All language subtitles for Doomsday.Preppers.S02E01.720p.HDTV.x264-TTVa

Mericans from all walks of life

are taking whatever
measures necessary

to prepare.

Braxton southwick: My
family is preparing

for a biological
terrorist attack.

Bryan may: For the
new Madrid earthquake.

Wilma Bryant: For a
series of f5 tornadoes.

Narrator: And
protect themselves.

Man: Watch it, man.

Push him away, push him away!

Blevins: Stop right there!

Naatorfromhat they
perceive is the fa

approaching end of the
worlas wknowt.

Jayden southwick: Dad!

Braxton southwick:
Leave her alone!

Rrator: Next, we g
insi the lives of

three committed preprs w

have devised extensive plans.

Johnny o: But if
somebody's going to come,

they'll come at night.

Wilma Bryant: It'll
be a long, slow,

horrible death.

Narrator: Gone to great lengths.

Robert Earl: Wrong
guy gets here;

I'll make human jerky out of him.

Narrator: And made huge
personal sacrifices

to ensure their very survival.

Robert Earl: That thing's
ke tlve et lg.

Gary Bryant: If we have
to, we would kill people.

Narrator: The experts
will assess their preps,

to see if they
have what it takes.

Heather Bryant: If people
can get through us,

then they deserve it.

Gary Bryant: We about ready to

start blowing stuff up?

Narror: Survive.

Ry bant: Fi in the hole!

Narrator: This is
doomsday preppers.

Johnny o. Is a landscaper,

husband and father of two.

The son and nephew
of a former marine and

army men, Johnny wants
his children to grow up

in an America safe
from all threats.

Sydney: Pledge allegiance.

Johnny o: To the flag.

Sydney: To the flag.

Narrator: But his home in
rural Pennsylvania sits

150 miles downwind of
four nuclear power plants.

And his greatest fear
is a nuclear plant being

compromised, releasing
deadly radiation

and causing widespread disaster.

Johnny o: Everybody is
vulnerable since we have

so many nuclear facilities
through the country.

We've seen it happen in Japan,

how we had total meltdown.

You saw it in chernobyl;

you had total meltdown.

Narror: En Japan fukuima nuclear

plant melted down
in march of 2011,

everyone within 18 miles
was told to evacuate.

More than 18 milli
amicancurrentllive

within 20 miles of
one of the U.S.'s

65 nuclear plants.

If a total meltdown occued aone

Johnny's nearby
nuclear power plants,

radiation could
kill 44,000 people

in the vicinity
and half a million more

could later die from
radiion-related cancers.

But the radiation isn't
what Johnny dreads most.

Johnny o: People panic,
that's when, ah,

you get the wildebeest
running, stampeding.

Panic is the number one
killer of everything.

You would resort back
to a hunter-gatherer

living in small, broken packs.

Neighbor would go
against neighbor.

There'll be your factions
of good on one side;

there'll be your
factions of bad.

That is going to be
the collapse of society

as we know it.

Narrator: Like the
world trade towers,

most nuclear reactors were
built to withstand the

impact of the largest
passenger airplane at the

time, the boeing 707, but
not larger, modern jets.

Johnny fears that
America's enemies know

r nuear vulnerabilies d ar

planning to exploit them.

Johnny o: We're preparing
for a series of terrorist

attacks on the
nuclear facilities

of this country.

I'm not obsessed with prepping;

I'm obsessed with living.

I believe that prepping
is just part of it.

It boils down to the
battle of good and evil.

Evil will win if you let it.

You can't let evil win.

Narrator: When gathering
survival preps,

a common prepper
saying is to remember

the rule of three.

You can survive three
minutes without air,

three hours without shelter,

three days without water and

three weeks without food.

But for a prepper like Johnny,

who fears nuclear
disaster could contaminate

all of these
survival necessities,

the le of three takes
on an additional meaning,

have at least three
of everything.

Johnny o: We emphasize
hyper-redundancy,

meaning you have plan a, plan b,

plan c and then if it goes on,

we have plan d, plan e,
f and it keeps on going.

Hyper-redundancy
means you always have

something to fall back on.

If we have one radio,
we have two radios;

if we have two
radios we have four.

Everything has a backup
plan and everything

has a backup plan
upon a backup plan.

Narrator: With five acres
of land hidden in the

woods 15 miles from the
nearest major highway,

Johnny has all
the space he needs to

cultivate his various backups.

Johnny o: We have fresh
vegetables, Greens,

minerals, onions, berries.

As well as we have
our meat, our tuey,

our wildlife, our deer.

We have multiple layers
of redundancy and I can

ensure mfami a
sour of at and food.

We have back up upon
back up water storage.

Twelve gallons of
water right here.

We also have an
eight-person hot tub,

which houses about
550 gallons of water.

We also have rain
collection systems.

