What Will Happen When Disasters Strike-Survival Skills You MUST Know!

When disasters strike

What will happen when disasters strike-will you be prepared to take care of your family?

Surviving a disaster is not usually at the top of our list of things to prepare for.

You may not have thought much about what to do when disaster strikes, but you should.

I would stock up on certain foods.

I would compile a disaster preparedness food list of non-perishables that tend to have a long shelf life—things like rice and dried beans, to name a few.

As I was going through my supplies the other day, it made me pause, stop and think.

What would happen if another disaster were to strike in our area again?

As I contemplated the thought, it brought back some horrible memories of an ice storm in early January 2009.

We had a terrible ice storm in the Mid-South that year.

Thousands lost power for weeks. Some people lost power for over a month.

Gas was hard to come by, and food was in short supply at the grocery stores. 

We had no electricity! Thank God for gas stoves and heaters, and cast iron.

As I reflected on the disaster of 09, it certainly got me thinking again.

Would we survive another significant natural disaster if and when it occurs?

when disasters strike-How Will We Cook and What Will We Eat

Food is the first thought because everyone has to eat.

It’s hard to live very long without eating. So, how would my family and I eat? How would we cook?

When the ice storm of 2009 hit, it was not easy, but I knew how to cook in a skillet on a gas grill and an open fire.

Not just any skillet will work, though. I knew how to cook in a cast iron skillet.

Cast iron is durable. It’s portable and can be used on just about any heat source.

Thank goodness we had a gas grill with propane and firewood for cooking on a firepit.

Not every kind of cooking utensil can stand up to open fire. Cast iron can.

That’s great, but, most of all, we would be able to cook a wonderful hot meal as needed.

Now mind you, coffee is like a major food group to me!

So the first thing we began heating up was water to make coffee. 

We have to have coffee!

We were able to cook and have a good hot meal and HOT COFFEE!!

Knowing how to cook in cast iron and some basic camping skills were handy during those difficult times in 2009. 

We were able to cook and eat because our survival skills kicked into overdrive. We had to survive.

We take the conveniences of home-cooked meals and restaurants for granted because we don’t think a disaster like that will happen to us.

But it does.

Yeah, it may have been a little rugged and unconventional. Some may even call it kind of redneck.

It’s very different when you MUST cook on an open fire by necessity instead of by sport or hobby.

But, even when disaster strikes, you can still cook and eat all because of cast iron!

When disaster strikes – What can we do

Reevaluating Our Survival Skills:

Before disaster strikes, you must reevaluate your survival skills and supplies well before the storm.

Living in the New Madrid quake zone, we always think about the big one hitting our area.

Fortunately, this was not an earthquake, but still, it was the big one for us.

As we know all too well, disasters are going to come. And unfortunately, tragedy strikes when you least expect it.

We had some advanced warnings of the storm coming, but not how severe it ended up being.

Your disaster may not be ice like ours was.

It might be flooding or tornadoes. Possibly snow storms.

It might even be wildfires or earthquakes, but disasters will surely come.

Disasters don’t have to be significant either to be major for us.

We are so accustomed to life’s luxuries anymore that disruptions of any kind are a disaster.

And what about power outages?

What if we didn’t have the amenities of electricity or fresh water? Could we survive?”

When disaster strikes-I Will Survive

Will you be able to survive with a minimum amount of cooking utensils and supplies?

But, if we have no way to cook our food correctly, we are in big trouble.

Fire and cooking utensils are life savers. But, do you know how to cook on them to feed your family?

Kids and pets get hungry quickly and look to us to take care of them.

We must take care of our family, friends, loved ones, and neighbors until help arrives.

To be prepared, we must prepare.

The 2009 ice storm changed me and how I look at potential disasters from that point on.

I now have survival items on hand. But most of all, I have the skills.

You may want to consider some basic training if you don’t possess the necessary skills to cook without utilities.

It would help if you learned how to cook on an open fire or with a cast iron skillet.

Cast iron skillets work wonders for cooking.

Try and familiarize yourself with dutch oven cooking.

Practice cooking and practice sterilizing water.

Cast iron dutch ovens can boil water and be a deep fryer if necessary.

It would be helpful if you had some simple camp dutch oven recipes too.

Practice your survival skills as if you were camping in the rough for an extended period because you may have to.

Our instincts usually kick in when times are tough. Why? Because we all have a desire to survive.

We will do whatever it takes. Skills only strengthen our chances of survival.

When disaster strikes-I will survive!

One Final Thought

I hope you will consider some of this because disasters strike when we least expect them.

Don’t be caught off guard. What will happen when disaster strikes?

BE PREPARED!

There will always be those who are not.

One of the most extraordinary things we can do during a natural disaster is to help our loved ones and neighbors.

We may be the only help anyone around us has for a long while.

Emergency workers may not get to us for a very long while.

It may be days or even weeks before power is restored. Roads may be impassable. Power lines may be down too.

Water may not be fit to drink either. So, keep this in mind: you can survive if you prepare.

There are many survival stores to get great supplies. Amazon is one of the cheapest and broadest, with millions of items.

We can stock up on our survival gear and our camping gear.

We can be prepared before disaster strikes.

What do you say? Let’s all be prepared!

I hope this has given you some ideas to survive any disaster. Like I said earlier, it’s not a matter of if a disaster strikes.

It’s simply a matter of when.

Together we can and will survive!!

P.S. Don’t forget about medical supplies and bandages.

You may have to deal with some injuries too. So keep this in mind when adding to your survival gear.