Crisis Survival: Prepping For Refugees

(TacticalNews.com) – In previous articles, we have talked about the importance of Operations Security (OPSEC) for keeping prepping a secret from the masses. The idea is to ensure no one comes knocking at the door asking for you to save them after s*** hits the fan.

This is often easier said than done, however, as not everyone can keep a secret like prepping for a disaster from their friends and family. In fact, should the world spiral out of control, having refugees show up to aid in your survival could be a good thing — so long as you’re ready for them.

In the following video, Survival Dispatch discusses what it takes to prep for refugees, and what rules need to be in place for hosting them:

Before you allow evacuees into your home, you need to break OPSEC and discuss with them what will be expected. This includes the rules, what supplies they’ll need to bring, and what work they will do while there to ensure your collective survival. This is a post-collapse scenario; no one will be sitting on their laurels reading the Sunday paper.

The Rules

Should you decide to allow friends and family to join your survival group, the first thing to do is to establish rules. They’re your guests, and you’re accepting responsibility for their welfare and sharing your hard-earned preps with them. The rules of democracy go out the window at this point — you have the final say in anything that happens.

You can always be open to discussion and suggestions, but when it comes down to decision time, you’re the acting leader. If you have any doubts that someone you know will be challenging your authority, do not let them in. Every ship needs a captain, and in this scenario, that’s you.

Prepare NOW

If you intend to bring outsiders into your home or property in the event of a world-changing disaster, extra preparations are required. You shouldn’t have to carry this burden alone, either. If people want to join you in an emergency event, they need to bring some supplies with them.

- Space. Prepare ahead to ensure there’s enough room for everyone to sleep. A post-apocalypse environment is going to be stressful enough; having cramped quarters will make tensions rise quickly. Spreading everyone out so they have a degree of privacy can prevent infighting amongst the group.
- Food. Prepping for your household is challenging enough, but prepping for an army of refugees is much more difficult. Purchasing extra essential supplies to accommodate newcomers is one way to prepare ahead of time. Another option is to have them buy goods to store at your location, just in case. At the bare minimum, anyone bugging out to your location should have one month’s worth of food for each person coming.It is important that the food they bring isn’t in coolers and doesn’t require refrigeration. Serious preppers tend to have full refrigerators and freezers. Also, if the power is out, the food will spoil regardless of whether there’s space for it.
- Water. Again, refugees should be bringing enough water for at least a few days with them. But, you need to have large quantities of water stored away just in case. Finding replenishable sources of water is a good idea as well, as the stores will get used up quickly with extra people.
- Essential Supplies. Refugees should bring their own bedding, such as sleeping bags and pillows, medications and first aid supplies. You’re providing them a place to go, you shouldn’t have to supply everything else.

Get Here, Get Busy

Prior to the end of civilization, it’s a good idea to have everyone come out and get to know your property. This gives you a chance to show them what work will need to be done, how to secure the property, etc. Doing a practice weekend where they “bug out” to your location and dry run a survival situation can help everyone be ready when the time comes for the real deal.

If they are coming from long distances away, a few visits to the property now will also give them an idea of how to get there in case GPS isn’t an option when it counts.

In a true emergency situation, your guests may not be able to bring anything with them. If they have to head out on foot to escape a rioting city, they won’t be bringing months of goodies with them. Prepare ahead of time just in case by purchasing extra supplies when you can.

For a guide on when it’s time to bug out, take a look at our article here.

Do you have plans in place to have friends and family stay with you in the event of a large-scale emergency? Have you ever had to house someone after a natural disaster or some other event that forced them out of their homes? Reply to your email and share your story, we would love to hear from you!