17 Survival Scenarios You MUST Prepare For
These are real-world survival scenarios and emergency situations that you should prepare for now. A big list of the most common survival scenarios, emergency situations and natural disasters you’ll need to be prepared for. #1 should be the Zombie Apocalypse (because if you’re prepared for that you’re prepared for anything!) The Zombie Apocalypse isn’t the only kind of disaster you need to prepare for.
Author’s Note: The zombie apocalypse survival scenario is a metaphorical survival scenario. It’s not meant as a real-world survival scenario, however, the idea is very simple.
If you’re prepared to survive the zombie apocalypse, you’re prepared to survive any survival scenario!
There are many other things that could happen which can force you into a survival scenario where you could be fighting for your life or one where you need to protect your family.
These are the most common survival scenarios, and will be the most likely real world survival situation you will be faced with. Severe weather of any kind can cause prolonged blackouts, food and fuel shortages, and in some extreme circumstances, riots and looting. Fear makes people do bad things and brings out the worst and most primal of instincts. We’ll start with the most likley as the cause for the first few survival scenarios.
1. Blackout Power Outage Survival
Blackouts – Blackouts are kind of normal, and though we don’t think of blackouts being a disaster scenario it can quickly turn into a survival situation if the power is out for more than a few days. Water and food become a huge issue. The food in your fridge will only stay good for 1-3 days, depending on the climate in your region. 1-3 days is a long time when you have no power or water.
This is why having lots of dry goods and non-perishable foods in your pantry is important. Water is also an issue during a widespread blackout. Water services might be shut down in your area if you’re not on a well or have city water utilities.
You can die of dehydration with no water for 3-4 days. Gas pumps will not work during a blackout so driving anywhere is out of the question, you need to ration your fuel. Don’t drive anywhere during a blackout unless you absolutely have to.
Also, without heating and cooling in extreme climate areas prone to severe cold or extreme heat can thrust anyone into a serious life threatening survival scenario.
2. Breakdown: Severe Climate Survival
Breakdown: Severe Climate Survival – This is one of the most likely survival scenarios you will face. Picture this. You’re in your car traveling cross-country. Your car breaks down for some reason and you have no cell signal. Now what? OK, no big deal if you’re on a main road, and if you are near a town. It will be easy to get help. But what if you’re in a remote area, with very little traffic? It happens all the time. Having a proper survival kit in your car is a must have.
Especially when traveling through extreme climate zones. Desert and winter travel can become deadly very quickly. If your car breaks down even a few miles from home in a blizzard you can quickly be in a life threatening emergency situation.
If you break down in the middle of the desert and have no water to drink and no way to signal for help or get out of the heat then you risk hyperthermia (heat stroke). Winter poses a huge threat and risk of death or severe injury as well.
Frostbite and hypothermia (low body core temp; i.e. freezing to death) can all happen very quickly if you can’t get warm. Do you have a winter or desert survival kit with blankets, extra water and food in your car or truck? Are you ready?
3. Lost Hiker Survival –
Lost Hiker – Probably the #1 Survival Scenario!
Do you like the outdoors? Most likely if you’re reading this article you love the outdoors. You probably like camping and hiking and all sorts of outdoors adventures. You probably also know that a compass and map are two of the most important survival tools you can have in your backpack. A good knife, cordage, shelter, and a way to carry and purify water are must-have survival gear items to have on your person at all times in the wild. Those 6 items will save your life in a lost hiker survival scenario.
No matter how many times people say it, no matter how often it’s said, there are always people who die every year due to lack of preparation when heading out into the wild to hike or camp. Lost hikers will die when exposed to the elements for prolonged periods of time. People underestimate how fast disaster can strike. A slip and fall, or misreading a map, or not having a map at all can lead people off-trail.
Panic happens, people get disoriented and start wandering aimlessly. Worse, people “feel or know” that the trail is just over the next hill and push forward too fast getting themselves deeper into trouble. The best thing to do in this scenario if possible is to shelter in place (if safe) and wait for rescue. After shelter and water and food are taken care of, signaling for help becomes important. How will you signal? Whistle, yell, or maybe your cellphone has enough signal. Maybe.
How much battery do you have left? Do you have a way to charge your cell phone in the wild? Do you have a backup radio? CB, walkie talkie? Do you at least have a signal mirror? If you don’t have any of that, do you have a way to make fire? Both for warmth and for signaling rescuers. You are more likely to be rescued if you can stay in a highly visible, safe and sheltered place, where you can signal rescuers your location.
GPS locator beacon is probably the best possible way to get rescued fast. They are small GPS devices which when activated transmit your location to satellites and in turn to search and rescue authorities letting them know you are in need of rescue.
Do you have one? You should. Lost hiker scenarios happen all the time, every day in some place in the world. Don’t be a statistic. Be prepared.
