The truth is that prepping is nothing more then insurance for your "standard of living " or "quality of life ". Just as you have Health Insurance, Automobile Insurance, Life Insurance, Homeowners Insurance ect. Prepping guarantees that in the event of a disaster you and your loved ones will have the ability to live without major changes in your life style, ie. (Food and water, medicine and hygiene)  just to name a few.
          In the Past few years Preppers and prepping have been under the spotlight of the main stream media and with the airing of National Geographic's "Doomsday Preppers" a lot more people have shown interest on the subject. A major misconception about Preppers is that they are paranoid about catastrophic events that most likely will not happen and that they are often tinfoil hat wearing outcasts. Well those stereotypes couldn't be farther from the truth. Preppers come from all walks of life, different races and religions, political beliefs and economic or social status.
 Now as far as the events that one would prepare for, there are several things that can occur such as:
E.M.P.(electron magnetic Pulse)
which can be caused by Coronal Mass Ejection from the sun. An electronic device can also create an E.M.P. and the larger the device the Larger the affected area. So in the wrong hands this type of device could be disasterous.
     Although the Government spends millions and millions of dollars to fight terrorism and their efforts and awareness have greatly increased post 9/11 so have the terrorist. Unfortunately  as probability dictates eventually it could happen again. Now as far as being directly affected by this type of event it would be more likely to affect people in larger urban populations but this may cause mass migration out of cities and into rural areas which are not designed for large influxes of people. Roads, grocery stores, gas stations and anything necessary for living would be bought up and used up in a few days!
     Since the agreement of Nuclear "peace" between certain countries the probability and fear of nuclear war and mutual annihilation has greatly diminished but the fact is that there are countries out there who are just now discovering the technology of Nuclear Science and how to weaponize it. These countries may have marginal stability with their leadership which may not share the same ideals with America which could possibly result kn an attack.
                "Dirty bombs" are exactly what they sound like, they are a explosive such as C4 or any kind of explosive material placed with either biological/chemical agents or something that contains radioactive contamination. Dirty bombs affect a small area (maybe a few blocks) but they mostly are meant to cause fear and panic. On the other hand if a series of dirty bombs were to be set off then that could cause such hysteria on a national level that it may effect a lot more people. We would have mass migrations and panic buying.
           Natural disasters can effect anyone at any time! Weather it be a fire or earth quake or both(San Fransisco 1906) A hurricane like Katrina, a treacherous snow storm that could cripple an entire city in a couple hours or a tornado that can destroy half of a city while leaving the other half virtually "untouched". The point is Natural disasters happen all the time and the effect all parts of the country!
      As far as an Economic collapse  is concerned, our economy gave up any true security when U.S. Currency was no longer backed by gold. When you consider that and then factor in Big corporations moving factories out of the United States and production of goods in the U.S. dropping dramatically  and furthermore our ever growing debt with china (now at a staggering 1.6 trillion) that at this point would litterally take centuries to pay off.Are we actually that confident that China is even willing to wait that long?
                      Invasion of The United States by Another Country may seem far fetched and the fact is that there are very few countries that would have the ability to do that. One of which is China and due to our growing debt with them there is always a possibility of disagreements and potential retaliation. Now the one factor that keeps China at bay is that even though we have a lot of debt with them we still are a major part of what keeps their economy strong and we are their top recipient of exports.
               So these are just some examples of catastrophes that could occur at a moments notice without any warning and yes maybe on an individual basis the probability of some of these may be low but when you consider all of the these together the chance that one of them happening is a lot higher and it really just makes sense to be prepared. And it really depends if you want to be a victim or take the appropriate measures to ensure the safety, comfort, and future of you your family and loved ones. The feeling of being prepared gives you piece of mind and an paralleled sense of security!
  

                             Nor Cal Prepper