Being prepared

My friends and I have lately been discussing in our chat group the possibility of a crisis similar to what Cebu experienced after Typhoon Odette in December 2021, or an even worse crisis caused by human actions. In the aftermath of Odette, many communities were left without water and electricity, while residents struggled to obtain gasoline, withdraw money from ATMs, and access the internet.

Our discussion was prompted by recent reports of governments in Europe, Japan, and the United States urging households to prepare for disruptions to essential services. Reuters reported Britain's call for three days of food and water. Japan has renewed a similar appeal. In the Philippines, the Office of Civil Defense in CALABARZON advised families in October to prepare at least three days of supplies as part of preparations for a strong El Niño.

The reasons given for these advisories range from severe weather and earthquakes to cyberattacks and war. To be clear, some of these advisories have existed for years. Whether or not a crisis is looming, keeping three days’ worth of basic supplies is a very practical measure.

We do not really have a complete picture of what is happening in the world right now. Wars can suddenly disrupt oil supplies and trade, while extreme weather events can damage basic utilities and interrupt essential services at any time. Odette in 2021, as well as Typhoon Tino last year, taught Cebu a clear lesson. We need no special intelligence to know that the power grid can fail and assistance can be delayed.

So plan on being able to meet your household’s basic needs for at least 72 hours. Many experts consider this a minimum buffer. They recommend starting with drinking water and food your family can eat without refrigeration or cooking. Also include essential medicines, a flashlight and a basic first-aid kit. Keep your power banks charged. Build up supplies gradually with things you normally use, then replace them as you use them. Panic buying at the first alarming headline defeats the purpose.

We should also prepare for being unable to connect to the internet. Think of a hypothetical 14-day internet shutdown to really see how much we depend on being connected. Even a shorter, local outage can already affect our ability to communicate with family and friends, pay for purchases, or access documents we have stored online. An internet outage does not automatically stop every other service, but we should know which of our daily needs require an internet connection.

All this, of course, assumes a household has something to spare. I know that many in our country do not. The poor cannot easily set aside three days of supplies. People in cramped settlements may have nowhere safe to store them.

And that is precisely why those who can afford to prepare should do so.

A family with enough food and water for the first few days is one less household that government responders need to rush supplies to. That leaves them more time to help people who are trapped, injured, or unable to provide for themselves.

We should actually welcome efforts by governments around the world to encourage people to prepare. This is not alarmism but an acknowledgment that so much of ordinary life now depends on modern systems working together, and that when power or communications fail, several services can be interrupted at once. The government, of course, is expected to do its part to prepare for any eventuality.

For our part, we don’t have to assume that a catastrophe is imminent before we make basic preparations for it.