What MaJoC describes is what I would call household prudence, enough to get you through a emergency that isolates you at home, such as a major power failure or a stretch of foul weather that closes the roads. That’s a good start on disaster preparedness, but not sufficient for a crisis that engulfs your entire region and displaces entire communities.

My Dad (war veteran) had what he called his “go bag” — a small case in which he kept his passport, a copy of his will, Mum’s address book, and a stash of cash. “When the balloon goes up,” he said, he would put some clean socks and underpants in the go bag and beat feet. Not a bad example to follow.