If for example a Katrina sized storm, or a Tsunami sized flood, or a huge wildfire (meaning ~90-95% devastation) was due at your house in 15 minutes, with your current preparations, how long would you last, or would you get away safely with some remnants of your former life. I know, it sounds gloomy, but stuff happens beyond our control.
So I have a tough suitcase for photos, movies, documents, and things like that.
A backpack with light weight camping gear, some basic survival gear, and few clothes. And 80 litres of water stored for drinking (don't need to take it all). A reliable vehicle and all the basic tools for it, spare battery, spare fuel and oil, belts, fuses and globes.
I reckon for me, 5 mins to load up car. Then depending on head for hills, coast, or inland, 5 mins to head away ASAP, and then in the next 5 mins everyone else is getting on the road, chaos starts to reign, but hopefully I have a head start.

I'm only a bit of a 'prepper', it didn't take much to organise, and at least you might save your life.

I'd just head for the boat. I keep supplies on board and can catch my meals.

I don’t have an actual store of items or “go bag”, but have calculated the risks we could face in the Midwest and feel, in most events, my everyday pantry would suffice.

I don’t eat canned or packaged foods generally, but keep a shelf in the panty with those items and take them to the local food pantry every 6 months and buy new packaged and canned products to replace them.

I keep a good supply of wood and charcoal in my shed in case of electrical outages that I can still cook for a couple of weeks, starting with whatever is in my freezer before it becomes useless.

I change out a drawer full of assorted batteries once a year when I check my smoke detectors. This drawer also contains fire starters, matches, candles a hand crank radio and hand crank flashlights, and a basic first aid kit. I also have an emergency bag with rope, panchos, tools, fishing line and hooks, knives and a flare gun.

My garage always has a large gas can I refill every dozen times I use it for the lawn mower, though it is never more than half empty. So I always have at the very least 5 gallons of gas available.

It may be a minimum by some standards, or an unnecessary precaution to others. But I have used the extras and been glad to have had them during several storms that left me and my family without power for several days.

I belong to a few SHTF (Shiat Hits The Fan) communities where we discuss survival preparation.
I have a few bugout boxes and a plan. I also keep all my criticals handy and in a water tight folder.
I also stockpile some canned foods and have a water supply.

The most important tool I have is my brain tho.
I study maps, Google Earth, wild edibles and basic adaptability.
Stockpiling only works if you are with your stockpile.
Chances are, a SHTF scenario will occur when you least expect it.
Being able to think on your feet is most important.

We have some American nukes up the road so I guess I'll watch them take off, crack open the jack daniels, have a spam sandwich and wait for the incoming

Crossbow, bat with spikes, ax, water proof matches, Anthrax, Slayer, Pantera, Biohazard, Testament, Exodus, Over Kill, Lamb of God, Behemoth, Byzantine, Static-X, Ministry, Megadeth, Metallica, Amon Amarth, In Flames, Steely Dan, Greta Van Fleet, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Blue Cheer, loaded on the MP3 player.

I'm soooo fubarred! To hell with preparedness! I'll be sitting back toking going, "Oh ****"!

I like your way of thinking, Scoob!
At least ya got some badazz music

hahahahahahahahahahahaha now THAT's the essentials :-)

Hummm ... if I was home I would grab my dog first then suitcases with rollers and fill one with clothes one with food then grab pillow cases and make one last sweep through the house then grab the gas can & some tools and head out....

Would not matter how much you stockpile if your only escape is to get away from your home within 15 min, you could only grab so much within that time...

Only solution to this would be to keep all the items you would have to grab if you only had a short time packed and ready to go where all you had to do is pick them up and go..

Topic: How prepared for a disaster are you ?

My marriage to my ex-wife was a disaster. I wasn't very prepared.

Psst...don't tell him....he's a spy..

Living here on an island, with constant traffic jams,and the BBC constantly reminding everyone that EVERY kind of weather is potential disaster, the idea of beating the rush to go where ever seems a bit pointless, escape? you gotta be kidding, I'd get 50 yards down the road....but at least I know it's coming......chilled white wine anyone?

If I can't eat it, wear it, shoot it, or wipe my azz
with it... It isn't in my supplies.

as prepared as I'm ever gonna be - as they used to say in the 50's during the Cold War - just bend over & kiss your a** goodbye.

I would not be prepared at all.

Deep in the jungles of Bolivia a secret order of scientists created a biological weapon to use against the infidels of the West. The weapon, referred to as AW 3 (Allah's Wrath V3.0) was a genetic modifier geared to the human genome. Designed to propagate thru H2O, attach to the genome and inhibit pain receptors while intensifying emotional states. It simulates the Zombie or Rage effect in the exposed.
The terrorist cell never knew they inadvertently unleashed the weapon. The scientists didn't know the agent would mutate.