We collect 55 to 100
gallons of rainwater.

Redundancy: Backup upon
backup upon backup.

Narrator: The idea of
redundancy is so crucial

to Johnny's survival plan
that he's incorporated it

into every aspect of his life.

Marissa: We're twins.

Yeah.

Lara: Yeah, we're twins.

Marissa: Not
identical, fraternal.

Hnny: I maied twin

so naturally there was
hyper-redundancy there.

Ah, eggs.

Narrator: Last year,
jony'sistein-l,

Marissa, moved into
help with the kids

four-year-old Sydney and
six-month-old Savannah.

She'll also serve
as a backup parent

in a wor casecenao.

Johnny o: There's
contingency of family there.

You have to have
people that you trust

and Lara trusts her sister.

I trust Lara.

The family comes first.

The contingency
of family goes on.

Lara: Prepping, I wouldn't
say we're obsessed by it.

I think we're just, uh,
preparing for our family.

So we can protect our family.

Um, you know.

Marissa: I think it
can become obsessive.

Lara: Yeah, if you allow it.

Marissa: If you, if you let it.

Lara: And we're living
like normal regular

people but we're also preparing.

Marissa: At the sameime.

Laraat e same time.

So I think we're.

Marissa: Not obsessed.

Lara: Definitely not obsessed.

Narrator: If terrorists
attack a nearby nuclear

power plant, Johnny fears
food supply chains will

shut down and what's left
on supermarket shelves

will be contaminated.

He's decided chickens will
be his family's renewable

source of protein in
a nuclear disaster.

Since a single hen can lay
more than 250 eggs a year,

many preppers may keep
two or three chickens.

Johnny has 12.

Johnny o: I'm a numbers guy.

I go by the nuers
and e statiscs.

Statistic probabilities
put me with redundancy

into a better
Avenue of survival.

Narrator: But Johnny
also uses the extra birds

tea his dauger, dney

about survival of the fittest.

Johnny o: Darwin's my hero

Darwin figured
out a species needs

a niche to survive.

Without that niche, it,
it will not survive.

The chicken represents,
darwinism at its finest.

Not everyone's going to make it.

That's why we got a
dozen chickens because we

anticipated we'd lose
a number of chickens

either by predators
or by disease.

Sydney: Daddy what happened?

Johnny o: We lost
one of our friends.

Sydney: Don't worry.

We have more.

Those aren't dead.

Johnny o: Okay,
this is why we've

got multiple chickens.

Because we expect it,

they're expected caalti.

Darwin said it best,

"if you don't have the
ability to adapt and overcome,

you're going to end up like that."

We don't want to
end up like that.

Narrator: If terrorists
successfully attack a

nuclear plant, radioactive
particles could rain down

for hundreds of miles,
creating a hot zone,

a poisoned landscape
that could remain

toxic for years.

With more than 17 million
people living within

50 miles of his
nearest nuclear plant,

Johnny fears hordes of
desperate refugees fleeing

the hot zone would
overrun his area.

So he's training everyone
in perimeter defense.

Johnny o: You see what happens.

It's just total
degeneration of humanity.

If we're to become overrun,

we can protect ourselves.

Narrator: They often
practice with 22-caliber

rifles, a favorite weapon
among preppers because

the ammunition
is inexpensive and

sold almost everywhere.

Johnny o: The .22 is
a great survival

prepper weapon.

Anyone 8 to 80 years
old can fire the

.22 when properly trained.

Narrator: Even Sydney,
who recently turned

4 is being taught to shoot.

Johnny o: I want
you to aim for the

tree out there, okay?

If you aim, gohead ll t trier.

Oh, you hit the tree.

Ya

Sydney: Yay!

Johnny o: Here, you
want to try it again.

Sydney: Sure.

Narrator: But Johnny
fears invaders from the

city won't attack
in broad daylight,

but will wait until the
odds are in their favor.

So he has a plan for that.

Johnny o: If
somebody's going to come,

they'll come at night.

It's like a game of chess.

You want to try to
anticipate your opponent's

or your adversary's move.

It's not really
tests we run as much

as it is games we play.

The only rule is don't
use live ammunition.

Narrator: Johnny runs
surprise preparedness

drills once or twice a month.

But Lara and Marissa
never know precisely

when the next test will come.

Johnny o: What I'm doing
is practicing, a surprise.

I want to show them
they're vulnerable.

They don't know that I'm coming.

They don't know where
I'm going to come from.

Narrator: Tonight, while
the twins are watching

Sydney and Savannah,
Johnny is assessing the

home's three ground level
entry points for weakness.

Marissa: I can't see anything.

Lara: You see daddy out there?

I don't see anybody.

Marissa: Check this window.

Jony odo y know why I do this?

To be perceptive of
your environment.

To protect you,
there are people out

there who'll show no mercy.

