On the preparedness map all roads lead to a town called Grid-Down

We all have our own reasons for preparing for the future and whilst some are convinced a pandemic will be the sure-fire incident that causes the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI) others think an EMP attack, natural or contrived will be what sees off the majority of the population.

It’s amazing that most wide-scale events lead back to one certainty:

The grid will go down.

• A pandemic would lead to massive sickening and death rates within the population. Utilities would not be maintained and failures would result. The grid is susceptible to everything from lack of maintenance to winter storms and would most likely be an early casualty.
• An Electro-Magnetc Pule (EMP) be it natural or man-made would have a dire and immediate effect on the power grid.
• A Nuclear war would result in the power going out.
• A nuclear accident would cause the power to go out in the affected area.

The list goes on an on.

So reliant have we become on our electricity supply that we cannot imagine life without it yet for almost the entire history of humanity we never had it!

In a couple of hundred years we have become so used to the fact that we can flick a switch and get instant light, that we have a continuous food supply so we don’t need to worry about supplies and that we can see the world-wide news on demand that we fear its demise.

This is illogical. When Lucy first climbed out of her tree and started the walk out of Africa there was barely enough hominids to actually call a population. Yet we came from that to a global population of 7 billion souls without the help of electricity.

The Amish and Mennonite communities that still not only exist but are flourishing  perfectly well using manual tools and shunning the modern way of life.

Yes it’s a harder life, yes it’s a less convenient way of life but it’s perfectly doable.

• Assessments that 99% of the population would die off within a year should the power go off are in my opinion grossly overstated. Yes some would sadly die due to ill-health that relies on modern medical intervention.
• More still would die because they were not able to get medical intervention when it was needed, after an accident for example.
• Deaths of mothers and babies during childbirth would most likely increase.
• Rioting, looting and general lawlessness would see of thousands more.

But even all of those things nowhere near comes to 99% of the population. For that to happen 335,000,000 Americans would have to die within a year of the power going down. No, I don’t see than as a viable figure.

Preparing for a grid-down scenarios is central to my personal preparedness because it’s not something I have ever had to live with.  I have never lived as an adult off-grid. As a woman over 50 life would be far more difficult than it is now so I like to know I have it covered as far as I can. That me and mine will stay warm and fed. That we have educational materials that don’t rely on computers, that I can deal with medical issues as best I can without hospital back up.

This is the starting point of my preparedness because so many situations would lead to it being a problem, but that’s all it is, a starting point.

Preparing for a long-term grid down situation makes sure you have all the basics in place. The first tier of equipment and kit that covers everything from a local outage due to a winter storm to a prolonged grid-down emergency.

From there it’s easier to diverge into the specialist requirements you need to deal with a pandemic or a nuclear war, it’s easier because you have the basics in place. Regardless of what you are preparing for information is key, here are a few prepping articles you may find useful:

• Off-Grid Refrigeration
• Heat Distribution Within Your Home
• Solar Flares: Coming To A Town Near You
• Make Your Own Clean water: Two Simple ways To Make a Solar Still
• If An Economic Collapse Happened Tomorrow Would You Be Ready?
• Mosquitoes: More Than Just irritating
• 10 Diseases That Will Be More common After A Collapse
• Stored Food: Not All Calories Are Created Equal
• Life-saving Advice About Mylar Blankets
• Anaemia: Deficiency Diseases After A Collapse
• Things To Do BEFORE Winter Arrives

Take care,

Liz