We have learned over the past several years that we can experience natural disasters like fires, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes that can make living in our home difficult if not impossible. Now we have to add to the list the potential for cyber terrorism that can shut down electricity, natural gas and water systems. We have just seen a cyber terrorist attack by a criminal gang against Colonial Pipeline that supplies gas, diesel and jet fuel to many states in the Northeast that has caused a national emergency in those states until the pipeline is back up. These gangs demand millions of dollars to remove the malware code from the company's software. Sadly, we live and die by technology.
The point to all of this is to the degree possible are you ready should your home lose electricity, natural gas and water for a prolonged period of time. There are the easy things you can do like stock up on gallons of bottled water and batteries for flash lights and lamps. However, if you live in an area where natural disasters seem to happen every year, maybe it makes sense to buy a generator so that you will have power when electricity goes down. What they learned in Texas during the recent power outage is that tankless water heaters need electricity to function so they not only lost power, they lost hot water. Regular water heaters continued to function.
We can all assume it will never happen to us. But history says otherwise. We have seen thousands of people without electricity, natural gas and water for many days at a time. Generators operate off gasoline or diesel fuels and or natural gas. Just something to think about. Natural gas would be the safest, but who knows if it will be available in a natural disaster. In any case, everyone should consider preparing for a natural disaster and or cyber terrorism that could impact daily life. At a minimum do the easy things.