It's a game.

But one day, it could
very well likely be real.

Marissa: I guess it's
a good, fun game.

If it was real, I
don't think it would

be so fun, though.

Johnny o: You
anticipate these things.

It might not happen today,

it might not happen next week,

but if you're prepared,

you live a lot better,
you live a lot easier,

you live without fear.

Narrator: All of Johnny's
preps are built around

withstanding a siege at home.

But if nuclear power
plants are attacked,

deadly radiation may
force him to abandon

his safe house.

So the prepper who has
backups for everything has

made one final plan,
a plan to take his

fight on the road.

Johnny o: The
crow's in the nest,

crow's in the nest.

Narrator: Johnny
o. Believes it's

only a matter of te bere

terrorist attacks on
nuclear power plants

turn America into a
radioactive wasteland.

The key to his prepping
is having multiple backups

for everything like
his food and water.

Johnny routinely
tests his wife Lara and

her sister Marissa with
preparedness drills.

Today, he's running
a surprise drill

of his bug-out plan.

If they're not together,

the plan begs th sdinghem a

code phrase via text message.

It's the cue to
immediately head home

and look for the next set of

secret signals from Johnny.

If the house has
been compromised,

Johnny has devised
a distress signal

so Lara and Marissa
know not to enter.

Johnny o: We have
a couple signs,

we have a crow out
front and if the crow's

on the ground we got to bug out,

we got a serious situation.

Narrator: To ensure he can
evacuate when necessary,

Johnny has prepped more
than one means of escape.

Johnny o: I can put the
rowboat on the back

of the trailer and use a quad,

where I wouldn't have
to utilize the roads or

I can throw it in
the back of the truck.

Again, hyper redundancy.

If the trucks don't work,
if the quad don't work,

we're going to walk down
and carry the boat,

because it's an ultra
light little 65 pounder.

Lara: Looks like
the crow's gone.

Narror: E tr wil
meet at a place that has

special significance
for Johnny and Lara.

Johnny o: She knows
exactly where to go:

To the first place
that we kissed.

I'll be up in one of my
placed tree stands so I

can observe the property
as well as observe the

rounding roads and I'll
be uh, camouflaged in,

where no one will see me.

What I'll be doing
is protecting and

waiting for my wife
and kids to come home.

Lara: Ollie, Ollie.

Johnny o: The
crow's in the nest.

The crow's in the nest.

Awaiting his chickens.

Narrator: Once reunited,
Johnny and the twins will

assess their situation
and pick the best of their

multiple escape routes.

Johnny o: Redundancy,
redundancy, redundancy.

We wouldn't go by road.

We couldn't go by
the back fire path.

What we're going to do is
float down the river.

This is plan b.

You can think you're
going to get through,

but there's going to be
everybody and their

brother on those roads.

You're not going to
be able to move.

So we looked at the
water as one of, again,

redundancy, it's another pl.

With the right camouflage,
we look like a,

a log floating down the
river and it's something

that will be overlooked.

We can escape and evade.

And we're out.

Preppers, doomsday
preppers specifically,

are very intelligent,
out of the box thinkers.

They're not average people.

Sure you may look at them
and think that they're

loony, you may think that
they're off the wall.

But you know what,
who are you going to turn

to if something turns bad?

You're going to go to the
person that is prepared.

Narrator: Johnny, the experts,

practical preppers,
commend you for following

the rule of three.

And you bug-out
route also allows

for various contingencies.

Johnny o: Yes,
we agree with that.

We're working on it constantly.

Narrator: If Lara and
Marissa are to join you on

a bug-out, they need
defensive training under

more realistic circumstances.

We recommend equipping
them with night-vision

goggles and running
practice evacuations at

night with advanced
security equipment.

Johnny o: I think a 12-Gauge,

staring down the
business end of it,

isreatecurity.

Narrator: To determine how
long you could initily

rvive a catastrophe,
practical preppers has

scored your preps in five
categories of 20 points

each, for a total
possible score of 100.

Food: You don't have
enough stored for

a family of four,
13 out of 20 points.

Water: 15 out of 20 points.

Shelter: Your home
need alternate means of

power generation, 16
out of 20 points.

Security: 11 out of 20 points.

Your focus on
redundancy will be an

asset in a crisis.

Being able to
bug-out by car, quad,

foot or boat gives
you an additional

13 x-factor points.

Overall, you earn 68 out
of 100 survival points.

You have 12 months
initial survival time.

Johnny o: We do
appreciate what the

expert assessors say.

Like a good knife,
we'll sharpen it,

we won't throw it away and
we'll try to advance on

their critique and we
take that to heart.

Since the national
geographic channel was

here we've upgraded our
water collection system,

doubling the amount of
water we have on hand.

We've updated our food supplies,

so tripled the amount
of food that we have.

