First, you have to realize that the typical home is not built as a defensive structure. Doors can be breached, windows smashed, walls and even roofs penetrated with tools and materials found practically anywhere. If an individual or group is intent upon gaining entry, they will gain entry.
The stuff has finally hit the spinning blades and the police are spread thin trying to see how far it has splattered. That is if they are even still on the job. There are looters dashing from building to building, dragging or carrying anything not nailed down looking like demented kids in a candy store as they stagger along the dark streets buckling under the weight of their loot.
Looters will usually strike the commercial retail areas first, because that is where the good stuff is, for the time being anyway. Drugs, alcohol and tobacco products will be swept up by eager hands. Electronics will even be carted off despite the fact there may not be an operational power grid.
Looters are usually opportunist, they know the police are scattered here and there, so the chances of being caught are minimal, so in their minds this is the perfect time to act up. They see glass windows and they see bricks scattered about, so naturally the windows end up being smashed. Why, because on the other side are things that no longer require cash, it is grab as much as you can and go as fast as you can.
Looters of course are not very bright. They take what they can carry off, and some may even make more than one trip, but none of it will help them survive the crisis. They brushed right by the food and water to get to all the shiny objects. In a few days, they will wake up to the fact that like every other human out there they will need food and water to survive.
Once the government starts dragging its feet, looters and others will begin marching on city hall, protesting the injustice and demanding action. When they realize the government is unable to help however, the protests will turn violent and the cycle starts anew, and everyone is now a target at this point.
Most citizens will wait until they hear from the authorities before they decide if criminality is the next step however. For some if not many, government failure is a death warrant, because they no longer have the means to feed themselves and their families. They never had to rely on themselves, and when called upon to do so they cannot. They need help and they need it now, so they will become reluctant and desperate criminals in the name of survival.
Now the food, water and diapers among other things will disappear from store shelves whether the store is open or not, and it will happen quickly. People will kill each other over the last loaf of bread or can of soup.
Now It is Your Turn
You prepared, but now the fact you have what you need means you have what others need as well. You must be able to defend what you own or you simply will not own it. Your house is nestled in suburbia just like thousands of others in your city. There is nothing unique about it, and if it is targeted it is likely to have been chosen at random.
You avoid the streets because of the turmoil. Simply walking along the sidewalk would be dangerous. Trying to convince anyone to stop protesting and start surviving is futile, and it may get you hurt. People in a panic will lash out at their saviors as quickly as they would their antagonist. Avoid people as much as possible and your friends may no longer be your friends.
You have no idea how your friends and neighbors will react to the crisis, some may rise to the occasion while others may fall completely apart. Then there are those that believe they need to do whatever it takes, and will use the excuse that they are providing for their families to inflict harm upon others, inflict harm upon you possibly.
First, You Need More Than One Plan
One of your plans should be an escape plan, not necessarily a bug-out-plan, but a plan to get out of your home, or your immediate neighborhood. If your home does come under attack, you need an exit, a way out. Do you know your area, for example, if you went out your backdoor and turned left where would you end up if you walked or ran for a quarter mile and the same question if you turned right?
Know where the Cul-de-sacs and dead end streets are, so you can avoid them if you have to escape and/or evade anyone in your own neighborhood. Keep in mind if you do have to flee your home, you will likely be on foot. Street level views will be different from what you see from a car, bus or taxi window, so walk your streets and learn every crack in the sidewalk.
If you know that law enforcement is not available, then you should stay armed at all times. A show of force, while walking your property may deter any criminal opportunist. On the other hand, hardened criminals may be looking for more firearms, but if you have them, and they are looking to take them, you have the advantage. Paying attention and noticing if anyone is watching you or your home may give you the edge you need, when they make their move.
Firearms’ training is important. If you have never been fired upon or fired at another human, things may not go as you had imagined. Some people will flinch or duck when a weapon is merely pointed at them, even though they themselves are armed. Some will fall back or drop to the ground in hopes of getting out of the line of fire. As they fall or drop people, often times discharge their weapon in the general directions of the aggressor, and this is how innocents are sometimes shot during a firefight.
Training will help you overcome some of your instinctive reactions. However, unless you have been in a live fire drill or a firefight, you simply will not know how you will react until the time comes. You can only rise to the level of your training, there is no on the job training when it comes to combat. You need the highest level of training you can achieve before you have an encounter. Targets shoot back in a tactical situation.
Do what you can to avoid situations, by making sure you have ample supplies so there is absolutely no reason to venture far from home. Do what you can to slow an intruder down. Heavy drapes or blinds taped tight to a window can slow someone long enough for you to counter attack or to escape.
Plywood can be installed over all glass openings as well to slow or even stop intruders. Glass opening should be covered to prevent glass from exploding inward and causing injury, and to prevent someone from throwing stun grenades or tear gas canisters through the glass openings.
Overhead garage doors can be breached rather easily with a stout crowbar or rammed by a vehicle to gain entry. If you have, any objects that can be placed in front of the garage doors to prevent someone from driving into the doors then do so. Vehicles can also be parked close to help prevent a breach by a vehicle as well.
People trained in close quarter combat will make as if they are breaching one entrance in hopes you flee through another, this is a means of “flushing” someone from a structure for elimination or capture.
Have an escape exit that is not obvious such as small bathroom or basement window. Large ground floor windows or doorways are obvious exits, and they will be covered from the outside by the intruders.
Trained personnel will have noticed all potential exits, but you will not know the level of training of those attempting a breach, in most cases, so do what you can to put the percentages on your side.
It is not likely you would be targeted by professional unless there is something unique about your home or possessions that would cause someone to target your home. If people in the community knew you were a gun collector, for example, then you might become a specific target.
This is one reason why as a Prepper you need to be careful “who you tell what too”. Once the SHTF people will remember where the guns, ammo and food are.
In most cases, you will only have to deal with one or two intruders at a time and if you stand your ground, you will likely come out ahead if you have the training. Most intruders probably will not have any formal tactical training. They will likely be armed, but they will rely on you being afraid more than they will rely on their weapons. In most cases if there are two intruders or even more, they will likely all come through the same entrance, you want them grouped in one place.
They hope you will panic or simply give in to their demands. They can be dealt with quickly if you know they are coming and you are armed. Well, armed, well-trained and confident homeowners are an intruder’s worst nightmare. Make sure they sleep well that night.