We get it – disaster prepping isn’t exactly the most fun way to spend your hard-earned money. But guess what? The unforeseen costs of NOT being prepared are enough to turn your finances into a full-blown storm.
Get ready for a wake-up call as we show how skipping basic disaster prep can leave you drowning in financial chaos.
Roof Woes: $5,960 to $12,740
Your roof – it’s that unsung hero that shields you from the elements. During a hurricane, a roof can blow completely off. And the cost of a new roof, on average, will set you back $6k to 12.7k! That’s a huge expense! You know what’s a LOT cheaper? Installing hurricane roof straps so it’s able to withstand storm winds.
$3,455 for Water Damage
Your roof blew off, and now you’ve got water coming in. Heck, your roof doesn’t even need to completely blow off for the water to get in. A bad storm could cause some shingles to come loose, or a tree branch smashes through it during a tornado…
The average cost of water damage repair from roofing issues is over $3,000. That’s just the average cost; it can easily be over $5,000!
Disaster preppers know that this expense is easily avoided. Just get a cheap $15 tarp and some roofing nails to cover that hole – and prevent water from getting in – until the roof can be repaired.
The $3,000 Hospital Stay
Bacterial infections are not sexy to think about. But they are one of the main reasons people end up in the hospital after flood disasters (what do you think will happen if you wander around in gross flood water, which has sewage and god-knows-what floating around in it!)?
A hospital stay costs an average of $3,000 per day. That expense could have been easily avoided by simply not going outside in flood water. Smart preppers have everything they need at home, so they don’t have to venture out and expose themselves.
$2,370 for an Evacuation Flight
Price gouging is supposed to be illegal during emergencies. But that doesn’t stop airline algorithms from automatically increasing prices for last-minute flights, especially as demand spikes before a wildfire or hurricane.
Take the $2,370 American flight between Miami and Los Angeles before Hurricane Irma, or the flights out of Yellowknife, which were 10x more expensive during a wildlife evacuation.
If you have a bug out plan in place, then you can avoid these expensive evacuations. And, even if your plan relies on airline tickets, you can avoid those last-minute higher costs by pre-packing your bug-out bag so you are ready to go before prices skyrocket.
$3,500 for Mold Removal
Flooding is one of the most common natural disasters in the United States. It’s also not covered by most home insurance policies, which many homeowners only discover after receiving a painfully high bill for mold removal. Professional mold remediation typically costs $1,500 to $9,000!
Smart preppers don’t just keep bottled water and food in their supplies. They also have trash bags and box cutters so they can start ripping up wet carpets and throwing out damp items before they start growing mold, which spreads to the entire home.
Preppers also know it doesn’t cost you anything to prop up your couch on cinderblocks or roll up carpets before a flood – things that will save you huge amounts of money in damages.
$900 for a Gas Generator which Should Only Cost $300
If you shop around, you can easily find a portable gas generator for under $300. But wait until there’s a likely power outage, and you can say goodbye to low prices. If you are lucky enough to find a generator for sale, it will be one of the larger, more expensive models. Expect to shell out at least $900, if not more!