But most of all
we've found out we

have nurses around,
doctors, biologists,

in our neighborhood
here that provides

us a one-mile
circle of preppers.

Everybody are preppers.

Narrator: Nuclear
power plants are some

of the most highly
protected parts of

America's infrastructure.

In 2010, however,
officials discovered that

a suspected terrorist
had managed to

find employment inside
multiple nuclear plants.

Wia angary Bryant
are homesteading farmers

in Southern Missouri.

In addition to their son Tony.

Gary Bryant: Ld otigh

whoo yeah!

Naator: Dahtereath.

Heather Bryant:
You're going to be food.

Narrator: And
granddaughter Nadia.

Gary Bryant: Mmmm.

Good girl.

Narrator: Wilma and
Gary's 24 acre farm

is also home to a
menagerie of animals.

T mo areot being
raised for slaughter;

they're being kept alive
for the end of the world.

Wilma Bryant: We're
preparing for a series of

f5 tornadoes that will end
the world as we know it.

Narrator: Ef5 tornadoes
are the largest and

deadliest type of
tornadknowto m.

They're so powerful,
their wind speeds can

only be guessed at
because they obliterate

most instruments
designed to measure them.

At well over 200 miles per hour,

ef5s can reduce
a house to splinters

and are powerful enough
to throw cars and

trucks the length
of a football field.

Wilma Bryant: I do
believe I will see the

hit the fan in my lifetime.

If you pay attention,
even in the last couple

of years, the weather
has gotten worse;

the storms have
all gotten worse.

You cannot control nature.

And we're destroying it,

so it's kind of fighting
back in a sense.

Narrator: Scientists are
unclear whether or not

climate change could cause
more frequent tornadoes.

But in 2011, 753
tornadoes hit the U.S.

Just in the month of April,

the most ever recorded
in a single month.

Wilma fears that's a sign
that even more violent

and frequent
tornadoes are coming.

Wilma Bryant: It's very
possible for us to see the

increase in the frequency
of the f5 tornados.

They are hitting all over and

they are just getting stronger.

All these tornadoes just
popping up out of nowhere

in places that they
usually don't,

we can see that it's
just going to get worse.

Narrator: The Bryant's
live in seclusion on 24

acres of land 30 miles
from the nearest town.

Fearing an onslaught
of tornadoes in

the near future,
the Bryant's have

begun stockpiling provisions.

They currently have
enough food stored

to last six months.

But ey kp all
of it above ground,

instd of in an
underground shelter.

Wilma Bryant: If a f5
tornado comes through

right now, we are going
to lose all our food.

The cans maybe okay,
they will be dented up,

but the glass will be broken.

So this will all be no good.

Narrator: But even if
the Bryant's can figure

t hoto segua eir od against

fruent tornado, wia anheather

will be dead anyway,
unless they take

drastic steps to
obtain one crucial,

lifesaving prep.

Narrator: The Bryant's
are prepping for a world

destroyed by a relentless
series of tornadoes.

But Wilma and her daughter
Heather face a deadly

complication that
most preppers never

ve to worry about.

Lma Bryant: My daughter
and I are both diabetic

and we are both
Insulin dependent.

It'll be a long, slow, horrible,

death when we have no Insulin.

Thank you, thank you.

Heather Bryant: You're welcome.

Wilma Bryant: People
really look at you funny

when you say that you're
a prepper and you're

diabetic and you're
prepping for the end of

the world and you're
stockpiling Insulin.

They just think
you're insane and

you should just buy
it as you need it.

Narrator: More than eight
percent of Americans

suffer from diabetes.

If relentless tornadoes
interrupt the distribution

of Insulin nationwide,
Wilma and Heather would be

competing with close
to 26 million Americans

for the remaining
supply of Insulin.

So they want to hoard
as much of it as

they can get their hands on.

Wilma Bryant: We
have a six-month

supply of Insulin.

If there was a
doomsday scenario now,

we could only live
for six months and

we would die shortly after.

If a regular prepper only
has 6 months of food,

you can always grow more.

With us, we can't
grow more Insulin.

Heather Bryant: All done.

Good job.

Wilma Bryant: Medically
you should really not

reuse the needles.

They are made for one-time uses,

but I would reuse my
needles in a doomsday

situation, because if
I don't, then I'll die.

Narrator: Wilma's
diabetes impacts every

aspect of her prepping,

including her
emergency food storage.

Fos hi in carbydras

raise blood sugar levels,
requiring more Insulin to

keep them under control.

So Wilma must be
careful about what

types of food she stores.

Wilma Bryant: This is basically

a diabetic pantry.

Because we've got protein,
no carbs, no carbs,

very low carbs, no
carbs, high protein.

We not only have to
prep for food for us,

we have to prep the
right type of food and

we have to have the low
carb andigh oteidiet

narrator: The most
abundant protein source

on the Bryant farm
is their chickens.

