One of the most important parts of preparedness is doing a threat assessment for potential threats to the loss of the five basic needs. We have to know where the weakness or vulnerability is so that we can know how to mitigate it. I have talked before about preparing for threats to the five basic human needs, but I haven’t ever gone into detail on how to do a threat assessment.
Threat assessing your home and the area around it is very important. It can greatly impact how you prepare. For example, if you have overhead power lines, you have two possible threats. Just this last weekend there was a downed line in Minneapolis that came down during a storm. The line burned through the asphalt and into a gas line. Both power and gas had to be turned off until both could be repaired. So the threats are: the electricity in the line itself, a higher chance of being without power in a storm and the possibility of fire. Someone who has power lines over head may place a generator higher on the need list than someone who has underground power lines.
Here I’ll cover how I do a threat assortment from area to area. Below I’ll cover some of the things you should be assessing. The best place to start a threat assessment is inside your home, going from room to room, moving from inside your house to the outside, going around the outside and also the perimeter. Once done with your house, assesses the neighborhood you live in and expand from there. In some cases you’ll want to expand out a good distance; is there a nuclear power plant within 30 miles? You’ll want to take that into consideration. If you have a BOL (Bug Out Location) you’ll want to do a threat assessment there as well, assessing the route you take to get there.
In ” Bugging Out or Battening Down?“ I suggest that people without a BOL still create multiple temporary BOL’s in different directions. In the vast majority of circumstances, battening down or bugging in is a better choice than bugging out. However, there could be something that forces you to leave. If you do not have a plan in place, you will lose precious time trying to make one. I suggest picking a small town that is big enough to have a hotel, making it your rally point. You do not need to stay at the hotel, but it can serve as a place to meet if nothing else. I suggest having four such routes planned, going north, south, east and west. Then you always have multiple options. I bring this up because you should do an assessment of these four as well. One of my possible options could bring me closer to a nuclear power plant. In some situations that is not a big deal. In others it could be critical. I need to know it’s there to know it’s a threat.
Here are some of the things to be looking for, listed by the basic need.
Threats to Water
There are cities that pipe their water in from hundreds of miles away. What if something caused the means of pumping water to fail? I recently read that there are 60 year old water mains that are corroding and breaking. Do you live in an area that has access to potable water or water that could be filtered?
Threats to Food
These threats are pretty standard with a few possible exceptions. Modern grocery stores use the “just in time” delivery model and have roughly three days of perishable supplies on hand. Any time there is a hurricane or blizzard on the East Coast, people scramble to buy up supplies to get through the storm.
Threats to Shelter
I believe that in 95% of situations, battening down and staying put is a better option than bugging out. That being said, there are threats that we need to consider while we prepare. Here are just a few that I came up with.
Starting inside, are there working fire alarms? Do you have fire extinguishers? Are there solvents or other flammable things inside that could be stored outside? Moving out side, what about the structure? Are there any broken windows or other repairs that need to be made or vulnerabilities such as hedges that are too high near the door?
Do you live in tornado alley? What about a flood plain or does your bug out route go through one? Do you live near a nuclear power plant? Are there risks of wildfires? Do you live near an industrial area that may have lots of chemicals nearby?
Threats to Energy
Going without electricity is one threat, but so are loss of heat and ability to cook. As mentioned above, overhead power lines are one possible threat. Another threat that could happen anywhere is someone running into a transformer. Routine maintenance can be a threat, like what happened in California that led to a blackout for hundreds of thousands of people in three states. There are also the less likely events such as EMP and solar flares. While they are very unlikely, they are still possibilities.
Threats to Security
You can take care of many safety concerns in the shelter section. Here are some others to consider.
You can look for Crime Reports to get an idea of the crime near where you live. You can also search the this sex offender registry to find out which former, or potential predators live near you. By doing those two you might discover that the area you live in isn’t quite as safe as you would have thought.
If you live in an apartment, is the place you park your car safe? What about walking to and from your car in the dark?
In rural areas, what is the response time for police and ambulance? If the response time is long, are you able to provide protection or first aid to hold out until they arrive?
Knowing Is Half The Battle – GI Joe
Knowing the possible threats is the beginning. Keeping aware of what they are is important as well. I get a monthly e-mail from the police department detailing the crimes, but the websites I listed above can be used as well. Use the knowledge gained from these assessments to find holes in your preparation and possible tweaks that you might need to make.
