I was born and raised in South Florida, disaster prep is something you just kinda grow up with here. I've been through more major hurricanes and significant floods than I can even count. People tend to focus on the "cool" aspects of prepping: the guns, the gear, the giant loot piles of MREs. And that's all well and good, you need food, you need water, you need to be able to protect yourself and your family from looters and the like, and generator power is a nice comfort for some and a medical necessity for others, lord knows I certainly have one. But the larger truth is that what really gets you through after a disaster is community. Neighbors helping neighbors. Have a community network that you can rely on and also help support. That can be through your Church, another community organization, or just an informal understanding with your neighbors. Never underestimate the mental benefits of knowing you're not alone after a disaster. And at a certain point, after you and your family are taken care of, all that's left to do is help others. The real heroes after a disaster are guys like the Cajun Navy, going around rescuing people and getting them to safety and getting them to aid networks that can help them. Don't be a lone wolf, and don't think you can just go around robbing people at gunpoint for supplies, because sooner or later chances are rule of law comes back and you're gonna have to answer for everything you did. At the very least you're gonna have to answer for it morally to your creator, or whatever your moral compass is.
