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Disaster Handbook
If a disaster ever damages your home and leaves you without power and pure water, this reference will see you through those dark hours. Absent of "survivalist" extranea, this practical primer describes how to prepare for a disaster in advance, be safe as it happens, and repair anything afterward. It further describes ... How to store and use all the foods, tools, and other "calamity commodities" you will need when misfortune comes knocking on your door. How to perform those everyday tasks that keep you alive -cook, wash the dishes, clean your clothes, bathe, go to the bathroom, and keep everything sanitary. How to fashion all kinds of household items in simple and useful ways. How to deal with disasters at home or at work, in a public building or while driving, in a plane crash or train wreck, on a sinking ship or in the vicinity of a shooter. How to defeat disasters without generators, weapons, and wilderness survival skills. When disaster strikes, far more citizens realize the need for teamwork and try to help each other -and would rather be known as Samaritans than Survivalists. This veritable bible of disaster preparedness contains 216 pages of inspiring text and 200 eye-popping pictures that open with a concisely expansive two-page-wide table of contents that leads you straight to what you're looking for, is innovatively formatted with slanted columns of text that ease your reading, is enriched with heavily bulleted to-do lists that quicken your search for information, and closes with an extremely detailed index -all of which can save your life and the lives of your loved ones, your business colleagues, your friends, even strangers whose fate is suddenly woven with yours in any misfortune you may face. You'd think everyone would want these things. But many customers will skip the shopping cart on the right because they have seen so many disasters on TV that they've acquired a panic mentality when they envision these events. "Disasters scare me to death!" they cry. "I don't want to read about them!" But really, learning how to defeat a disaster is as easy as deciding to go out to dinner. Remove the dread that bars your doors of perception, and you will enjoy a banquet of treats that will make the difference between suffering and safety. You will enter a brave new world that will erase your panic, release you from the grip of terror, and remove you from the deadening effects of indifference -and lead you to that switch of initiative that will energize your intelligence, empower your imagination, and arouse your sense of vigilance in ways that will tilt the odds of danger from being forever against you to being always in your favor. Another reason why disasters seem so needlessly frightening is because many victims tend to see them as a whole rather than divide them into much smaller and more manageable problems. A disaster can seem overwhelming when you are confronted with everything at once -but if you break it down to the 50 or 60 little things you need to do and knock them off one at a time, the whole thing can be as easy as eating a lavish dinner one bite at a time. The menu is simple. First you obtain what you need (easy if you have accurate lists which this book provides). Second, you store what you've obtained in a safe place (this usually involves some precautionary architectural design and construction which this book describes in professional detail, especially since it is authored by an architect). Third, you dice the dilemma into tiny parts until each is as easy to do as your normal routines during more tranquil hours (which this book describes in language a ten-year-old can understand). It's like eating: you don't wait until five before six to get your food for dinner; long before this you will have shopped for and stored what you will eat so it will all be there when six o'clock rolls around. In these respects and more, the delight of defeating a disaster awaits you."
- GenresNonfiction
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 19, 2025
Awesome reference book. Went winter camping recently so I thought to read this book. It has relevant statistics and anecdotal information regarding disasters of all kinds. Practical information on kits and safety measures. What I also enjoy is that while most disaster books can be preachy, exaggerated, and to be frank a little conspiratorial, this book is none of those things. Great reference book but I am not one to usually read these types of books from front to back which is why I wouldn't give it a 5/5.
December 28, 2016
Wow I just got done reading the book called Disaster Handbook by the author Robert Brown Butler I won this book from Goodreads.com for a honest review of the book . This book teaches you how to prepare for anything and everything that might come along I would definitely recommend this book to everyone to be prepared if there is any kind of disaster . Thank to Goodreads.com and to the author Robert Brown Butler for the book I would definitely give this a 5 star rating .
September 24, 2016
I was eating out of this author's hand from the moment I read "Samaritan, not Survivalist."
Ordinarily I'm anal about reading every word of a book before I review it, but this just isn't that kind of a book. It's a reference book as much as a how-to manual. I read the first three chapters and skimmed the rest and will be going back for more for a long time, I'm sure.
If you are a Survivalist (or Prepper or whatever) I mean no offense by my remarks. Different strokes, etc. But I look at disaster preparedness from the point of view of an old lady who has seen and heard and read and experienced a lot of things and NONE of them was the complete breakdown of society. They were hurricanes (on one end of the scale) and short-term electrical outages (on the other end.) If you live long enough, you will experience emergencies, if not disasters. And the more prepared you are, the easier things will be for you and the more helpful you will be able to be to those around you. The old Boy Scout motto "Be Prepared" is as sensible now as when it was coined a century ago.
