Access to the internet has been a big blessing to the world for a lot of reasons, chief among them being how easy it has made a number of aspects of life that were once a major hassle. You can do all your banking online, pay your bills, go shopping, order groceries and have them delivered to your doorstep. Much of our lives has moved to the world wide web. So much so that many of us have no backup plan for how to function if something, like an earthquake or electromagnetic pulse, were to take place and shutdown the internet. Imagine all of the chaos that would ensue if our online world suddenly ceased to exist.
This would also impact emergency services, hospitals, doctors, transportation, you name it. Terrifying thought, right?
So how does one prepare for such a disaster?
Communication
Having some means of communicating with your loved ones outside of the internet is critical. If the internet is down, cellphones are probably not working properly either. This is why it might be a good idea to still have a landline telephone. I know, I know. That’s ancient history. Might as well get out great-grandma’s rotary phone.
If phones are working, test your text messaging apps to see if they are operational. Have one cellphone in the home that can act like an internet hotspot that can connect to cell towers.
Have Cash On Hand
Most people today live a cashless life. I don’t mean they’re living in poverty, but that they don’t carry around paper money anymore. It’s a hassle. It’s far easier to pay with your credit card or even your smart phone. However, you should always have an emergency stash of cold, hard cash on hand just in case of a severe internet outage. Most card readers rely on the internet so if that goes down, your card cannot be processed for important purchases such fuel, food, and medical emergencies or supplies.
Bartering
“Trade or barter with friends, family, and neighbors for anything you might urgently need. Read this post for a few pros and cons of bartering to be better prepared. An internet outage may likely affect the supply chain, meaning you can expect shortages of anything and everything from toilet paper to over-the-counter medications and dog food. If the internet outage extends for more than just a few days, trading and bartering for what you need might be one solution for your most immediate and important needs,” The Survival Mom says in a post on this very topic.
Books, Books, And More Books
Kids today rely on their tablets and other electronics for both information and entertainment. When the internet goes poof! they will be bored out of their skulls. This is one of the unfortunate and extremely negative byproducts of being a culture dependent on the internet.
Make sure you stock up on books, comics, graphic novels, puzzle books, and so on. This also includes books that contain useful information on how to do certain things (like a cookbook) and administer certain kinds of first aid.
Generator
The Survival Mom says, “If you can focus on just one priority, then an energy backup is it. Hurricane Beryl left millions without power in July, 2024, and my own experience made me realize this might be the most important prep of all. We were fortunate that our internet was only disrupted for a couple of days, but others, depending on their internet company, were disconnected for several days.Our power grid is aging and under enormous stress from the increasing electrification of everything and the unprecedented demand from AI. Any backup sources of energy– a generator, power bank, solar generator — anything at all is no longer optional, in my opinion.”
You might want to consider having more than one back-up power generator in case another situation occurs that takes out the generator.
These are just a few things you can do to ensure you make it through a lengthy internet outage. Having these items on hand in case of an emergency can provide you with a great deal of peace. And that’s priceless.
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