Wednesday, December 15, 2021
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and spilling millions of barrels of oil for months.
On this day in 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and sinking two days later. The well beneath it was left gushing oil into the ocean, and it took nearly three months to cap. By then millions of barrels had spilled, in the largest marine oil spill in history.
The damage spread far past the rig. Fisheries closed, coastal economies that depended on clean water and healthy marshes were hit for years, and the cleanup itself carried its own health risks. An industrial accident offshore became a regional disaster for the people who lived and worked along the coast.
The lesson for preppers is about dependence on systems we do not control. When a man made disaster fouls the water or shuts down a local livelihood, the households that fare best are the ones with their own clean water stored and enough financial and food buffer to absorb a long disruption.