4. Extreme Adventure Sports Injury
Extreme Adventure Sports Injury – Ever hear about the dude that chopped his own arm off with a pocket knife to survive and escape a box canyon after he got wedged up by a massive boulder? Yes! He literally cut off his own arm with a pocket knife after a hiking accident. He walk walking along, fell into a crevasse, dislodged a boulder and that boulder smashed his hand and wedged his arm against the cliff face. He was trapped.
If you like adventure sports like white water, mountain biking, kayaking, canoeing, water sports, skiing, snowboarding, and other extreme sports it’s a good idea to be ready to survive if you get injured. Not only is the risk of injury greatly increased during extreme sports activities, many of these activities take people deep into remote areas of country which are very difficult if not nearly impossible to access by vehicle.
Meaning that search and rescue operations will be great hindered just by the remoteness alone, not to mention the rugged terrain. Don’t forget climate. Most lost or injured people die of exposure to the elements (hypothermia or hyperthermia) rather than injuries sustained from the extreme sports themselves. If you’re an outdoor adventurer then you already know the dangers and the importance of being prepared in case of an emergency. If not, then you should prepare now. Put together a solid survival kit with proper first aid equipment and supplies.
5. Earthquake Survival
Earthquakes – Are you ready for an earthquake? If you live on the west coast of the USA or anywhere on earth within the ring of fire, then you should be prepared for an earthquake which can knock out power, down buildings, wipe out transportation infrastructure, and cause widespread fires and explosions from gas leaks caused by structures being ripped apart. Haiti had a massive earthquake within this past decade which displaced hundreds of thousands of people and made over 200k people homeless. Lack of food and supplies, and a devastated infrastructure of course caused massive riots, starvation, disease and crime became rampant.
6. Wildfire Survival
Wildfire – Severe weather storms bring with it lightening and lightening causes wildfires. Wildfires can also be caused by arson whether deliberate or accidental. Recently some teenagers started a fire which literally burned down most of the historic town of Gatlinburg Tennessee and wiped out over 2500 buildings and structures.
7. Hurricane Survival
Hurricanes – Huge storms with winds reaching 150+ MPH, can wipe out entire cities, flood the countryside, and kill thousands. Riots and crime rates skyrocket, food shortages, starvation, looting, marauding gangs, robbers, overwhelmed local, county and state law enforcement, the activation of curfews and the National Guard to help keep the population under control. Emergency management agencies will be overworked, water shortages, medical emergencies, and food distribution will be rampant. Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans Louisiana with 174 MPH winds, flooded the entire city, killed 2000 people, displaced and made hundreds of thousands homeless, and destroyed $108 billion in property, buildings and infrastructure. Coastal towns are at risk more so than inland cities, however large hurricanes can spawn tornadoes and cause massive destruction far (hundreds of miles) inland well after the initial landfall.
8. Tornado Survival
Tornadoes – The midwest USA is prone to tornadoes. It’s so bad that they have a name for it. Tornado Alley. And it lives up to it’s name. Thousands of people and billions of dollars in property damage have been cause by numerous (hundreds) of tornadoes over the last 100 years. The effects of such a disaster is localized to a few mile radius, but is hugely damaging to infrastructure. Water and food become harder to get, the streets and roads are closed due to debris fields and entire neighborhoods will be shut down as search and rescue efforts are implemented. If you’re luck you will survive the initial storm itself, but the after effects of a storm like a tornado will effect the entire area for days, weeks, and even months. You must be prepared for this is you live in these zones.
9. Tsunami Survival
Tsunami – Tidal wave! The sheer power and unrelenting force of these massive waves are devastating. They can be caused by giant under-ocean earthquakes offshore, and sometimes there is no warning they are coming. The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami was the deadliest tidal wave in recorded human history. It killed more than 280 thousand people, and caused massive damage. Then in 2011 there was another, the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, which happened in Japan. Nearly 20,000 people died or went missing, billions of dollars in damage occurred.
In addition to the 9.0 earthquake, and the massive tsunami it caused, a nuclear meltdown happened due to damage caused to a nuclear facility in Fukushima which released massive amounts of radiation into the ocean and inland. This disaster is unprecedented and caused chaos for months afterward.
This is an extreme circumstance, and shows that if you live in an area prone to earthquakes, especially if you’re in a coastal region, you should be prepared for all scenarios. If you wait until after an event like this to prepare, you could die trying to survive.
10. Flood Survival
Floods – Obviously tsunamis can cause floods, and so can prolonged rain storms. Floods knock out power, overflow levies, flood towns and cities, and drown countless people. Cleanup and recovery efforts can last days, weeks, and in extreme circumstances, months. Be ready! Floods can happen anywhere at anytime.
