Is it paranoia to keep some extra food or maybe buy a gun, just in case? Could one natural disaster cause the complete breakdown of our society?  Is it paranoia?  No.  Having a plan is never paranoia.  Studies show that people who survive disasters are those who had a plan, who thought what they should do in case of an emergency.  For example, a good way to die in a plane crash isn’t from the crash itself.  A good way to die is to sit there stunned once the plane reaches the ground.  Plane crash survivors are invariably the ones who took note of where the exits were, how to use the oxygen masks, and most importantly they started moving as soon as they could and got the heck off the plane.  You see many people survive the crash, only to succumb to the smoke and fire because they sat there in numb shock.