Ashley Taylor/Submitted photo

The Rev. Jacob Norman teaches fire-building skills to 4-H “Summer Explosion” participants. Norman will be holding a free class on assembling a survival kit at Veterans Memorial Park Saturday starting at 5 p.m. Interested persons are requested to RSVP by calling 374-3637.

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Typically, people view life-threatening situations as something that happens in a wilderness. The Rev. Jacob Norman, who specializes in survival training, wants everyone to understand disasters happen in towns as well.

Norman, who has founded the Norman Way Life School, will host a free class on assembling a basic survival kit at Veterans Memorial Park in Mount Airy Saturday. The class is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. under the park’s picnic shelter near the walking trail.

“Survival kits are necessary for urban survival as well as wilderness survival,” said Norman. “Just because you’re in a city doesn’t mean you are not going to get put into a dangerous situation by a hurricane, fire, flood or a riot. The survival mindset you need to have is the same.”

Norman said urban survival priorities are also the same. People will need shelter, food, fire and water.

“Really survival priorities are the same as what we need to get by in everyday life,” added Norman. He said that urban survival requires different information to meet these priorities but it’s the same skill set. He used the example of finding water in an urban disaster setting might require having a universal water “key” in your kit.

This key could be used to get water from secure water sources such as stores or from town water systems shortly after a disaster because water pressure will remain for a short period of time even with no electric power.

“Information is power,” explained Norman. “It doesn’t weigh anything. The more information you have the less you need to carry.”

Norman plans to discuss basic household items persons can assemble for a survival kit and how to pack a kit correctly. He also plans on discussing the proper uses of the items should persons find themselves caught in a survival situation.

“I think people will be surprised that they already have a lot of items at home that are needed for this kit,” said Norman. He explained that he carries his survival items in a daysack and that he will regularly change and adjust what is in his kit to anticipate situations.

“If I leave the house my kit is with me,” said Norman “Our purpose in the survival school is to promote the necessity of this. Look at what happened here with Hurricane Hugo or down in Louisiana with Katrina. Those people didn’t think they’d be without food for a month.”

Norman said that survival situations don’t have to be triggered by harsh weather. He said that rioting or economic collapse are also possibilities.

“We want to teach from a biblical standpoint that God does provide for us and we can survive in bad situations if we just use our ‘noggins’ a bit. Having the right knowledge makes the difference in coming home or not.”

Interested persons are encouraged to RSVP for the survival kit class on Saturday with the number of persons who will attend. Participants may register by calling 374-3637, emailing at kimy41@gmail.com or going online to register at www.normanwaylifeschool.com. The registration form is on the “gatherings” page.

Reach David Broyles at dbroyles@heartlandpublications.com or at 719-1952.