Everything was fine while the agent remained in a closed environment. A sort of 'stable dust' that was encapsulated in a water-soluble shell. All readings showed the shells were safe for handling and the 10,000 capsules were boxed up and set for delivery. At the air strip, those capsules were repackaged into deployment pouches. One of the capsules broke during handling. Nobody was aware it was already unleashed.

The agent, being propagated thru water, bonded with the water molecules in the air. You may not know this but the Earth's entire atmosphere has moisture in it. It is a fluid in gas form. Its why there is dew and frost. It is why there is humidity. AW 3 rapidly transferred from water molecule to water molecule. It spread up and away from the initial exposure in a rapid succession of binding. It invaded everything. From the upper atmosphere to the deepest ocean trenches. Anything that had water molecules was infected.

The terrorist cell deployed their payloads. Time passed. Infection rates were designed to be sequential. Infection, absorption, reaction, duration and finally death. The mutation changed the infection rate. What was designed to take 90 days, happened in 6 days. Global saturation occurred in 3 days. 100 % of the water was infected.

The effects of the agent has various results in humans.
It started as an increase of emotions, pain thresholds started changing. Nobody even saw a problem. It just seemed that more and more people were becoming emotionally unstable and less and less careful.
By the time a full blown worldwide reaction was noticed, people were already committing suicide, raging in the streets and killing.

Infrastructures failed.
Cities started burning.

Transportation, communication and public care ceased.
Every level of civilization changed. Nobody cared anymore. Governments fell. Churches disbanded. Children, the weak or wounded were preyed upon and killed. The entire planet smelled of decay and rot.

The survivors at the end of 6 weeks were not uninfected. They were not immune to the infection (there was no immunity). The survivors successfully metabolized the agent. A few were in full control of their faculties, not many. Most of the survivors had certain aspects of the contamination prevalent while other aspects were controlled. Some could feel pain normally but had extreme emotional periods. Some were emotionally stable but felt very little pain.
Survivors stared banding together.

While there was destruction in unprecedented scale, things still worked. Electrical grids that were not destroyed could produce electricity. Water treatment plants still functioned in most small towns. Planes could still fly, cars would still run and the world was pretty much operable as before except, barely any people.

Cities became no-go zones. Large stretches of land were scorched or burning. Highways were littered with wrecked cars and trucks. Rail lines were mangled masses of twisted metal and many areas contaminated with a wide range of toxic chemicals. As all those dead bodies started to decompose, disease and pestilence erupted on a global scale. Many survivors died as a result of the conditions.

*You are a functioning Survivor, Where are you at? Where do you go?
*What is your first order of priority? Personal? For a group?
*You are in a group of survivors. Are you a leader or a follower?
*If a leader, is it by power or reason?
*What rules are important in your survivor's camp?
*Do you attempt to restore infrastructure? How? What first?
*Do you attempt to clean up the mess? How? What first?
*Who is expendable? What are their functions within the group?
*What is expendable? What can be done without?
*Will you attempt to communicate with other groups?
*Animals and plants are unaffected by the agent, how does this effect your survival dynamics?
*Forecast your situation in One year. Five years. Twenty years.
*Human gestation has changed from 9 months to 12 months. How does that affect re-population strategies?
*Mortality birth rates are 1 %. How does that affect the family societies in your group?

That's a heavy scenario Tom, I've read another similar one about nukes somewhere.
Yes unfortunately the Dr Strangeloves' out there really do try to make stuff like that. Look at the mess in england from a small 'outbreak' of something very nasty.

That's a pretty good spread of preparedness amongst you all.
Nice soundtrack Scoobert, I'd be cranking Ozzies War Pigs, and add some Sound Garden and Sepultura.

The likely scenario would be: deep in some political back room some politician makes a critically stupid decision, and things start to fall apart, the usual corruption B S, public servants don't get paid, services are closed, repairs don't get made, power and water and sanitation not reliable, garbage in the streets, shops running out of food, fuel running out, jobs lost, middle classes go borderline existence, borderline people go feral, ferals go mental. Chaos.

I just wondered if many people actually thought about their independent survival, and didn't rely on their 'government' to make it all better for them.

I think reliable transport to get away from the biggest problems is key. Looking at old war footage, the old bicycle loaded up and pushed was popular, and manageable by most people. Like bike camping, but under duress.

And for the hard core preppers, when all's said and done, a shell from a destroyer, or a bunker buster, or daisy cutter will probably be the end; so it's only the wannabes that you can really defend yourselves against.