A comprehensive threat assessment first compares the impact of a threat, or situation if you will, with its anticipated frequency.
Threats that are anticipated and may be considered ones that would occur with some frequency would be tornadoes if you live in an area prone to such, and wildfires, hurricanes, snow and ice storms, and earthquakes just to name a few.
Other anticipated threats would include a house fire, a job layoff, traffic accident, vehicular breakdown in a remote area, animal attack while hiking, and medical issues with you or a family member.
Any one of the above mentioned can put you in a survival situation and yet a few are typically not considered survival situations in the traditional sense, but nonetheless, they must be analyzed for their impact on you and your family and then prepared for. These can also be called prevailing threats, which can strike out of nowhere, and yet are so common they are often times overlooked when it comes to prepping.
They are overlooked because of how we look at doomsday scenarios. Some people let others, others like news anchors, Prepper friends, and so-called experts determine what the threats are. We can’t lose sight of what is right in front of us, however.
The so-called common sense threats must be dealt with sometimes on a daily basis while at the same time we need to keep an eye on other threats hovering in the shadows.
Do you live near a nuclear power plant, is there a large dam or reservoir that supplies water and power to your community, is there a large prison in the area. These can also be called anticipated threats. It does not mean something would happen, but something could happen if.
If some maniac (s) blew up the dam or reservoir and flooded your community, and this would also shut down the power and water supply to your town or city, if someone sabotaged the nuclear power plant or if some human operator fell asleep at the switch, which created a destructive and deadly meltdown. A prison riot or a grid failure could mean violent prisoners are released to wreak havoc in the community. Anticipated threats, which must be considered, because of where you live.
From common threats and ones that would occur with some frequency, you move on to threats against the community and the nation as a whole. The incidents may not happen close to where you live, for example, but would still have an effect on your life.
You may live in a cabin in Montana thinking you are insulated from attacks, but an attack on New York City would influence your life. An attack like this could make you change your plans, and depending on the severity and type of attack, you may see a disruption in banking procedures, supply chains, and access to the Internet, and radio and television signals may go black. Regardless of where you live and the threats prevalent to your geographic location, you still have to prepare for threats that may not at the time appear to have a direct impact on you, but they will at some point.
No matter where you live, you have to venture into town on occasion and if the grocery stores are shuttered and the gas pumps are only pumping air, then you have problems if you have not prepared for this. You may think a grid failure would not have an impact on you if you have your own power sources independent of the grid, but it will because it will have an impact on the local community and economy.