Why should I prepare? First and foremost is the fact that there is no way any one town, one county, or one state can take care of everyone in it if most of us weren’t prepared. Looking at our community the sheer facts are that there could be available at any given time during any 12-hour shift – 30 to 50 first responders (counting volunteers and possibly a few more if you count all public employees) for 2500 residents in the winter and ten times that in the summer. They will have to share 5 to 7 high-water vehicles and a handful of boats. When it comes to sheltering locally we are looking at a total of 200-350 people. This means those that are capable of self-evacuation and/or self-sheltering at home (i.e., you have a generator and food stocks) should plan for their own welfare, those that have nearby family or friends should have a plan to be assisted by family or friends. The first responders should only be there for those who don’t have anyone to count on. Unfortunately, first responders spend a lot of time dealing with those that only can be described as clueless – those that drive in water and call for someone to risk their lives to rescue them when their car stalls out and those that thought it was a “cool” thing to ride the storm out in their house when they were supposed to leave and then need to be evacuated when the water comes in or electric goes out.
What does it take to be prepared? – Basically, there are three key things that you need to be on your way to being prepared . . .
(1) ALERT SYSTEM – You need to have a way to get emergency alerts and you have to be aware of the current weather forecast – you can’t properly respond to something when you don’t have enough time to respond. Routinely checking the weather, having weather apps or weather radio, and having registered alternative methods to be notified (i.e., cell phones) will often give you several days’ notice of an upcoming storm.
(2) PLAN – You have to have a plan or at least an idea of what needs to be done. Remember in times of stress you fall back on what you have done or practiced. When a disaster strikes you have to have an idea of what to do. The perfect preparer would have a written plan and have family disaster drills to test it and the minimum someone should do is to discuss with their family or friends what they would do if a disaster strikes their area. Simply having a discussion about what to do will get you thinking in the right direction. Something as simple as a checklist of what you need to take if you had to evacuate would be of great assistance.
(3) SUPPLIES – Have an understanding that you don’t have to prepare for one specific event and that all events have central components that are the same and will be used for every disaster. By getting into a few good habits you can be prepared for anything, for an emergency food supply keep in your food pantry a few extra canned and dry goods and bottled water for an emergency. Remember to rotate them during your regular use so you don’t end up with outdated food. Keep all your medications and important papers in one location so you can grab them quickly in an emergency also make it a habit to keep at least a 1/2 tank of gas in your vehicle so if you had to evacuate you can. The next time you make a purchase of clothing think about where and when it can be used – chances are the raincoat you bought to go to work can be used to keep you dry in a hurricane and with sufficient layers under it dry during a snowstorm. Your fishing or boating boots can be used to walk in flood water or with heavy socks during a snowstorm. What we are trying to point out you don’t have to purchase specialized clothing or even a supply of freeze-dried survival food.
When you think about it, it doesn’t take much to be prepared, it takes a will to do it. When you have the time take a minute to explore the links on the “Be Prepared” page. When you are ready to start planning to be prepared take a moment to list what it would look like to be fully prepared then conduct a gap analysis comparing where you want to be and where you are at now, then prioritize what has to be done based on what you can afford and the importance of the item to the welfare of your family and as they say. . . just do it.