Although you may be prepared for almost any type of disaster, unfortunately not everyone else around you is. When catastrophe strikes, those unprepared people will undoubtedly look to you for help, and depending on your relationship with them, they may even ask to join your party. If you decide to accept them into your group, the following tips will help you know how to best deal with these unexpected guests.
Take Inventory of Their Supplies
Hopefully, the new members of your group have at least a few items to contribute to your collection of supplies. The first thing you should do is to take a good look at what they have in their home that could be useful, such as canned goods, tools, weapons, firewood, etc. Once you figure out what things will be beneficial to the group, you can transport them to wherever you store your own emergency supplies so that they’re accessible and ready for use.
Plan Rations
The rations that you planned on will obviously need to be adjusted when anyone new is added to the group. If the new party members have any food to contribute to the stock, this change will require adjustment to the rations as well.
Even though it’s a pain to recalculate everything, it will definitely be worth it in the long run to have the food and supplies divided up correctly. Running out of food too quickly is a much bigger hassle than making sure the rations for your group are correctly modified.
Establish Boundaries
Because unexpected guests are unexpected, it’s ok to set some limitations and boundaries for them since you’re the one who’s been doing all of the hard work to plan and prepare everything after all.
For example, if you want to be the only person with access to the group’s weapon supply for safety reasons, you can establish that as a rule from the start. Or if you’re okay with them staying on your property, but not in your house itself, you have every right to let them know that they’ll need to figure out their own shelter.
Don’t put up with anyone who tries to bully or manipulate you into doing things their way when you’re the one doing them the huge favor of allowing them into your group!
Dealing with unexpected guests during a disaster definitely isn’t ideal, but hopefully these simple tips will help you maintain order as you figure out what changes need to be made to accommodate everyone.
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