Any Stats on The Percentage of Americans Prepared for Disaster?

With the increased media exposure of preppers is there any way to know how much of the US population is now prepared compared to say pre-9/11?

87%??



No really, I'd be interested to know too but I'm not sure there's ever been a poll or anything. Probably around 10-15% realistically.

Edit for spelling

According to the Doomsday Preppers stats its anywhere from 40% - 75%

I think there should be a decimal point in there somewhere. 4.0...0.40... whatever.

Prepared for what? An overnight power outage? A three day disruption? A weeklong snow storm? TEOTWAKI?

You would have to define it to quantify it.

Answer to the OP's ?, NO.

I agree with what someone else asked...prepared for what?

Lets say a hurricane, snow storm or thunderstorm scenario where the lights go out but it's not TEOTWAWKI.

3 days? I'd say a huge percentage are prepared even if they don't know it. 3 days of food isn't much I mean my goodness, a few boxes of macaroni, a few cans of soup and whatever junk food you've got in your pantry and a family of 4 can "survive" with no problem. I think the percentage that can make it that long is huge....not sure a number but I'd guess 75%+

10-14 days? That number drops alot. I'd say 40% could "survive" with no food from friends, neighbors or FEMA.

1 month or longer? Now we are getting into real TEOTWAKI. Now survival isn't all about food but also about staying safe and keeping what you've got. Granted this would be happening in 10-14 days but it's going to be really bad in a month. Honestly, to survive on their own with no one rushing to their aid, I'd be shocked if more than 25-30% could make it.

Now how many people do I think are really prepared for this type of thing and have actively made plans, even if just mentally and have bought some extra supplies, food etc? I'd guess 5-10% max.

This seems reasonable. I fall into the 1 month or longer category myself, being ready for 90 days worth of disruption. Anything past that foodwise, I would be in trouble.


Common sense, food rotation, and buying more than just guns for "preparations" makes this possible.

Regardless, its more than it was 5 years ago, and thats a good thing.

Seems like I heard on TV a while ago that the AVERAGE AMERICAN FAMILY would be out of food & water in just 3 days of a no power, no water, disaster. I assume that would only be the case with no warning, since with a few hours warning many could stock up. Regardless, it wouldn't be long before the looting & shooting started in the big inner city ghettos and spread from there ala New Orleans.

my largest downfall right now is water. second would be gas.
It's just me and the wife right now and we've got about 45-60 days of food. maybe 7 days of water
The dogs will either starve, become scavengers, or dine on rice and soup with us. No real stockpile of dog food at the moment.

I think all but the very poor are good for a week or two if they are not worried about balanced meals and variety, using just whats in their kitchens and reefers.

Honestly, i think the problem comes when they run out of liquids. Yeah sure, they can drink whats left of the milk and some juice or bottled water/pop, but then what? try cooking that macaroni or beans without water. try flushing the crapper. try bathing.


70% of the people will be looking for water at the 1 to 3 day mark and another 15% at the 3 to 7 day mark. I think 15% of the people could figure out what to do without running water for longer than a week.

2 %. I'd be surprised if it was much higher

First define prepared. One week, one month, one year, TEOTWAWKI?

There are various levels of preparedness. I know some folks who don't have much gear or food, but they know tracking, making traps and cordage, edible plants, water gathering, primitive survival skills. I know others who have a ton of food.

It could be going mainstream if Costco sells month or year long supply of food.

There has been a middle class trend of moving to small farms. Aren't these self sufficient types better off than a city dweller who has two years of food and an ammo fort?

I don't think there are very many prepared for more then a few hours of no electricty.

.01%

If anyone is getting motivated to be prepared from watching the TV shows recently, I expect they're doing it the same way New Yorkers did when they had that hurricane coming for them a year or two ago: they bought a few cases of water, some candles, and snack food, and threw a hurricane party.


I would be very surprised if the number of people who started taking it seriously after watching those shows was even measurable.

I agree with your last sentence completely. However, I work with a self proclaimed socialist. Obama lover, vegetarian, ACLU supporter... the works. Ive actually found him to be a pretty intelligent guy, but he was raised in an extremely liberal household. Brainwashed from day 1. And the fact that he's been told repeatedly that his skin color makes him a "victim" of whitey society (even though he's half white) doesn't help much either.

Anyways, we had our first talk about prepping after he watched the doomsday preppers show about a month or two ago. He noted the obvious bat shit crazy, and I agreed, but I had my foot in the door. I steered the conversation to "prep for the most likely" and "threat matrix" 3 month supply... etc etc. The topic came up again a few days later and he mentioned buying extra food and bottled water (This guy is all about the green movement and he bought several cases of bottled fucking water) during his last grocery store visit. We then talked about TP and other hygiene products.

