Surviving Doomsday:
A Guide for Surviving an Urban Disaster
By Richard Duarte
CreateSpace, Dec. 2012
Paperback, 181 pages, $18.95, Kindle, $5.99
ISBN 978-1480270664
Reviewed by Gila Hayes
As a follow up to August’s book review, this month I studied another author’s work about preparing to survive natural disasters, grid down and civil disruptions all falling under author Richard Duarte’s categorization of “WCS – worst case scenarios.” Realistically focused on what city-dwellers can do, Surviving Doomsday is an older book, but is packed with solid, workable solutions for water, food, first aid, self defense, deciding to flee or stay put, getting home in a crisis and more.
Duarte theorizes that people are shocked when an emergency strips away food, water and shelter because “most of us have never really been without the basics, and our attitude reflects it.” By contrast, early homesteaders dug wells, gardened, farmed, raised livestock and if a disaster wiped out their homestead, they got to work recovering and didn’t wait for help.
In urban and suburban survival scenarios, you, too, are likely on your own. “During the initial period after a WCS, you will most probably only be able to count on yourself and the preparations you have made,” Duarte urges. For example, consider our reliance on petroleum, he writes. If war or natural disaster disrupts oil production, freight stops moving and merchandise will disappear from local store shelves. What happens then?
Stockpile water and food before others panic, Duarte suggests. Grocery stores usually need to restock at least every 72 hours, but shelves empty more quickly when fears arise. If freight trucks stop rolling, not only will physical hunger foment trouble, the psychological and emotional backlash amongst a self-indulgent population obsessed with eating when and what it wants will be substantial, he warns. “During a WCS you’ll need a mix of carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, minerals and electrolytes to stay on your game. The moment you start to reduce your caloric intake, you will also begin to see a marked decline in your physical and mental performance. It’s your job to make sure you plan ahead so that this doesn’t happen to you.”
Duarte acknowledges that “very few people have the time, money, space or even the desire to purchase, store and manage many years’ worth of food.” Urban apartments, he notes, have no available space for the bulky long-term stored foodstuffs. “The idea is to have enough food to allow you and your family to survive a short-term crisis within the relative safety of your own home or some other secure location,” he explains, recommending that food set aside for emergencies “should always be 1) shelf-stable, and store well ... 2) easy to prepare and consume ... 3) generally require no cooking, can be eaten cold, or warmed up slightly 4) fit nicely within your budget and 5) easy to rotate and use on a regular basis,” and, he adds, don’t forget to have two can openers – redundancy is advised.
Don’t stockpile food without knowing it is palatable, and packaged in servings that can be used up before it spoils. He suggests calorie-rich foods that store relatively well without refrigeration including peanut or almond butter, canned meats, fish and seafood, pasta sauce, evaporated milk, fruits, and vegetables. Dry goods include rice, beans, oats, powdered milk and protein powder, granola and protein bars, dried fruit and nuts, pancake mix, and pasta. Dark chocolate, instant coffee and honey and sugar round out his suggestions. Storage containers must protect emergency foods from bugs and rodents, moisture and humidity, he warns. Regular food rotation is a must. MREs and camping food pouches work well for bug out bags, he adds.
Water leads Duarte’s concerns, and his minimums are higher than most: two gallons per person per day, kept fresh by stock rotation, or purified through a variety of methods. He outlines the symptoms of dehydration and discusses making water safe with bleach, iodine, UV purification or boiling. Increasingly, Americans live in big cities, reliant on municipal water systems, many of which are outdated, overwhelmed, and failing. “In order to survive a WCS in an urban environment, your water plan will require your full attention and some substantial planning, far in advance of any unexpected event,” he stresses.
Sanitation and hygiene during a worst-case scenario receive a full chapter in Surviving Doomsday. Normal conditions make hand washing, waste disposal and bathing so easy that we forget how dirty hands spread MRSA, E. Coli, Norovirus, salmonella, fecal bacteria, and more. Besides drinking water, you need disinfected water for washing, plus antimicrobial hand sanitizer (to cut down on clean water use), chlorine bleach, disposable plates and utensils to limit dish-washing, and paper towels so cloth towels don’t spread germs. Even baking soda and white vinegar aid in cleaning. Wear surgical gloves and masks when helping sick people or cleaning the latrine and have sealed plastic bags in which to dispose of feces or diapers placed in covered containers far away from living areas.
Duarte discusses first aid kits “designed to treat either a non-emergency situation that does not require a doctor or hospital, but may still require care to avoid complications, or to treat an emergency situation that require instant care until the person can be taken to a doctor or hospital,” recommending staging kits in your car, home and workplace Most first aid kits sold “are filled with a lot of fancy packaging and very few truly useful products,” he observes. While a commercial kit encourages some to start carrying first aid supplies, it is best to build your own kit so Surviving Doomsday sketches out an extensive list ranging from tourniquets to chest seals, bandages to Steri-strips, and much, much more.