11. Nuclear Attack or Nuclear Meltdown Survival
Nuclear Meltdown or Attack – A nuclear meltdown can be caused by storms, earthquakes, sabotage, or equipment failure or malfunction, human error or attack on a nuclear reactor by a foreign or domestic terrorism. Fallout and radiation poisoning from this will effect widespread areas and will contaminate food and water supplies.
It’s best to get as far away as possible from the location of the meltdown. If you’ve got the equipment and survival gear already then it will be much easier. If not, you run the risk of becoming a statistic. Don’t be a statistic. Be ready. Prepare now while you can.
12. Political Unrest Upheaval Uprising
Political Unrest Upheaval Uprising – We live in an era of relative peace, however there are pockets of political tension and war zones all over the world. Even here in the USA things are very uncertain and political tensions are running high. Never has the USA been so divided, at least not since the Civil War. Political upheaval, coup d’etats, and outright civil war can happen almost anywhere at anytime. It could lead to war, or prolonged rioting, martial law, curfews, and checkpoints throughout your region or entire country.
When political tensions are high people sometimes do stupid things and it could result in fighting, terrorism, or other kinds of attacks. This could cause infrastructure to shut down or operate at decreased efficiency.
Venezuela is a perfect example of the turmoil and how fast it could spread throughout a country. Venezuela is currently embroiled in a civil war of sorts. There is widespread poverty, homelessness, food shortages, gas shortages, power outages, and riots. Protests happen daily, the government has collapsed, and it’s pure chaos there. People are dying, starving, medical care is almost non-existent, hospitals are understaffed, and medications are gone.
People are literally doing anything they can to survive. This could happen in the USA, or anywhere in the world. One day it might seem fine, the next, there could be a coup, or a protest gets out of control, or the political establishment could at anytime decide to take over and impose martial law. Don’t be caught in this likely scenario.
The likelihood of political unrest turning into full blown civil war or collapsing the country and causing widespread suffering is high, and should be equally high on your list of things to prepare for.
Riots – As evidenced above in the case of Venezuela, riots can happen anywhere at anytime for any reason. Racial tensions are running high, political tensions are running high, things could explode at any moment. Do you really want to be caught unprepared?
13. EMP Survival
EMP and/or EMP Attack
A very unlikely survival scenario is an EMP attack (electromagnetic pulse) is a deliberate attack –either by a foreign power or by terrorism– which will knock out most, if not all electronic devices which are not protected. Unless you live in a Faraday cage, if your area is under EMP attack all your electronic devices such as cell phones, laptops, and radios will be fried in the ensuing electromagnetic pulse. This means they will no longer operate. As in, they will be destroyed.
You will not be able to make phone calls, cell systems and communications will be down. Satellites could be effected, but most likely an EMP attack would be localized to a small town, city or region. There is another kind of EMP that could happen but it’s not an attack. It’s causes by our sun, and can knock out satellites, power stations, the entire power grid, and communications, worldwide. Yes. Worldwide! It’s caused by a solar flare.
SOLAR FLARE
An event on the sun which produces massive amounts of electrical energy, this energy is blasted away from the sun and if traveling in the direction of earth, could interfere with the earth’s magnetic field, thereby causing huge power outages and knocking out power to entire regions of the world. This has already happened. A solar storm hit earth in the vicinity of Quebec Canada in 1989, causing widespread blackouts.
Another much larger solar storm (EMP event) happened in 1859. If this massive geomagnetic storm, dubbed the Carrington event, happened today, as dependent as we are on electronics and the electrical grid, it would cause huge devastation the likes of which the world has never seen. Other solar storms have occurred. The scariest thing about a solar storm is that it could happen at anytime, with almost no warning. Within minutes from the time of the solar flare the subsequent geomagnetic solar storm would hit earth. Don’t be caught unprepared.
14. War
War – It could be civil war, a foreign country could invade or it could be prolonged countrywide fighting caused by political unrest. War may not be likely, but it could happen at any time.
15. Terrorism Terrorist Attack Survival
Terrorism/Terrorist Attack – Oklahoma City federal building bombing, 9/11, the Boston bombing, the subway attack in Spain, the bus bombing in London, and countless other attacks all over the world are all terrorism. Terrorist attacks can happen anywhere at anytime without warning. Terrorism and terrorist attacks are localized, usually very contained and do not last very long. However, this does not mean that you shouldn’t be ready.
Carrying a ready bag, bug out bag, or equipment bag in your vehicle or on your person at all times is probably a wise decision. People may nee medical care, or supplies, or you may find yourself in a situation where you need to defend yourself from a terrorist, whether that terrorist is domestic or foreign doesn’t matter. What matters is being prepared and taking action to survive. Have the proper equipment.
