We Need To 'Encourage a Culture of Preparedness'
Sunset Hills alderman says disaster planning is essential.
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We have survived a lot of severe weather in our local area and in our region as a whole. It is good to feel somewhat “back to normal.”
But as an elected public official in a small city that was directly hit by a tornado last December 31, I continue to desire to strengthen disaster preparedness awareness.
It is not that I feel our first responders or our city department heads didn’t do a good job. They were great!
It is more that I feel our citizens need encouragement to create in their individual neighborhoods “a culture of preparedness,” to borrow a phrase from retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honore, who directed (rescue) military efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Honore has written a book that I highly recommend called Survival: How Being Prepared Can Keep You and Your Family Safe (ISBN # 978-1-4165-9901-2.) I bought it right here in Sunset Hills at Borders
Honore stresses that people need to be prepared to wait three days or more for help from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency.)
Organizing on a neighbor-to-neighbor basis is necessary because roads and stores may be closed after storms.
It is not a sign of pessimism or panic for people to get together and plan for rare events which require communal efforts to share resources on a small or large scale.
It has as its priority being ready to care for one another if there is a major power outage, contamination of our local water supply, or a biohazard of any kind, let alone a tornado or earthquake.
Many of us who live in Sunset Hills have had emergency experience, even if our homes were untouched last New Year’s Eve.
I am a hospital chaplain who regularly ministers to people in crisis.
I have been trained and have participated in mass casualty emergency drills at work. I lived through a tornado in 1974 that caused significant damage to my parents’ home and could have injured my mother and me if we had not gotten to the basement in time.
As part of my public service, I want to meet and discuss with other citizens how we can “talk up” disaster preparedness in more of our neighborhoods in a practical—not morbid—way.
Some of our churches may already be setting excellent examples.
Meanwhile, I will write in PATCH about ideas that need to be shared.
My contact phone number is 314/842-2021, my e-mail address is sshillsclaudia@sbcglobal.net
Ideas welcomed!
Paul Faust
12:33 pm on Monday, July 18, 2011
Great article. We need more elected officials and communities to get behind the "cause" of better preparedness. We are pretty good in this country when it comes to dealing with the aftermaths of a disaster....but not as good about preparing.
1. Take an hour to sit with your family to discuss what may happen in your area and what you could/should do (Be Informed)
2. Make sure everyone know where to go and what to do (Have a plan)
3. Take an inventory of what supplies you have and what you may need to either "ride out an event" or evacuate (Get a Kit)
4. Talk to your neighbors and learn who is a: doctor, nurse, firefighter, contractor, etc. (you may need to deal with an emergency before outside help can arrive)
We have a growing resource section at http://www.1800prepare.com. For those who want to buy ready made kits or supplies....please use coupon code "patch" for 10% off your order.
The more we share ideas and discuss...the better prepared we can all be.
Stay dafe,
Paul
Amy Johnsen
6:49 pm on Monday, July 18, 2011
If a loss occurs, homeowners are devastated to find that their insurance policy does not just pay out the coverage amount. I know this first hand!
Having gone through several fires in Malibu, the Corral Canyon Fire on November 24, 2007 was the one that destroyed my home. IMPORTANT: Homeowners don’t realize that an itemized list is required by your insurer after a loss. Plus, if I had compiled a list prior to my loss, I would have realized I was under insured! This was my families OMG moment.
After my tragedy, it has been my mission to help homeowners around the nation and world not to take unnecessary risks. Hence... DocuHome’s home inventory application
When you think home inventory, most people think “daunting task”. Not with DocuHome. It uses today’s technology (patent-pending) to create a home inventory fast, easy and visual... complete in hours not weeks! All stored out of harms way.
Please create a home inventory! Here is a free link to DocuHome’s home inventory application (BTW, this saves you $69 a year). This is all about homeowners being prepared and completing a home inventory. Signup only takes seconds...
http://docuhome.com/index.asp?action=POPSIGNUP&PromoCode=BEPREPARED
The California Department of Insurance reports:
If a loss should occur, a DocuHome home inventory can make the difference between an inadequate restoration of your home and its furnishing and gaining all that is rightfully yours from your insurance policy.
Joe Smith
12:21 pm on Wednesday, July 27, 2011
In a related story:
Database has your back. It's the content that matters...inside out. When it comes to your property, can you see what to expect in case of loss, e.g., hurricane, tornado, earthquake, flood, fire? If you are like most of the insuring public you draw a blank on that question. The bigger question is when will you preempt the course setting...join the base? www.DisasterPrepared.net