A week later we talked about guns and now he owns an AR and a Springfield XD. Loves going to the range and really enjoys his new hobby.

He may not be there politically just yet. Not even close. But one day its going to "click" for him, and we will have another on our side.

Sorry for the long story, but I think its our job to take the incentive now that people are talking about the crazy preppers on TV. The show itself isn't going to make anyone prepare, but we can help to steer them in the right direction.

I think there are so many variables it makes answering your question literally impossible. First off, how do you define "prepared?" And prepared for what? Prepared for a tornado? Prepared for the zombie apocalypse? I'm sure a fairly decent percent of residents in states that get hit regularly by hurricanes have some degree of preparedness. But being prepared for a hurricane that may last few days differs dramatically from something like Katrina. I think if your question is in general, and you are asking how many American households have sufficient food/water for a few days, then I would say most do simply based on food in their pantry and water in the house/toilet basin.

Remember that a human can go 3-4 days without water and 10-15 days without food. So people can survive for quite a while even without having food at all. And in many states, water can be found (rivers, streams, lakes, etc.). If public water stopped flowing then we can assume residents of states with copious amounts of lakes and rivers would fare better than those in the southwest states which are arid deserts.

Now, if your question is about a level of preparedness including having stores of food, potable water, guns, ammunition, fuel, plans, etc. to survive for an extended period of time in an environment where everyone is on their own, there is no or little government, and no grocery stores or gas stations to restock supplies, then I would say probably less than 5% (and IMO this is being generous) of the population would qualify as prepared.

Having lived in numerous states, in a multitude of cities, and having known many neighbors I don't know a single one that is a prepper. Most have a pantry full of food and 1-2 gallons of gas in a gas can in the shed for the lawnmower, and one or two neighbors I have known have a few have long gun plus a boxes of ammo or two for deer hunting, but nothing along the lines of prepping like is discussed on the site.

Well,

I don't think the number of people prepared for over a month are vary large at all.

And I say that most people thinking they are prepared for a month long event are still not ready.

I'd say that farms are somewhat ready...but even they have times where supplies fall below that limit.

I try to have minimum of 90 days here of just about anything and plan for not much change to the diet either.

But, I'll say that sometimes when I go for my monthly shopping that I'm supprised at how low things get.

Not we could easily survive 90 days...but we still need to work here too...so we need more food than most people think.

90 days of food here takes up a huge area...just pasta is over 200lbs...around 1500 jars of canned goods...

Fortunately we don't have to stock huge amounts of water...have wells and 15,000,000 holding pond for fresh water...else it would be impossible.

Now even with a farm and such...after the first 30 days we may start getting low on really good stuff and be eating a bit more pasta and meat as compared to veggies if it's over the winter.

Well, Enough of my rambling...

Bottom line....IMHO...not counting water...that is an essential need and most people are not prepared
Week 90%+
Two weeks 60%
Three weeks 30%
Month >10%
Two months >2%
More ....well not many.

Even though I plan for 90 days...I still consider myself in the month category...there is always something you forgot.

We go a month between major shopping here quite often. So that is nice practice.

Try it, don't go to the store for as long as you can...whatever the time...then make a note on what you ran out of to make your shopping required.

I don't really like the emergency rations or mres or anything like that.

Most of the food you eat today has a shelf life of 90 days...except fresh produce and meats of course.

But just try to go one week without going to the store...then two...etc...you'll be surprised at some of the items you take for granted everyday.

B

Lots of people buying up guns and ammo, and very few people buying food and water to stash away. Thats ok with me. It means that I will have an endless supply of munitions in 6mo or less. Hell I won't even have to take anything by force(nor would I consider it), people will be dying from dehydration by the truckload.

I think its all about sustainability and self reliance. Farmers will outlive us all!!

I think if we are talking prepared for a longer term event then the number is 10% or less.
I do believe that there are an increasing number of folks taking steps to be less dependent in the event of localized disasters.

From the beginning of my involvement in the preparedness thought process (which to be honest started with an event in 1993), I have looked at preparedness as serving two purposes.
The first purpose is to create, for and with the help of my family and "friends"... a safe, life-sustaining environment that will allow us to come out of the other side of any disaster that is survivable with our health and security intact.
The second is to make certain that we possess the necessary information, tools, supplies, and skills which will enable us (after said disaster has completed it's life cycle) to begin restoring our environment to the point where we are, as much as possible, a self-sustaining mini-community where we can thrive, and move on with our lives.
Like most of the folks here, we ain't there yet....but we are moving forward on all fronts.

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