16. Zombie Apocalypse Survival
#1 Zombie Apocalypse – The Zombie Apocalypse might seem fictitious, but it’s not. It could really happen. Seriously, (you’re laughing right now) and you might think it’s crazy or that zombies are the stuff of fiction but you need to realize that there are two types of “zombies”. Not the undead, or the ones from Shaun of The Dead (which BTW was an awesome movie!).
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah…there are two kind of zombies.
The Unprepared Zombies (Individual Criminals & Gangs of Raiders and Marauders) – One type of zombie are the unprepared. These are people who will wander around looking for resources to steal from you or anyone who has what they need to survive. These zombies are dangerous, they’re not the mindless undead zombies you see in zombie movies and on TV. These zombies can think, they can organize, and they travel in hordes, packs, and gangs. They are not prepared for disaster but they are formidable and dangerous. They communicate amongst themselves, than can plan an attack, and they will execute it with precision (compared to the undead). They are raiders, looters, marauders, robbers, rapists, and killers. They’re the gangs and evil groups of people who care nothing for you or your family and will kill you and your entire family for anything of value.
17. Biohazard Outbreak (Zombie Survival) – Pandemic Survival
Biological Warfare Zombies – No, not zombies created by governments, but rather weaponized biological agents (viruses and bacteria) that could be used in an attack on the population that could effectively turn people into zombies.
We know that the military (our and foreign governments) have experimented (and continue to experiment) with biological weapons such as anthrax, ebola, etc. We also know scientists and governments work in genetic engineering and modification. This is not to assume that our own government is working on a bioweapon because that’s illegal. We all know governments never do anything illegal…right? Wrong! Our enemies at the very least are not hindered by law, so you can bet that secretly they will and are continuing bioweapons research.
If you think our enemies wouldn’t create a bioweapon to be used on us then I’m sorry to say you are living in a dream world. If you had the resources to create a bioweapon and knew you enemies were probably creating bioweapons to be used on you and your people then you can bet your ass that every major country has a bioweapons lab and biological warfare contingencies setup.
If you could turn you enemy on itself, make your enemy destroy itself from within, and you have the only known vaccine for the bioweapon (we’ve seen it in movies for decades now) why would you not create it? Out of some self-righteous ethical or moral code that says you should save humanity? No. In war there are no rules. The rules of warfare are broken all the time, the only difference is that the winner of the war will most likely never be prosecuted. Law is a deterrent for honest and good people. Law does not bullets or viruses.
We must assume that all governments are currently working on top secret bioweapons and anti-biological warfare defensive contingencies and plan accordingly. The likelihood of such an attack is so small that it’s almost easy to dismiss. It would be foolish to dismiss as impossible or not prepare just because it’s unlikely. The fact is a genetically modified virus could be programmed to turn infected people into what we would call zombies. For lack of a better term.
A weaponized “zombie virus” makes the most sense. It’s fast spreading, has no known cure (except for those which created it), will have a high mortality rate, and the effects of the virus could be modified to change people by increasing body temp, releasing massive amounts of adrenaline and making the infected super aggressive. Infection would occur by the transfer of bodily fluids, probably blood, or through saliva. A bite, scratch or blood splatter in an open wound would infect immediately and the aggressiveness of the virus would help it spread quickly to the rest of the population.
This is the start of the outbreak which could bring on the zombie apocalypse.
Likely? No.
Possible? Absolutely.
The zombie apocalypse could happen.
READ: Zombie Apocalypse Survival Checklist
There are hundreds of emergency survival scenarios you need to be prepared for. Regardless of the disaster, you must be prepared for anything. Anything! Zombies are nothing more than a metaphor for the unprepared in a disaster survival scenario.
Preparation is the answer to surviving natural disasters and emergency situations. It’s a simple fix for a complex problem. It gives you the tools, weapons and supplies you will need to survive any scenario, including nuclear war or biological attack. We are survivalists, we know survival, and you know you should be prepared. So get ready if you haven’t already. Take the steps now to prepare NOW!
Because once a real emergency or disaster happens, it’s already too late.
Are you ready?
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BONUS:
18 COMPLETE COLLAPSE: Economic & Societal Collapse Survival
The collapse of society may seem like an impossible survival scenario but throughout history every nation has succumbed to some kind of economic or societal collapse and some time or another.
A perfect example is Rome and Greece. Both collapsed. Huge empires, gone, practically overnight.
No country is immune. Even Russia has experienced collapse in modern times. Maybe not as bad as Rome or Greece, but it’s still bad.
Some countries have suffered collapse and were annexed by other countries. This can cause more problems later like civil war and famine and even genocide.
If society collapses will you be ready?
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References:
Survival – Wikipedia
Societal Collapse – Wikipedia
Economic Collapse – Wikipedia
War – Wikipedia
Zombie Apocalypse – Wikipedia
