What is the worst case scenario? That is a question that I received a while back and have been pondering ever since. It’s a really hard question to answer and I imagine that most people have their own ideas as to what it is. In today’s post, we are going to look at what I think they three top worst case scenarios might be.

EMP/ Cyber-attack – This one has long been what I would consider to be one of the top worst case scenarios out there. I also consider this to be one of the most likely scenarios there are. If you wanted to take down an entire country without destroying the land and the mechanical infrastructure of it, this would be the way to do it. You would not even have to risk getting of your Military getting hurt in the initial process. Sure, it would require patience to wait for the citizens to die off, but once they did, it would be possible to rebuild it the way you wanted it. Our own federal government has estimated that within one year, 85% – 90% of the people in the US would be dead after just one year if we were attacked with an EMP device 300 miles over Kansas. Because and EMP wipes out all computerized circuits in everything, they would disable the computer in your car and trucks with the exception of those that are so old and do not have computerized ignition system. Our entire electrical network would collapse and leave us in the dark ages once again. This is a really frightening thought for me. Think of all of the people who now rely on medical equipment to keep them alive. Those on breathing machines or even those with pacemakers would suffer the effects almost immediately. The rest would die off very quickly as well. Without out electricity, there would be no way to manufacture Gasoline or diesel for any cars and trucks that might still be working or for generators for that matter. No electricity to pump water and sewage would cause the cities to quickly become unlivable. With no trucks to deliver groceries, the store shelves would be empty in short order. Then the riots and the violence would start, followed by complete chaos in the cities and towns. If you are thinking that our government would help, guess again. The sad fact is that they are no more prepared for this type of attack than the rest of us despite the fact that they have been repeatedly warned of the dangers. No, we will be on our own, and only the strong and the prepared will survive past the first few months. Disease, violence and starvation will quickly bring America to its knees. If you are not prepared or if you’re not a part of a very strong group that has access to supplies then you are doomed.

Nuclear attacks – This is the next one on my list of worst case scenarios. This type of attack would not only kill millions instantly, but it would sicken millions of others who would die off in a lingering death. Land, water, food, and even the air we breathe would all be contaminated forcing the death of millions more. Underground or cement bunkers that have years’ worth of food and clean water along with a way to filter the air would be your only hope. Ever the rain that fell from the skies would be contaminated. The very soil it’s self would be radioactive and unusable for many years. Those that were dying would have little to lose and would resort to taking what they want from anyone that has it. Rape and murder would be rampant and there would be little that anyone could do about it. The resulting EMP from the blast would also destroy the electronics in the area making communications impossible. This would be a scorched earth scenario and would leave the land completely barren and unusable for many years to come. Very few would survive this type of disaster, even most Preppers would struggle to survive.

Chemical/ Biological attack – While chemical and Biological attacks would do a lot less damage to the infrastructure than a nuclear attack, depending on what they were, they could still contaminate the ground and water as well. Areas not affected by the chemicals would at least have some hope of survival and may even be unaffected initially. The breakdown of society that followed however would leave no one untouched however. Millions could initially die in the attack and the disease that followed would create a nightmare of biblical proportions. While the military could help, it is unclear whether or not they actually would. If they would, I would not expect it in the near aftermath of the disaster for fear of a second attack. This is survivable, but would not leave our country the same. This type of attack would usually be followed by a secondary attack such as an invasion force to finish the job. Even if the military did try to help, there is no way they could supply the food and medical needs for our entire nation for any length of time. People would go hungry and a hungry person is a desperate person. Desperate people do terrible things in the name of survival. Law and order would begin to breakdown and chaos would begin everywhere. It would again become the survival of the fittest and the people would eventually revolt against the government because of lack of help. Only those that are prepared for this could possibly survive this relatively unaffected. Gas mask along with chemical/ biological suits would be a must for anyone that wanted to survive.

Plague – A Plague would definitely be in the top of this list. A Plague is one of those scenarios that would affect more than one nation at a time. Something like the Bubonic Plague with a death rate of over 50% would be a death sentence for most people. Spread by mass transit systems, it could cover the world in a matter of days. If it was one that has no known vaccine, then it could wipe out millions in short order and continue its destruction across the face of this great nation. The only sure way to protect from it would be to go into complete quarantine and isolation with your preps and your family. This would mean no going into town for any reason as well as even hunting as you could accidentally run into someone in the forest. No one could be allowed within a hundred yards of your camp and even further if possible. In a situation such as this, you could be forced to make some hard choices when dealing with neighbors and friends. As to how many people would survive? That my friend would depend on what the Plague is and just how deadly it is. I would not approach anyone without a mask and biological suit on for any reason what so ever. Again, the well prepared Prepper would have the best chance of surviving this type of disaster.

Maybe the answer to this question is that there is really no single worst case scenario, but rather a group of them. I feel sure that there are other scenarios that I may have overlooked, but these are the ones at the top of my list and the ones I think are some of the most likely. You could add Economic collapse to this list and get no argument from me. For this post I have tried to focus on the ones that would cause the largest loss of life in the shortest amount of time. I think that an Economic collapse would be a slow-motion disaster yet could cause just as much loss of life as some of these in the long run. Because we have no idea when a disaster will strike, we must be constantly looking for what is coming down the road. Prepare for every scenario that you can imagine and keep prepping right up until the minute the disaster happens. It is only through our prepping that we can have any hope of surviving when a large disaster finds us. Don’t let yourself get discouraged thinking that you can’t prep for everything. Figure out what you will need to survive the worst and then add the water and food and medical supplies that you will need. By doing this, you will be well on your way to being prepared for the worst case scenario. Until next time, keep on prepping because the true worst case scenario is the disaster that happens when you’re not prepared!

-The Sargent-