The author opens with a list of the 110 people who died during or after Hurricane Sandy. A few were victims of the storm itself, but most died because they failed to follow basic safety rules or had no viable plan for living in a time of limited services. As he points out, life goes on and you still have to eat, drink, sleep, and go to the bathroom. Bathing isn't totally necessary, but it makes things more pleasant.
Two things struck me most forcibly about this author's approach. First, I loved his emphasis on COMMUNICATION. A simple list of relatives and emergency numbers may be the most important disaster preparation you ever make and yet it's one that most people overlook. You should have these numbers posted prominently and (ideally) your neighbors should have them. Check to see if your state has a "Yellow Dot" program which gives basic info to rescue workers. It's free and it could be a life-saver.
The second thing that I appreciate is his advice to rely on your intelligence and ingenuity, rather than on your STUFF. An arsenal of loaded guns may give you a sense of security, but you can't eat them. That SUV or Hummer can go places my little Yaris can't, but I've got a full tank of gas. Do you? A generator can be a life-saver or burn your house down. If you need to evacuate, your GPS will direct you to the nearest Interstate highway, where you will sit in a gridlock for who knows how long. A good map shows you the back roads. The old reliables (a good first aid kit, bleach, baking soda, rubbing alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide) are cheap, easy to store and very handy.
I imagine all of this information is available on the Internet, but there's value to having it all in one place. Plus, this guy can write AND he's funny. I loved the picture of his home-made outdoor (and I do mean OUTDOOR!) toilet, complete with tree branch toilet paper holder and great view. My only criticism of this book is that a few of the pages are printed on patterned paper. Very classy looking, but hard on old eyes.
The author very kindly sent me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I honestly think that every household should have it. Please don't be overwhelmed by all of the information he presents. Read a page when you can and try to do ONE thing every day (or even once a week) that will make you more prepared. Some of these are ideas that would be very expensive and time-consuming. Others would cost virtually nothing and take almost no time. His goal is to make you start THINKING. Once you do that, you're already ahead of the game.
Ordinarily I'm anal about reading every word of a book before I review it, but this just isn't that kind of a book. It's a reference book as much as a how-to manual. I read the first three chapters and skimmed the rest and will be going back for more for a long time, I'm sure.
If you are a Survivalist (or Prepper or whatever) I mean no offense by my remarks. Different strokes, etc. But I look at disaster preparedness from the point of view of an old lady who has seen and heard and read and experienced a lot of things and NONE of them was the complete breakdown of society. They were hurricanes (on one end of the scale) and short-term electrical outages (on the other end.) If you live long enough, you will experience emergencies, if not disasters. And the more prepared you are, the easier things will be for you and the more helpful you will be able to be to those around you. The old Boy Scout motto "Be Prepared" is as sensible now as when it was coined a century ago.
The author opens with a list of the 110 people who died during or after Hurricane Sandy. A few were victims of the storm itself, but most died because they failed to follow basic safety rules or had no viable plan for living in a time of limited services. As he points out, life goes on and you still have to eat, drink, sleep, and go to the bathroom. Bathing isn't totally necessary, but it makes things more pleasant.
Two things struck me most forcibly about this author's approach. First, I loved his emphasis on COMMUNICATION. A simple list of relatives and emergency numbers may be the most important disaster preparation you ever make and yet it's one that most people overlook. You should have these numbers posted prominently and (ideally) your neighbors should have them. Check to see if your state has a "Yellow Dot" program which gives basic info to rescue workers. It's free and it could be a life-saver.
The second thing that I appreciate is his advice to rely on your intelligence and ingenuity, rather than on your STUFF. An arsenal of loaded guns may give you a sense of security, but you can't eat them. That SUV or Hummer can go places my little Yaris can't, but I've got a full tank of gas. Do you? A generator can be a life-saver or burn your house down. If you need to evacuate, your GPS will direct you to the nearest Interstate highway, where you will sit in a gridlock for who knows how long. A good map shows you the back roads. The old reliables (a good first aid kit, bleach, baking soda, rubbing alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide) are cheap, easy to store and very handy.
I imagine all of this information is available on the Internet, but there's value to having it all in one place. Plus, this guy can write AND he's funny. I loved the picture of his home-made outdoor (and I do mean OUTDOOR!) toilet, complete with tree branch toilet paper holder and great view. My only criticism of this book is that a few of the pages are printed on patterned paper. Very classy looking, but hard on old eyes.
The author very kindly sent me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I honestly think that every household should have it. Please don't be overwhelmed by all of the information he presents. Read a page when you can and try to do ONE thing every day (or even once a week) that will make you more prepared. Some of these are ideas that would be very expensive and time-consuming. Others would cost virtually nothing and take almost no time. His goal is to make you start THINKING. Once you do that, you're already ahead of the game.
