“We live in a complex world amongst even more complex human beings. There are hundreds of agendas that are in the limelight at the global level and the number only goes on increasing as we come down from there to the national and the local level. Living in the twenty-first century where the number of problems surrounding a person’s life has increased manifold, the number of individuals who are unhappy with the state of affairs and the fact that not much is being done to improve their situation has also increased. There have been incidents in the past where these unhappy people tired of their struggles have come down to the streets to protest. In some cases, these protests have also taken a mammoth form which has lead to curfews and violence. When people want something, they look with hopeful eyes to their government, when the government fails to give it to them, they turn against it and then against each other. The people marching on the streets may not always know what they are rebelling against because there is a bigger entity doing the thinking on their behalf. They have a mob mentality and do not think twice before doing what they do. But whatever the reason or the situation, a social crisis can occur at any given time, without you having the slightest of the idea of where and how it began. Sometimes, it will start right in front of you. You may have no idea what is it that will trigger it to reach a level where it cannot be contained beneath the surface anymore.
When this happens, the normal life will come to an unwanted yet unavoidable halt, and you may have no other option but to lock yourself inside your home because the mob can be fowl. All you can do is to wait for the situation outside to calm down so life can go back to normal. When the unrest does come to an end, the first few days involve people helping each other out. Everyone ardently follows the general rules that they otherwise ignored, and the thought of ransacking a grocery store is out of the question.
What matters is how you spent those few days of dire unrest, locked up in your house. Since social unrest is unpredictable, you have to prepare yourself beforehand. While you prepare yourself, you have to understand that you are doing so for a situation which may or may not occur at any given time in the future. Therefore, it is essential to keep the core needs and requirements in mind. We live in an unpredictable world which runs on the principle of “”Survival of the fittest”” and to ensure that we need to prepare ourselves for anything and everything.
Here we are, with some tips on how you can be safe and ensure your survival during a time when there is absolutely nothing that you can do except hope for the trouble to die out.
Prepare yourself
What makes a situation good or bad is how you react to it. The first thing that most people do when social unrest begins is panic which is what makes everything worse. As soon as you learn about a riot, the first thing to do is to compose yourself. Once you are calm, you will know what you should do next. There will be power outages and once the electricity goes out, anywhere outside your apartment is not a safe place to be.
- If you have the opportunity, it is better to shift to an apartment that is on the ground floor, for the time being. This way if the looters enter the building or the mob sets fire to it or creates any havoc then you can easily escape.
- To prevent any intruders from breaking into the house, you can shift heavy furniture and put it against the entry points of the house, mainly the doors and ungrilled windows. You can further block them using the canvas tarps, and nylon tapes. Covering the glass windows with dark paper and plastic helps. Even if someone tried to intrude after that, the obstacles would slow him down enough for you to think what to do next. If you are not the specific target that the intruder is aiming for, the chances are that on meeting this kind of resistance, he will move ahead to where it is easier for him to break in.
- Keep a barbed wire at your home at all times. Whenever you get to know that the mob has come out in the streets, go and fence your property with it to prevent people from easily jumping inside.
- If you hear a knock on the door, prefer not to answer. When the other person says, he is a law enforcement authority, ask for the valid ID card and do not let the person in unless you are a hundred percent sure.
- Remove anything combustible kept in the house and hide it somewhere safe, especially if there is something on the front, sides and behind the house.
Stay informed
At this point, information on what is going on outside is extremely essential. You cannot miss out on what the latest development is on the situation outside.
- Take to social media platforms and find out about rabble-rousing groups. They will bring the activities of the mob in the public eye and will also let you know which places to which you must avoid going.
- Apart from this, keep a radio at your home at all times so you can use it for the case of emergencies such as these. Do not rely on powered radios because you don’t know when the power supply may get cut. Get a real battery-powered radio and in a size that is handy enough so when you need escape, you can carry it with you.
- When the storm strikes your neighborhood, do not rely on any help from the law enforcement officers. Considering the situation at hand, they must already have their day jam packed.
- If at all you find yourself in a situation where you cannot get to your home, and you see the mob approaching become one of them. If you single yourself out, you will be harmed. No matter what it is that they are doing or chanting, just do or chant that. Survival comes before choice.
Preparing for necessities
Civil unrest is like any other disaster, just that it is man made. Therefore, it is essential for you to prepare for it just like you would for any other emergency. From adequate supplies of food, water, and other items of daily use to keeping yourself ready for the possibility of having to evacuate where you are staying, alive in your head is crucial. You may not have the time and the resources to leave in your vehicle. Sometimes, your feet are all you have to depend on so you have to make preparations for that as well by preparing a backpack filled with all the essentials you will need. An evacuation is successful only when you have prepared yourself to leave before there is a mass exit of people. The list of necessities include:
Food & Water: Social unrest is when you are too busy trying to make sure that you are safe. Even if you are locked up in your house, you do not have the mental strength and the time to prepare your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The only considerable option, in this case, is MRE or Meals, Ready to Eat.
These meals are named that way because you can eat them right out of the packet. There is no need to heat them externally in the microwave or the stove as they come with a self-activated heating system.
A single MRE has no less than 1300 calories that are more than enough for a grown adult. This calorie intake makes sure you are energetic and healthy even while consuming food that is not prepared at your home.
The MRE meals come with their set of eating utensils that include plates, bowl, and fork or spoon. If the water supply at your home is affected by the conditions outside, one thing you don’t have to worry about is soiled, and dirty dishes all piled up in the sink.
MRE’s are prepared in a hermetically sealed environment which makes sure that the food inside the packs remains unaffected by the weather conditions outside.
From beverages, desserts to snacks, MREs offer everything. They are resistant towards any external impact and designed in a way that you can carry the MRE packs ruggedly. This ruggedness helps when you have to escape your place of hiding during the unrest, and you don’t have enough time to pack. With MREs as your food supplies, you can dump them in your bag.
What makes MRE a superior choice of food is the supremely long shelf life. They can last from 3 days to as long as five years. So even if you start preparing beforehand, MREs are something that you can always have at your home because the food inside will always be edible and ready to consume.
Most MRE boxes come with water packages, so you don’t have to worry about carrying water supplies separately, in case you need to escape. MREs also have water packets that are sold separately. You can buy them if you want to stock up water. MREs are available in military stores.
- Flight supplies: There may arise a need when you have to move out of your home because the conditions have worsened. In such an emergency, you need to have a backpack ready with all the necessary supplies. From food, water, clothing to cash, appropriate medication, first aid, and the important documents, have everything ready so that when the situation confronts you, all you have to do is pick up the bag and leave.
- Blankets, sleeping bags and pillows
- Ammunition so you can defend yourself and your family when need be
- Have access to a landline phone because when the power is out and the battery of your cell phone dies, the landline is the only thing through which you will be able to communicate with others.
- Flashlights
Stay Safe
No matter what, do not go outside the house unless necessary. The cops are on the move, and they don’t know who is innocent and who is guilty. Do not be tempted to step out on the front porch and roam around with firearms. Not only will this attract the attention of the cops, but also that of people you are trying to protect yourself from.”
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