But ry iworried at
somhingappens to

him in a tornado, wia
wot beble to do what's

necessary to keep herself
and their children alive.

So today, he's
making Wilma face a

task she's always dreaded.

Gary Bryant: You got one?

Wilma Bryant: My problem
is I like our chickens.

They are more like pets.

So it's kind of hard
for me to actually

do the butchering.

Gary Bryant: If something
happened to me, it's very,

very important to
learn how to do this.

She just has to get used
to the idea of doing it.

Depending on what size
bird you're going to kill,

you just want to
get their neck and

get the right distance apart.

Put one in.

About like that.

Wilma: Awww.

Gary Bryant: Wilma, you ready?

This is about the most
humane way to do it;

you're going to cut it right here.

Wilma Bryant: But I
don't want to do this,

the poor little thing.

Oh!

One, wo, ca do is.

One, two, three.

If something
happened to Gary and

I'd have to provide
for Heather and Nadia,

then we'll cut the
chicken's head off

and get to work.

You do what you have to
do in these situations.

Aw, you're such a good girl.

Narrator: Even if Wilma
and Heather have all the

Insulin in the world,
their entire stockpile

will spoil in about
a month unless

it's kept refrigerated.

The deadly tornado
that Wilma witnessed

last year in nearby
joplin, Missouri,

knocked out power
to 20,000 people.

If tornado after
tornado strikes,

they could knock
out the Bryant's

power indefinitely.

Wilma Bryant: There's a
spring down there right

next to that tree.

It's about 53 degrees.

That's the year-round
temperature

for this spring.

My Insulin is perfect
at 53 degrees.

That's how people used to
keep their food cold back

before refrigeration and
back before electricity.

Gary Bryant: You
want to make sure

it doesn't float away.

This is you know
something that we have to

have for my family to
survive, so we would

go to any extent to protect it.

Narrator: If frequent
tornadoes start knocking

out their power more often,

theryans fearhey ll,

they don't want to be
forced to rely solely on

their creek to keep
Wilma's stockpile of

Insulin safe and cool.

So today, they're
embarkg on proct

that they believe is their
only chance for survival,

building a vast unrgrod buer for

them and their livestock.

Regardless of what the
temperature is outside,

five feet underground
the earth is always 50-55

degrees fahrenheit,
better for keeping

Insulin naturally refrigerated.

Wilma Bryant: In a world
that had f5 tornados

increase in frequency,

our safest bet
would be underground.

I want a huge area
for our animals,

almost like a Noah's
ark underground.

Ifhe wld end andt
s ju us that survived,

we could actually
repopulate the world with

our animals and make
the kids repopulate too.

But they got to bring
their friends, too.

Narrator: Right now, the
entire 640 square foot

complex is just a plan.

If they hope to
have all their food,

animals and Insulin
underground before the

tornadoes they fear
start striking,

the Bryant's need
to start blasting.

Gary Bryant: Fire in the hole!

Time when they believe
drastic climate change

will cause ef5 tornadoes
to sweep the plains of

America on a regular basis,

making it virtually unlivable.

They're about to break
ground on an underground

bunker, a Noah's ark for
them and their livestock

that they believe is their
only hope for surviving a

potential onslaught
of tornadoes.

Since Wilma and
Heather are diabetics,

the bunker must be several
feet below ground to keep

their lifesaving Insulin
naturally refrigerated.

Gary Bryant: We about ready to

start blowing stuff up?

Man: You bet.

Eric: This 400 pounds of
explosivesill ve

1.2 millon pounds of rock;

enough to build a bunker.

We need to get up in here.

Let me show you.

We'll all be to the
side if things get up

in the air, I'll just
say, "get down."

Alright, ready to go.

Gary Bryant: Hold
down the charge.

Hold down the charge.

Hold it in; Don't let it go.

Fire in the hole!

That was neat.

let us go take a look.

We're excited to see it.

Wilma Bryant: Oh, it's soft.

Gary Bryant: Yeah,
it's all loosened up.

Look at the size of this hole!

In a few months, we'll
be sitting down here.

Wilma Bryant: A little
lower than this.

Yes.

Gary Bryant: 60-degree weather.

Wilma Bryant: Oh, it'll
be perfect all year round.

Yay!

A dbetic prepper,
th hole mes li to

and my daughter.

We can't live without the
Insulin and we can't store

our Insulin unless have
an underground bunker

for it to be safe in.

Narrator: The experts,
practical preppers,

have reviewed your preps.

Your food re-supply
plan is great,

but your security severely
lacks communication

and perimeter defense.

The entire family should
undergo tactical training.

Heather Bryant: We're psycho.

We've all done some crazy stuff.

If people can come though
and get through us,

then they deserve it,

because I don't
see it happening.