March 11, 2016
Note: This autographed paperback was sent by the author in exchange for an honest review.
When I received this request, I admit to being a bit hesitant. Some of the nonfiction guide books I’ve encountered (key word “I’ve”) tend to exude the following things:
1. Condescendence—“I know all; the rest of you are peons”
2. Presumption—Using language such as “all”, “always” or “never”, not leaving any room for “some”, “sometimes” or “every once in a while” things of that nature
3. Target Audience Mismatch—Writing a book that is supposed to be for “the common man” but using all types of advanced language, to the point where one has to have a dictionary and thesaurus on standby. The downside of showing off the fancy vocabulary is that the reader is so busy trying to decipher what is meant that the enjoyability of learning the points of the actual book is missed.
With 1-3, I have to gauge how much it impacts my overall score. I do take into account whether a nonfiction book is well-researched, along with the quality and quantity of the information provided.For some books, not by much; for others, it marked the difference between “okay”, “good”, and “fantastic”.
With Disaster Handbook, I am proud to say I did not have to worry about any of those three points.
Although the presentation—the appearance of the inside pages—may throw structure sticklers for a loop, it was pleasing to my eyes. Because it wasn’t the typical continuous straight line of text in spots, it caused me to pay more attention to the content I was reading.
The author did a phenomenal job in citing his resources—including the websites and individuals he used for his pictures. Some of you may probably be thinking, “Unleashed One, that should be common sense.” However, you will be amazed at how many out there will document text but miss the boat on websites and picture sources. Not saying that it’s intentional but it does happen.
I also liked the extra sheets provided at the back to jot down emergency phone numbers as well as the cards one could make copies of and cut out.
The Disaster Handbook starts off with a very powerful example—one involving Hurricane Sandy and what disasters could have been avoided if common sense was used. This was a strong segue into the crux of what this book is all about. No fluff, just purpose, delivered in a way that is easily understood along with diagrams to help a person every step of the way. There is no such thing as a stupid question, nor there be any need to ask one— for even what a person conceives as the most elementary of items, the author defines them before explaining how to execute each practice.
In my opinion, this is more than a handbook—for a person who’s on his or her own, this serves as a great source of empowerment and boosts one concept of capability. The author should applaud himself for producing a publication that one should have on hand, right next to a dictionary, thesaurus, a book of worship and the Yellow Pages.
Educational, detailed, practical, and with a down-to-earth cadence, my verdict on Disaster Handbook is 4.5 stars, rounded to 5.
When I received this request, I admit to being a bit hesitant. Some of the nonfiction guide books I’ve encountered (key word “I’ve”) tend to exude the following things:
1. Condescendence—“I know all; the rest of you are peons”
2. Presumption—Using language such as “all”, “always” or “never”, not leaving any room for “some”, “sometimes” or “every once in a while” things of that nature
3. Target Audience Mismatch—Writing a book that is supposed to be for “the common man” but using all types of advanced language, to the point where one has to have a dictionary and thesaurus on standby. The downside of showing off the fancy vocabulary is that the reader is so busy trying to decipher what is meant that the enjoyability of learning the points of the actual book is missed.
With 1-3, I have to gauge how much it impacts my overall score. I do take into account whether a nonfiction book is well-researched, along with the quality and quantity of the information provided.For some books, not by much; for others, it marked the difference between “okay”, “good”, and “fantastic”.
With Disaster Handbook, I am proud to say I did not have to worry about any of those three points.
Although the presentation—the appearance of the inside pages—may throw structure sticklers for a loop, it was pleasing to my eyes. Because it wasn’t the typical continuous straight line of text in spots, it caused me to pay more attention to the content I was reading.
The author did a phenomenal job in citing his resources—including the websites and individuals he used for his pictures. Some of you may probably be thinking, “Unleashed One, that should be common sense.” However, you will be amazed at how many out there will document text but miss the boat on websites and picture sources. Not saying that it’s intentional but it does happen.
I also liked the extra sheets provided at the back to jot down emergency phone numbers as well as the cards one could make copies of and cut out.
The Disaster Handbook starts off with a very powerful example—one involving Hurricane Sandy and what disasters could have been avoided if common sense was used. This was a strong segue into the crux of what this book is all about. No fluff, just purpose, delivered in a way that is easily understood along with diagrams to help a person every step of the way. There is no such thing as a stupid question, nor there be any need to ask one— for even what a person conceives as the most elementary of items, the author defines them before explaining how to execute each practice.
In my opinion, this is more than a handbook—for a person who’s on his or her own, this serves as a great source of empowerment and boosts one concept of capability. The author should applaud himself for producing a publication that one should have on hand, right next to a dictionary, thesaurus, a book of worship and the Yellow Pages.