“Having medical supplies and medications and using those supplies correctly are two entirely different things,” advises Duarte, recommending training and having your own doctor’s advice about medications you can or cannot use. Stay current on vaccinations before an emergency and maintain dental health, he adds, so you start strong if a crisis arises.
Don’t tell others about your preparations. When desperate people forage for food, water and shelter, your stockpiles will attract attention unless you practice strict privacy, Duarte writes, in one of Surviving Doomsday’s repeating themes. Beyond hunger, “also expect dramatic increases in the activities of criminals, who by their very nature, will be inclined to prey on the weak, much as they do today, but in the absence of law and order, to a much greater and more violent degree,” he writes. Stay in your home where you are safe from human predators. “During a WCS, it’s not your job to go outside and fix the problem(s). The magnitude of any such problems will be beyond the capacity of any one person. Your job is to deal with and manage the effects of the situation within your own home.”
Keep your home locked and don’t attract attention. This is a team effort, Duarte writes later, recommending that everyone in the home understand home defense and shoulder elements of it appropriate to their abilities. Stay indoors and only allow immediate family inside the home. Keep your supplies hidden. If compelled to share, draw those goods from a separate cache, not the one on which your family depends. Before an emergency, reinforce doors and windows, hinges and locks, and trim or remove bushes, but add low, thorny ones around the windows as deterrents. Set up and supply a safe room and establish a code word to trigger immediate retreat by all family members.
Duarte highlights the value of good tools, observing that in emergencies stores run out or inflate prices of chain saws and simple construction tools and supplies to repair damage. Tools and know-how to shut off your home’s gas lines and water mains are important, he adds. Your emergency tools should never leave your homestead because borrowed tools are often returned broken or not returned at all. Buy the highest quality you can afford, from axes and shovels, to chain saws, power drills, generators and portable heaters or coolers, he urges.
Most of Surviving Doomsday is about preparing to shelter at home throughout a crisis. Duarte explains, “Absent extraordinary circumstances, your home will usually be the safest place to be during and after a major crisis. If you have planned well, your home will afford you food, water, relative security and the home court advantage.” Preparation for circumstances that contraindicate remaining at home is discussed with lots of caveats.
The common “head for the hills” fantasy is extremely unrealistic, Duarte stresses. “Absent some very hardcore survival training the majority of us average folks will not last more than a few days in the wilderness.” Often remote wilderness is too far away, sufficient supplies too heavy to carry (a gallon of water weighs over eight pounds), and automobile travel is often untenable in a crisis. If you must leave, Duarte writes, depart as soon as you learn of the danger before gridlock blocks the highways.
Determining whether to “bug out” pivots on having a place to which you can flee, whether you can walk or bike to it, or, if you need to drive, can your car manage the terrain, and do you have enough fuel to get there? Do you have safe resupply and rest points on the way? Are there several routes to your destination if some are blocked? Know these things in advance and if you must flee, have a packed bag ready and don’t delay.
Commercially compiled bug out bags rarely meet individual needs, Duarte continues. Priorities include ease of carry if blocked roads prevent fleeing by car, and a bug out bag’s contents should be appropriate to the weather, include a compass and local maps, plus about two dozen other items specified in a list of suggested “carry with you” necessities. Practice is crucial, he writes, so, for example, if you’ve not used a map and compass, now is the time to learn. Pack items most likely needed on top. Bug out bags should be unpacked, refreshed, and repacked at least once every three months, he urges.
The bug out bag’s counterpart is the get-home bag, Duarte continues, discussing supplies to carry all the time. The survivors walking home after the 9-11-2001 attacks on New York illustrate the unpredictable need for serviceable shoes, flashlights, food bars, water, first aid supplies, plus a dozen and a half other items listed in Surviving Doomsday. The biggest challenge is consistently taking along a get home bag because, he warns, “the day you need it, you will need it desperately.”
Emphasis on equipment, supplies and gear, can eclipse the crucial factors of fitness, health, and mental fortitude, writes Duarte. Emergencies test strength and stamina when survivors may need to carry an injured person or clear fallen trees blocking a door. “Urban survival is as much about preparing physically and mentally, as about security, water, food, and medical supplies,” he writes. “All the stockpiling in the world won’t help someone who is mentally and physically unprepared.”
Test yourself, Duarte suggests. Can you turn off power and water and rough it at home for 24 hours? A week’s worth of life’s challenges can tested in one day. Turn off power, water and gas, use a sanitary toilet solution and outdoor shower, water purification, do meal prep that wouldn’t draw in predators with the scent and doesn’t require electricity, and hand-wash your laundry. Simulate an injury requiring first aid, have family members keep security watches ‘round the clock, and turn off heating or cooling to experience how local climates affect the family if electricity goes out for a long time.
Duarte synopsizes the supplies he discussed in the previous chapters into comprehensive lists covering water, food, medical, clothing, bedding, tools and equipment, hygiene, and defense. Surviving Doomsday closes with these extensive lists, a glossary, and a recommended reading list for further study.