How ready are you to survive 72 hours without power or water in a crisis?
Rescue services stress that everyone should be able to look after themselves for at least the first 72 hours of a crisis, such as a loss of electricity, communications and water supply. Latvijas Avīze offers a test to check readiness for such situations.
Recent events in Latvia have shown how quickly everyday comforts can disappear — a powerful storm can knock out electricity, cut mobile signal, and stop water from flowing from the tap. In such moments, people need to be able to rely on themselves until help arrives.
Why 72 hours matter
Rescue services emphasize that once a crisis hits, every resident should be prepared to take care of themselves and their family for at least the first three days. This period is generally considered critical, as emergency and support services focus first on the most urgent cases, meaning each household should ideally have supplies and knowledge ready in advance.
Test your knowledge
To help people assess their preparedness, a survival test has been created, made up of several questions about basic needs during a crisis. One question asks how much drinking water a single person needs to survive 72 hours, with answer options ranging from roughly one to eight litres.
Such a test allows anyone to check whether their knowledge of how to act in extreme situations is sufficient, and whether their home has the necessary supplies — water, food and other resources that could prove decisive if access to everyday conveniences is temporarily lost.