Educational, detailed, practical, and with a down-to-earth cadence, my verdict on Disaster Handbook is 4.5 stars, rounded to 5.
March 9, 2016
Anyone that knows me, knows this …
I am not a fan of self-help books.
With that being said, I’ll go into my thoughts on “Disaster Handbook“
Although, I’m not a fan of self-help books, the “Disaster Handbook” showed me that there IS a self-help book out there that I like. Why? Because it isn’t your average self-help book. The “Disaster Handbook” isn’t the typically preachy, presumptuous, finger-pointing, book that tells you the innumerable things you’re doing wrong. What it IS, is a manual that gives you (in one place) all of the “need to know” information on how to handle a natural disaster.
“Disaster Handbook” starts with a sort of introduction that breaks down what a natural disaster is and how to categorized the “before, during and after” effects of one. It looks at ALL … and what I say “all“, I literally mean, EVER SINGLE THING a person can think of that effects one’s way of life due to a natural disaster.
What is beautiful about this book is that fact that the author sets a foundation for the reader—a before, during and after, sort of guide that directs you in a very clear-cut, no nonsense way. YET, it is fun, informative and interesting, and more than anything, keeps you knowledgeable and engaged.
At the end of the book one finds tools that the author has taken the time to insert; a notes sections, an emergency card section and things of that sort. Stuff that you can pull right out and utilize. Not, that I would want to. I don’t want to ruin a signed copy. LOL
I can honestly recommend this book for the “do it yourselfer” and the person that just wants to know what to do if something horrible should happen. I mean, honestly, “Disaster Handbook” is the bible of “what to do during a disaster” books. There isn’t anything you can think of that isn’t in this book. The author thought of it all. The best part, the one I appreciated the most, were the images/diagrams. For people like me those are worth a million dollars because we need visuals to go along with the literature.
Apart from some tiny grammatical errors and an extremely long blurb (too long if you ask me), “Disaster Handbook” is a book that every person should have on their book shelves. The interior of the book is visually appealing, well put together and fun to follow. The cover, however, I think could have been a bit more attractive. Besides that, I know that I’ll be keeping my copy close by and I am sure that I’ll be using it frequently, going back to it time and time again.
Something I would love to suggest to the author is that he take the time to turn this into an eBook. It would be worth his time.
Survey Says: 5 Stars
I am not a fan of self-help books.
With that being said, I’ll go into my thoughts on “Disaster Handbook“
Although, I’m not a fan of self-help books, the “Disaster Handbook” showed me that there IS a self-help book out there that I like. Why? Because it isn’t your average self-help book. The “Disaster Handbook” isn’t the typically preachy, presumptuous, finger-pointing, book that tells you the innumerable things you’re doing wrong. What it IS, is a manual that gives you (in one place) all of the “need to know” information on how to handle a natural disaster.
“Disaster Handbook” starts with a sort of introduction that breaks down what a natural disaster is and how to categorized the “before, during and after” effects of one. It looks at ALL … and what I say “all“, I literally mean, EVER SINGLE THING a person can think of that effects one’s way of life due to a natural disaster.
What is beautiful about this book is that fact that the author sets a foundation for the reader—a before, during and after, sort of guide that directs you in a very clear-cut, no nonsense way. YET, it is fun, informative and interesting, and more than anything, keeps you knowledgeable and engaged.
At the end of the book one finds tools that the author has taken the time to insert; a notes sections, an emergency card section and things of that sort. Stuff that you can pull right out and utilize. Not, that I would want to. I don’t want to ruin a signed copy. LOL
I can honestly recommend this book for the “do it yourselfer” and the person that just wants to know what to do if something horrible should happen. I mean, honestly, “Disaster Handbook” is the bible of “what to do during a disaster” books. There isn’t anything you can think of that isn’t in this book. The author thought of it all. The best part, the one I appreciated the most, were the images/diagrams. For people like me those are worth a million dollars because we need visuals to go along with the literature.
Apart from some tiny grammatical errors and an extremely long blurb (too long if you ask me), “Disaster Handbook” is a book that every person should have on their book shelves. The interior of the book is visually appealing, well put together and fun to follow. The cover, however, I think could have been a bit more attractive. Besides that, I know that I’ll be keeping my copy close by and I am sure that I’ll be using it frequently, going back to it time and time again.
Something I would love to suggest to the author is that he take the time to turn this into an eBook. It would be worth his time.
Survey Says: 5 Stars
April 7, 2017
Very thorough. Easy to navigate. Quick reference friendly. Covers most disasters you can think of.
I keep it in a high traffic area (if that says anything).
I won this book through a Goodreads Giveaway and I'm happy to have it it on hand.
I keep it in a high traffic area (if that says anything).
I won this book through a Goodreads Giveaway and I'm happy to have it it on hand.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews