Abstract Recently, different dispersion strategies in population models subject to geometric catastrophes have been considered as strategies to improve the chance of population’s survival. Such dispersion strategies have been contrasted with the strategy where there is no dispersion, comparing the probabilities of survival. In this article, we contrast survival strategies when extinction occurs almost surely, evaluating which strategy prolongs population’s life span. Our results allow one to analyze what is the best strategy based on parameters as the probability that each individual exposed to catastrophe survives, the growth rate of the colony, the type of dispersion and the spatial restrictions.