When the world changes
Help.
If something is happening right now and you did not prepare, start here. Natural hazards, national crises, and the personal emergencies that arrive without warning. If nothing has happened yet but the news has you worried, start here instead.
By Dan Whelan, founder of New World Survival
Researched from government agencies, university extension services, and other published sources. See our sources
What these guides are
Written for someone who did nothing ahead of time
Every other page on this site assumes you have time to prepare. These pages assume you do not. The crisis is happening, you are starting from zero, and the only question that matters is what you do next.
They are grounded in what actually happened to real families during real crises: the Great Depression, the Argentine collapse of 2001, past pandemics, extended blackouts, wartime economies, and the private emergencies that never make the news.
If something on this page applies to you right now, start reading. If it is still only a worry, the rest of the site covers how to close the gap before the worry becomes an event.
It has not happened yet, but you are worried
Before anything happens
Most people who arrive here frightened have not had anything happen to them yet. They have heard something, and they are about to go shopping. These three pages are for that moment: whether to act at all, what to buy if you do, and what to do when the disruption has a date.
Something in the news has me worried
Three questions that separate a warning from a rumor, and ten actions worth taking either way.
I think I need to stock up
Inventory first, then a duration, then a buying order, then the point where you stop.
I have about three days
What to buy on day one, day two, and day three when a disruption has a date on it.
Something is happening now
What to do as quick as possible
These are not preparation guides. They are action plans for someone who has never read a preparedness page and needs to know what to do right now.
Earthquake
Shaking now
Tornado
Warning issued
Flash Flood
Water rising fast
Severe Storm
Lightning, wind, hail
Landslide
Ground moving
Avalanche
Snow unstable
Hurricane
Storm approaching
Wildfire
Evacuation possible
Winter Storm
Snow, ice, wind
Ice Storm
Freezing rain
Extreme Heat
Dangerous temps
Flooding
River or coastal
Volcano
Eruption or ashfall
Dust Storm
Visibility gone
Lightning
Strikes nearby
High Wind
Derecho, microburst
Danger from people, not weather
When everything changes at once
Sustained crises
Financial Collapse
Banks are freezing. Cards are failing. Shelves are emptying. A complete action plan from the first 48 hours through the first year.
Read the guideGrid Down
The power is not coming back in hours or days. What fails first, what to do about it, and how to keep a household running for weeks or months without electricity.
Read the guideWar
What changes for a civilian household, what to secure first, how to decide whether to stay or leave, and how to keep a household running when supply chains break.
Read the guidePandemic
Running a household when stores are stripped, schools are closed, and medical systems are strained. Supply management, isolation, routines, and keeping it together for months.
Read the guideNot every crisis makes the news
The crises that arrive quietly
Some of the hardest things a household faces never show up on a news ticker. They arrive in an envelope, a phone call, or a silence where a person used to be. These guides are written for the day it happens.
Job Loss
The income stopped. A calm, step-by-step guide for the first 72 hours, the first month, and the long stretch after.
Read the guideMedical Crisis
Someone in the household is suddenly ill or injured. What to organize, who to call, and how to keep the rest of the household running.
Read the guideDeath of a Spouse
The hardest thing. A guide for the decisions and paperwork of the first days and weeks, when thinking clearly feels impossible.
Read the guideAll Disruptions
Job loss, rent trouble, utility shutoff, displacement, caregiving, divorce, and more. Every guide for every quiet crisis.
See all guidesWhen prices keep rising
Three moves against inflation at home
Not every squeeze is an emergency. Sometimes the same groceries simply cost more every month, and the sandwich on the road costs far more than you remember. These three guides cover what a household can do about it, with the government numbers to back each step.
Cook at Home
Restaurant prices have outrun groceries since 2020. What a home meal really costs, and where a beginner starts.
Read the guideBuy Cheaper
Unit prices, store brands, frozen and canned produce, and the staples that stretch a grocery budget.
Read the guideSpend Less
Find where the money goes, cut what you will not miss, lower the big bills, and keep what you save.
Read the guideIf none of this is happening yet
You have something most people in a crisis wish they had
Time. The pages above are written for people who ran out of it. If you are reading this on a quiet evening, you have the one advantage that changes everything: the chance to prepare before it matters.
The rest of this site is built for that. Water, food, energy, shelter, communications, medical readiness, planning, and the skills that hold a household together. Start anywhere.
Start hereLast reviewed: October 15, 2026. These guides are not legal, tax, financial, or medical advice. They are plain-language starting points for households in an active crisis.