There’s a long tradition of people sheltering in place.
Sheltering in place means they stay in their homes during assorted disasters instead of evacuating or bugging out.
Most of this blog is dedicated to sheltering in place for people who live in cities or suburban areas. Growing our own rice, wheat, potatoes, fruits, nuts, vegetables, wildcrafting in the city, storing food, air filtration, decontamination procedures, potable water, dealing with flood waters, storms, tornadoes, blizzards, hurricanes, ice storms, even earthquakes, urban warfare, and even military and police invasions are (or will be) addressed here.
I’m not convinced we’ll have an apocalyptic type “shit hits the fan” “life as we know it ends” type scenario in my lifetime – I’m not ruling it out, I just don’t think humans are truly that stupid. I could be seriously wrong. This is why, even though most of this site is devoted to sub/urban survival in the many situations we can face, I will occasionally include information on “bugging out”. I keep a bug out bag (often referred to as BOB) with me, I have one stashed in each car I ride in and in the cars of friends and family (because I want them to have a chance at survival, too), and in the homes of my family members. I encourage everyone I know to keep at least 3 levels of BOB: personal that they never leave home without, vehicular, and home.
My focus remains heavily on sheltering in place – making your home as self-sufficient and as supportive as possible. If you don’t own a home or land, I highly recommend doing so as soon as possible. Make sacrifices to do so. You have a much greater ability to fortify your own place than you do someplace you are renting.
Renting is such an insecure way to go – your landlord could evict you or refuse to renew your lease for any of a number of reasons and for no reason at all. He could sell the property out from under you or default on his mortgage, causing some anonymous investor to knock on your door and evict you with no warning at all. I’ve seen all these happen and been victim to some of them myself.
Owning your own place is perhaps the most important aspect of sheltering in place. You can obviously shelter in place for short terms in rental properties, but long term sheltering is best done in a place over which you have the greatest control.
Government authorities will try to force you out of your home and refuse to allow you back in disasters, and if you’re renting, you have much less ability to combat that. If you choose to shelter in place and you end up suffering for it, the public will not be sympathetic. You will be blamed for your difficulties. Sheltering in place is a time-honored way to protect what is yours, and it’s a highly condemned practice in modern life. The American Government wants us to trust them and to let them “take care” of us, but as Katrina and Rita have so clearly demonstrated, they can’t. Yet, they still carry on as if the government knows best and enact all manner of restrictive and invasive laws to prevent us from taking care of ourselves.
Don’t listen to that. The government is good for some very important things – roads, public communications, trade agreements with other countries, and theoretically, protecting our borders and our interests among the wider world. There are other things the government is good for; I’m not going to go through the list here. Governments are necessary. What governments are terrible and horrible at is regulating morality. When they get into the “father knows best” mode, they go downhill very quickly and become oppressive, invasive, and domineering. When governments attempt to dictate to us how we think and where we live and when we live there and what we do with our property, then it’s time to get the government back on track. Government is there to support us not control us. We control government. Civil disobedience is one of our primary tools in keeping governments on track where they belong.
Sheltering in place has changed from an expected part of life to an act of civil disobedience. If you choose to shelter in place, be aware that it can now be viewed as a criminal act. There are still many disasters where we are allowed to shelter in place (tornadoes, ice storms, heat waves, flash flooding, that sort of thing) and others where we may not be allowed to shelter in place (hurricanes come quickly to mind).
We need to decide – before the disaster is upon us – exactly when we will choose to shelter in place and when we (not the government) feel we need to evacuate or take shelter elsewhere than our home. And when the disaster occurs, we will know if we are going to commit an act of civil disobedience or not.
Consider all the disasters that could befall your home and city – wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, riots, floods, gang wars, invading militaries, chemical spills, whatever. List them all. Decide how you will survive each one. Make your preparations for surviving each disaster you think will happen in your area. Collect the gear, create the BOBs, fortify your house to weather as many disasters as you can (from shutters for windows, and alternative heating and cooling sources to food storage and gardens).
One important thing we can all do for sheltering in place is to organize our homes to deal with whatever disasters may come our way. If you live in a flood zone, for example, have floors, furniture, and walls that can handle being flooded and recover with minimal damage. Store mementoes and things you know you can’t stand to lose in such a way that you can grab it if you do need to evacuate, or can take it to high ground or put it in a water-proof shelter to retrieve later. You don’t have to lose everything and suffer because of a disaster.
If you live where wildfires are common, consider fireproof/smokeproof storage for precious items. Learn about firebreaks, and know when you have to evacuate as opposed to when it’s recommended you evacuate.
Do this for every disaster your area could throw at you. Even go for off-the-wall disasters – alien invasions, monsters, zombies…the thinking will stretch your mind and perhaps show you other areas you may need to bolster in your plans and preparations.
I think sheltering in place is often the wisest thing you can do. But it’s not smart if you’re not prepared.