Narrator: Continue
building your bunker,

but until it's built, you
might want to consider

storing additional
food in a root cellar.

Heather Bryant: Okay,
then we'd have to waste

time and money on a root cellar.

We're making a bunker.

Narrator: To determine
how long you could

initially survive a catastrophe,

practical preppers has
scored your preps in

five categories of
20 points each,

for a total possible
score of 100.

Food: 14 out of 20 points.

Water: You don't
have enough stored,

15 out of 20 points.

Shelter: Your biggest asset
is your remote location,

14 out of 20 points.

Security: 9 out of 20 points.

Your simple, homesteading
lifestyle gives you

12 x-factor points.

Overall, that would vie
you a 64 out of 100.

If you're able to
stockpile more Insulin,

you would have 10 months
initial survival time.

Heather Bryant:
I don't think so.

Wilma Bryant: Well, we
just choose to disagree.

Hi.

Since the nat geo team
was at our house, ah,

Gary and I are going through a

very messy divorce.

Um, we're about to go to
court right now to see who

gets the possession of
our prepping materials.

Um, so you all wish
me luck on this one.

Supposedly, I get
the prepping stuff,

but I have to go there and

get it and they're
out there with guns.

Narrator: Over
the past 20 years,

the average number of
ef3 to ef5 tornadoes

at sike e u. Ch yr is7.5.

Scientists have not
observed a notable

long-term increase in
number or intensity.

Robert Earl and his wife Debbie,

were chicken farmers
in coastal Florida,

just minutes down the road
from some of the country's

most desirable
retirement destinations.

But two years ago, whe
the rl'secided to

retire, they opted to move
out of Florida to the high

desert of alpine, Texas.

Robert Earl: Texas is a
place where you can go as

far as you, as far as you want,

if your cojones
are big enough and

you work hard enough.

Narrator: No golf, no
early bird specials,

no drinks by the pool.

Instead, the Earl's
opt to devote their

ldenearso other activities.

Robert Earl: Wre eparg fosudden

sea vel rise caused
by the collapse

of the Greenland ice sheet.

Wh I saw Greenland
in 1975 it was

all one solid piece of ice.

Greenland is melting.

That's absolutely indisputable.

It may be a 200
or 300-year thing.

I don't think so.

I think we got three
to five years before

we see significant changes.

Narrator: Sea levels are
already rising faster

than they have in
the last 2,000 years.

But Greenland is
home to 8% of all the

freshwater ice in the
world and now scientists

believe it's melting
faster than before.

Robert Earl: It will be
the same as dropping one

too many ice cubes
into your drink.

People are going to be
displaced or drowned.

It's going to be total anarchy.

Narrator: Just a three
foot change in seal level

could leave 145 million
people living in low-lying

coastal areas underwater.

If the Greenland ice
sheet melts completely,

the world's sea level could rise

more than 20 feet.

The doomsday tide that
the Earl's envision

could flood more than
one billion people,

destroying major cities
and throwing the world's

population into chaos.

Robert Earl: They're
going to want to

get out of dodge.

The highways could
completely block up.

The railroad tracks
could be blocked.

There'll be no way
to move commodities and

food until those
blockages are cleared.

Infrastructure is
going to break down.

We aren't going to
be able to get food.

We an't ing
be able to get water.

Weren'gointo b
able to get medicine.

For a long period of time,

maybe as much as two years.

Narrator: To escape
Florida's vulnerable,

low-lying coastline,

Robert and Debbie
bugged out to the

high desert hills
outside alpine, Texas.

Now situated roughly 3,000
feet above sea level,

the oceans would have to
rise high enough to drown

the empire state
building twice over

to reach them here.

Debbie Earl: We just
said, let's do it.

We have nothing tying
us, let us go and,

and build on it
before it happens,

so we'll be prepared.

Robert Earl: Everything
we do here is designed to

help sustain us longer
so you could say we work

7 days a week prepping.

I certainly don't
consider myself obsessed.

I think it's just a matter
of we have to do certain

things to live and
if we do just a little

bit more we're prepared.

A typical day we've got
to check the water supply.

Look around the desert
just to see if game animal

might be wondering by.

Then there's the
matter of collecting

my building materials.

Narrator: What
Robert calls building

materials most people
would call trash.

He's working on building
his post-apocalyptic

dream home from garbage.

It's part of his
and Debbie's plan to

thrive in a world without
goods and services.

Until the house is finished,

the couple lives in a
225 square foot trailer.

Robert Earl: If the end
of the world does happen,

garbage is no longer
going to be garbage;

it's going to be opportunity.

Narrator: Robert
has spent the last

two years amassing enough
empty kitty litter,

beer and wine bottles to
build a desert compound.

Each bottle will be a
brick in the doomsday

wall, held together
by adobe and cement.

Debbie: Where's the
kitchen going to be?

