Recently, I saw a dish towel that said, “Mr. Rogers didn’t prepare me for the people in my neighborhood.” 

It’s good for a laugh, but there's also a bit of truth to it.

Community is important—even for those who strive to be self-reliant.

Yet, time and time again, history has shown us that we can’t always trust our neighbors or fellow citizens when disaster strikes.

Think about what happens anytime there is a natural disaster... looting and crime, among other things!

NOLA reported about Hurricane Ida:

Many of the city’s 400,000 residents had evacuated prior to Hurricane Ida’s landfall (2021), and more left in the days after, as widespread power outages lingered and temperatures rose. The city's dataset of calls reported to the New Orleans Police Department shows a spike in alleged burglaries during that time. Between Aug. 29 and Sept. 7, a total of 235 people called the NOPD to report that their businesses had been burglarized, and 180 people reported burglaries in their homes. That's more than three times the number of burglaries reported to NOPD during all of last August.

Or consider what’s taking place in Haiti after years of government turmoil and natural disasters.

One AP report claimed:

More than 130,000 Haitians have fled their neighborhoods as gangs break into homes, kill and rape residents in a fight to control more territory, and nearly 40% of them are now living in makeshift shelters lacking basic services.

In fact, criminals view these types of natural disasters and emergency chaos as an opportunity.

War on the Rocks explains:

Recent experiences in different parts of the world have shown that while law enforcement assets are diverted to engage in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief after major storms rip through a region, criminals accelerate their activities. […] They take advantage of the chaos, disorder, and destruction to find new footholds and speed up their pursuit of illicit profit while the eyes of security professionals are turned toward search and rescue, saving lives, and both responding to and recovering from the latest storm.

Whether it is a natural disaster, political chaos, or a massive grid failure, criminals will take advantage of your neighborhood…

Unless you know how to hide signs of life to dissuade criminals from looting your turf.

Make Your Home Look Abandoned

Many of us take immense pride in our homes. 

We strive to keep our houses looking nice and our yards looking green.

But if SHTF... you do NOT want your house to look impeccably maintained.

You want to make your home look less than desirable. 

Here are some suggestions:

• Forget landscaping. Let the grass grow wild.
• Allow the mailbox to overflow with junk mail.
• Board up your windows.

Limit Noise

Staying quiet can be a matter of life and death, whether you’re evading hostile humans or avoiding drawing attention to yourself. 

If a crisis situation, you must be aware of your noise, mechanical noises, and the noise around you.

This will involve making some life changes.

Here are some suggestions:

• Make sure your family understands the importance of staying quiet.
  
  
• If you have electricity, say "goodbye" to loudspeakers, radios, and televisions. Invest in a small hand-crank weather radio to stay informed.
  
  
• 
  Avoid using loud appliances, such as traditional generators. Old-school generators are very loud, must remain outdoors, and will announce your presence to criminals. Instead, invest in a generator that you can put inside your home while keeping the panels outdoors. To enable the generator to run quietly inside your home rather than outside, make sure you also invest in the new Grid Doctor extension cord. This 75-foot extension cord can connect both 2200 and 3300 Grid Doctor batteries to the panel. Plus, 15 feet of the cord is fully flat so you can close your door or window all the way.

Limit Light 

During a blackout, one of the quickest ways to alert criminals is to turn the lights on using a generator or battery-operated lights.

You don’t want to be the only house on the street that clearly has power.

Instead, use light wisely and only when absolutely necessary.

• Allow back windows to let sunlight in.
• 
  Use 100-hour candles to light small spaces.
• Rely on a solar LED light to light up just what you need, when you need it.

Limit Activity and Signs of Life

When emergency strikes, you want to remove any remaining signs of life.

This will mean changing your lifestyle.

For instance, you may stay up through the night and sleep during the day. If the power is out, you may be tempted to cook outdoors. 

But with the Vesta Space Heater and Stove, you can cook indoors instead. 

The Ember Off-Grid Biomass Oven is also safe to use indoors and doesn't require electricity. 

Cooking indoors will prevent smells and sounds from alerting predators.

It is also essential to make yourself less visible via internet connectivity. 

This is why having at least one Faraday bag in your home is wise for storing GPS-tracking devices, such as cell phones.

Most importantly, invest in a generator that you can put inside your home while keeping the solar panels outside. 

And, we now have a 75-foot extension cord that can connect both Grid Doctor 2200 and 3300 Solar Generator Systems inside to solar panels outside.

Hide Before It Happens

It will be challenging to live as if you are not around—as if you and your household don't exist. 

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make wise preparedness decisions in the present.

For example, refrain from advertising your stash of survival gear or long-term emergency food.

When crisis comes, those you told about your stash may come for it.

This is one of the reasons why My Patriot Supply ships emergency food products in unmarked boxes. 

Don’t make yourself a target. Reduce attention, friends.

In liberty,

Elizabeth Anderson

Preparedness Advisor, My Patriot Supply