft if your run of the mill bad life event happens. Society will probably still exist but you find yourself outside your home, and for the time being you are sleeping at a hotel, in your car, or on a friend/family members couch.

Same with bugging in. Having the basics can help after a full blown epic disaster...or just a simple ice storm or just being unemployed. Having food, water, the ability to have light and heat when the power goes out, and finally a way to protect yourself, is all go no matter what happens.

[Pvt. Pirate]

Thanks, i added that/merged it into the list.
The list will grow and be rearranged/reordered and links will be added as i keep on reading in the forum.
maybe this topic isnt 1-dimensional (list) or 2-dimensional (table), but more than 3-dimensional (cubic) so it can be difficult to sort the disasters and countermeasures on a 2-dimensional board, but this is a try.

[raptor]

Great list. Thank you!

[offcamber]

Good stuff!

Here are some more suggestions:

1. Surface/subsurface water contamination (fuel spills/fracking etc/industrial farming containation etc.)

2. Water scarcity (aquifers dying up, drought, overuse/ poor irrigation management etc.)
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=115808

3. Epidemic/Pandemic
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=111846

4. Volcanic eruption (travel disruptions, damage, etc)

5. Decline of honey bee population (beekeeping)
viewtopic.php?f=39&t=93950

[Pvt. Pirate]

thanks i'll add those

[ineffableone]

great topic, thanks for posting it

[grumpyviking]

in no special order: food shortages(either through drought, flooding or for political reasons), power cuts, power down, avalanches/mud slides, strikes, protests, riots, EMP, social unrest, societal collapse, TEOTWAWKI.

[Pvt. Pirate]

in no special order: food shortages(either through drought, flooding or for political reasons), power cuts, power down, avalanches/mud slides, strikes, protests, riots, EMP, social unrest, societal collapse, TEOTWAWKI.

thanks, i'll see how i can add those.

[Mountainsquid]

This is an outstanding post. I don't have anything to add beyond that

[Pvt. Pirate]

If anyone has something to add or just a link to a thread for a prepping solution for that problem, I'd love if you post it here

[Pvt. Pirate]

I'm back to it and maybe you got something to contribute to the list of causes or solutions and this might help prepping from tiny to big disasters.
please contribute and please post links to solutions to problems.

( yeh, i let it slip quite the while and my prepping is down to some masks with filters, some hiking equipment and some minor melee weapons and an advanced IFAK, while every now and then, i'm left with almost no food when shops are closed due to a long weekend (easter etc))

[SRO1911]

Secondary disaster\hardship.
Disaster strikes some distance away, type irrelevant, but displaces a significant population mass - they are en route to\through your location.
Like a plague of locust, scared humans moving in mass are a destructive force on par with any biblical scourge.

[darmstrong]

Secondary disaster\hardship.
Disaster strikes some distance away, type irrelevant, but displaces a significant population mass - they are en route to\through your location.
Like a plague of locust, scared humans moving in mass are a destructive force on par with any biblical scourge.

This has always been the concern for Eastern Oregon in regards to a Cascadia Subduction Event. One person's comment on thousands of Portlanders coming to our county was, "This is an invasion of a foreign people and I will personally treat it like one."

[Pvt. Pirate]

post written back in 2015 and shows the exact truth of nowadays situation. although, in man made category there's no "virus" and that's a mistake.

Thanks, i'll add that to the list.

[majorhavoc]

post written back in 2015 and shows the exact truth of nowadays situation. although, in man made category there's no "virus" and that's a mistake.

Thanks, i'll add that to the list.

Wait. So we've established the novel coronavirus is man made? I thought that was as of yet an unproven theory and that most scientific authorities are still saying the virus is naturally occurring. Do I have that wrong?

[SCBrian]

post written back in 2015 and shows the exact truth of nowadays situation. although, in man made category there's no "virus" and that's a mistake.

Thanks, i'll add that to the list.

Wait. So we've established the novel coronavirus is man made? I thought that was as of yet an unproven theory and that most scientific authorities are still saying the virus is naturally occurring. Do I have that wrong?

heh. I can see adding it (Manmade virus) just as a catagory as it's a spot missed. I dont think it's been declared manmade yet. My feel is even if it is it wont be classified as it because Politics.

[boskone]

post written back in 2015 and shows the exact truth of nowadays situation. although, in man made category there's no "virus" and that's a mistake.

Thanks, i'll add that to the list.

Wait. So we've established the novel coronavirus is man made? I thought that was as of yet an unproven theory and that most scientific authorities are still saying the virus is naturally occurring. Do I have that wrong?

I haven't heard anything beyond basically tin-hat conspiracy theories that it's a lab project.

Now, I'd agree the disaster is man-made, since the origin point was a terrifyingly nasty bazaar and food-handling conditions which shouldn't've existed (even back in ye olden times, I think people knew better), compounded by rapidity of travel these days. But the virus itself, from everything I've seen, is a perfectly natural thing.

[Pvt. Pirate]

in regards of the preparation against an epidemic/pandemic, it doesn't matter if it was manmade or not.
although i think every government is capable of doing so - because history has shown that many governments actually did fieldtest their biological weapons on their own population. (examples known to me are Japan during WW2 and Russia during early cold war.)
but we should cut it right there, because this should be an index for finding preperation plans.

[leoalfo15]

How did your work go?