This message was self-deleted by its author

[Kelvin Mace]

72. Setting up this type of system is not that hard

If you can get devices to work on your home router and you use smart phones regularly, you have about 70% of the know how.

There are lots of things you can do to make yourself safer, actually "feeling" safer is trickier.

A lot depends on where you live, what your resources are, what the real threats are, etc. As you obliquely point out, different actions for different threats. An AR-15 is useless against a tornado, or a falling tree, or loss of power for a week due to an ice storm. Those threats, which are far more likely to occur, and far more likely to affect you, require a different set of actions to prepare for. And again, these precautions are greatly influenced by resources and likelihood of occurrence. Tornadoes happen in my neck of the woods, as do hurricanes and lighting. I Don't worry about earthquakes or blizzards. Heatwaves are a problem, but prolonged extreme cold is not.

You have to do a threat assessment and determine what resources you need and how you can mitigate a danger. Also, what is the mitigation in relation to the cost?

One useful thing I forgot to mention is "know your neighbors". They can have your back when you aren't around and something hinky goes down. Also, my neighbors know that I have prepared for the likely disasters, so they can rely on me to keep the power on when all else is dark and cold.

Until you answer many of the questions above, what you "need to do" is unknowable. Do you have people in your house with a heart condition? Well, a $600 auto-defibrillator might be a better investment than a Glock. A few thousand for a backup generator (NG/LP rather than gasoline) might help your family weather a prolonged power outage that could send other people to a Red Cross shelter.

Again, assess threats objectively. Look at the tools needed to mitigate these threats. Pick the tools likely to give you the best mitigation for your dollar.

Oh, we also have three small dogs. We have a sound sensor in their kennel area. If the dogs go nuts (they have better hearing and smell than humans) then we add a layer of redundancy to our alarm system.

A perfect system? Nope, because sometimes our Boston snores like a chainsaw. But, when I check in, at least I get a laugh and know all is well at home.

If you want to know about any specifics to my system or discuss your situation, please feel free to PM me.