15 Steps for Hardening a Home Against Looters After a Disaster

Urban Survival Site has published a 15-step guide to fortifying a home against burglars and looters ahead of a disaster. The site argues that a locked door stops most thieves today, but desperate people will try much harder once a crisis hits.

Snapshot

Urban Survival Site's guide covers stronger doors and windows, alarms with battery backup, motion lights, tall fences and thorny plants, often missed entry points like chimneys and attics, and ways to avoid advertising stored supplies. Author Alan Urban concludes that even a well fortified home can still be breached, so his last tip is keeping a loaded firearm within reach as a final layer of protection.

Key points

• Doors and windows: The guide says a lone knob lock can be beaten with a hammer or picked with a knife, and recommends deadbolts plus longer screws in the hinges, jamb and strike plate. For windows and glass doors, it suggests metal bars or shatter-resistant security film.
• Alarms and lights: It says an alarm's bigger job is waking the household, and favors systems with battery backup. Motion-sensor lights near entry points are meant to rattle intruders.
• Perimeter: A security fence, per the article, should be at least eight feet tall, hard to climb, set in concrete, padlocked and see-through. Cacti or thorny bushes under windows add another obstacle.
• Overlooked spots: The guide flags chimneys, garage doors, attic access and yard items like firewood or trash bins that can work as ladders.
• Low profile: It advises breaking down boxes from big purchases, keeping supplies off social media, using blackout curtains and getting to know neighbors who can share watch duty.

Quick take

Author Alan Urban writes that no ordinary house can be made impossible to enter, so the final tip is to keep at least one loaded firearm within easy reach as a last line of defense.

Read the full story at Urban Survival Site.