Robert Earl: The
kitchen is going to be

right along there, where
the cks angeolor

I can't wait till
we get this done.

And the only house
in the world made out

of cat litter blocks.

That's exciting.

Narrator: Today, Robert's
starng cstructn on

the first room of
his doomsday home.

Robert Earl: I guess I'm
kind of like mad Max meets

rube goldberg with
just a little bit of

al Gore thrown in.

Narrator: By building
bottles into the wall,

Robert's creating a heat sink.

The bottles will heat
up during the day and

slowly release
that heat into the

house at night when
the temperature drops.

Robert Earl: I try to
offset them a little bit.

Offsetting makes
the matrix stronger.

Narrator: Other preppers
might focus on building

living quarters first,
but Robert's top

priority is getting
his smokehouse built.

Robert Earl: If all of a sudden,

everything collapses this
will allow me to make beef

jerky or deer jerky or if
the wrong guy gets here,

I'll make human
jerky out of him.

Narrator: Robert and
Debbie have traded the

trapping of a typical
American retirement to

escape a flood of
biblical proportions

they feel is imminent.

But they've run so far
from floodwater that their

continued existence in
the desert now depends on

finding a steady source
of drinking ter.

So the Earl's must
do whatever it

takes to have
something to drink.

Narrator: Fearing rising
sea levels, Robert Earl,

his wife Debbie and
their 21 dogs permanently

bugged out to the desert
of the far west Texas.

But the chihuahuan
desert receives on

10 inches of rain each year.

So they make regular
trips to a nearby creek

to fill their 160
gallon water tanks.

Robert Earl: Okay,
that's on; We're running.

Narrator: Because water
is a scarce resource,

the Earl's can't afford
to waste a single drop.

Each day the average
person loses eight

to ten cups of precious
water just breathing,

sweating and going
to the bathroom.

Robert and Debbie
can't stop breathing or

sweating, but they
can do something

with the last kind of water.

Robert Earl: This is
where the final use

of our water starts.

That's where most
people think it ends,

but it starts for us here.

The little bit of water
we flush goes into the

holding tank and that's
where the magic begins.

Welcome to my poop garden,
everything you see

here was grown using
poop as fertilizer.

Narrator: Nitrogen,
potassium and phosphorus

are the main ingrientin mt

commercial fertizers

they are also abundant in
fecal matter and urine.

These black tubes feed
two feet underground,

directly into the root systems

of Robert's garden.

A layer of tarps
contains the black water

and the plants are able
to absorb its nutrients.

Robert Earl: It just
seeps through and

throughout the entire garden.

The black water provides
the nutrients for anything

we're growing in the garden and

that's all the
fertilizer they need.

Every human being over the
course of a year puts out

enough urine to fertilize
enough plants to feed

themselves for that year.

Human manure is an
excellent doomsday prep

because if you don't have
access to fertilizers and

you don't have, you
don't have access to open

pollination plants
you're not going

to be eating vegetables.

You might end up
eating each other.

Narrator: The Earl's don't want

to live off vegetables alone.

They also want to find
an acceptable source

of reliable protein.

Robert Earl: I'm not real
excited about hunting.

The hunter can become
the hunted very easily.

Narrator: Today, local
rattlesnake handler

Kat Stevens is teaching
Robert how to track,

trap and kill one
of the desert's

few abundant meat sources.

Robert Earl: Would you be Kat?

Kat Stevens: I might be Kat.

How are you?

I hear you're
wanting to learn how

to hunt rattlesnakes.

Robert Earl: Yes.

We got a few around here
and if I run into one,

I'd hate to, I'd hate
to waste it, so yeah.

Kat Stevens: Okay.

After doomsday rattlesnakes are

still going to be out here.

You know, with him
living out her

he's going to have to
learn to hunt them,

if he's going to wanna survive.

Narrator: Bites from
diamdbacrattsnak

kill more people in the U.S.

Th any other snake bite.

After a bite, its
venom instantly starts

attacking blood cells
and blood vessels.

Kat almost lost her arm to one.

Kat Stevens: I got bit in
2001 and one fang was here

and one fang was here.

This was sol bla.

Is w whe the
venom actually ate the

muscle of my arm off.

Robert Earl: I am not
going to try and touch one

with my bare hands because
there are no hospitals,

I've got no anti-venom and
I am almost 60 years old;

I have to be a realist.

Narrator: Rattlesnakes are
cold-blooded and hunt at

night, so they typically
wait out the blazing

dert ht in the
shade or under cover.

Kat stevs: Ess at?

Robert Earl: Ho.

Well, hello there.

Kat Stevens: Ho, we got one.

He'sittl

Robert Earl: Oh, hello.

He's all yours.

Kat Stevens: You see one,
you're going to see two.

Robert Earl: Oh really?

Kat Stevens: Normally.

So let's get the bucket, Robert.

There we go.

We got one down.

Robert Earl: I can see
now th I'm close to them,

I really don't want to be
close toem aall, ver.

Kat Stevens: Oh I
heard something.

Robert Earl: Yeah, yeah, he's.

Kat Stevens: Come here.

Okay, what I'm going to do.

I'm going to hold this up
and you're going to grab him.

Robert Earl: Ooo hoo.

There's the business end.

That thing's like 12 feet long!

Kat Stevens: No, he's not.

He's only about four.

Robert Earl: He's
looking at me and

he's looking a lot bigger.

I just don't care
to be around them,

handle them, have them near me.

Narrator: Catching
rattlesnakes is only

the first part of the danger.

Now Robert must learn how
to kill and skin them.

And one wrong move can
quickly lead to death.

Robert Earl: Whoa!

Narrator: Robert and
Debbie Earl gave up an

easy retirement not far
from Florida's coast to

escape the cataclysmic
floods they fear will

come if Greenland's
ice sheet melts.

Now, they're building a
new prepper homestead

high in the Texas desert,
where 90% of the

rain falls only four
months out of the year.

In these harsh conditions,
food can be just as hard

to come by as water.

So local rattlesnake
handler Kat Stevens is

teaching Robert how
to hunt them for food.

Kat Stevens: Well,
you about ready

to skin a snake?

Robert Earl: And we come
this direction here.

Kat Stevens: That
direction right there.

Robert Earl: Okay.

Kat Stevens: And he can
still bite up to an hour

with his head chopped off.

Now put him over
there in that bucket.

Robert Earl: Whoa,
that was a bite.

Kat Stevens: Even
though he's dead,

he's still very toxic.

Narrator: Hunting
rattlesnakes is dangerous

work but if rising sea
water traps the Earl's in

the desert, Kat's advising
Robert that rattlesnakes

can provide them with
three survival basics:

Food, water and defense.

For defense, the
rattlesnake venom

can be milked.

Robert can lace darts,
Spears or even a perimeter

fence with venom to
stop any would-be

intruders in their track.

But venom isn't the only valuae

liquid inside a rattlesnake.

Rattlesnake blood
can also serve as a

water source in desperate times.

Like human blood, the
blood of a rattlesnakes

isore than % war.

Kat Stevens: Of course
the bigger ones

will have more blood.

Even if it coagulates, you
can put it in your mouth

and it'll just melt
once it warms back up

and you can drink it.

And you just barely get the skin

and just pull it all the way up.

Narrator: With about
halfhe corieand

a third the fat of a similar
portion sirin bf,

rattlesnake meat
is a lean protein.

If civilization
does come to an end,

as Robert and
Debbie fear it will,

they may one day
need to depend on

rattlesnake me to svive

Robert Earl: Dinnertime.

Kat Stevens: It's
already sizzling.

I think he'll survive
out here as long as

he has food and everything.

If he gets really,
really desperate

he'll go hunt a rattlesnake.

Robert Earl: If my
doomsday isn't already

here, I, I see it
looming on the horizon.

I hope it isn't too late
the future of the country

is going to depend
on people like us.

Debbie Earl: More
rattlesnake please.

Robert Earl: There you go.

Would you like a
piece of rattlesnake?

Debbie Earl: Here's
to further prepping.

Robert Earl: And doomsday.

Narrator: Robert, the experts,

practical preppers,
conclude that you have

ample food on site, but
your water supply can be

compromised by severe drought.

Robert Earl: We know
that's an issue in our,

our, the only thing we can
do is to put more water

tanks up as we're
able to afford them.

Narrator: All of your
preps are currently

vulnerable to attack and
your isolated location

willake difficult for you to

find help if you need it.

Using it as the foundation
for an underground

safe room will enhance
your bug-in plan.

Robert Earl: Our plan
was always to have it as,

as a good place to
bug-in and to keep our,

our things, our things
fresh and that's, ah,

probably six months
in the future.

Narrator: To determine how
long you could initially

survive a catastrophe,
practical preppers has

scored your preps in five
categories of 20 points

each for a total
possible score of 100.

Water: Lack of rainfall
could threaten your

survival, 14 out of 20 points.

Food: 15 out of 20 points.

Shelter: Isolation can
be a double-edged sword,

14 out of 20 points.

Security: 9 out of 20 points.

You currently live
off solar power and

wouldn't be affected at
all if the grid goes down.

This adds 11 x-factor points.

Your total score is 63.

You have an initial nine
months survival time.

Robert Earl: We're going
to have to work on that,

get our water supply up.

I can't do much
about the defenses,

but we definitely
work on the water.

Narrator: Although the
Greenland ice sheet is

melting faster than
scientists have observed

in recent history,
some estimate it will

still take several
thousand years for

all of it to melt.