No Matter What the Emergency, Preparedness is a Constant Suggestion

If you have witnessed everything from power outages, to fires, to earthquakes, to floods, you may assume you are living in some sort of biblical end times. Or, you may just be one of the millions of people who call Southern California home. Growing up in Southern California over the past 30 years, one could certainly relate to the experiences of people throughout the country that are encountering one or another natural disaster.

The floods of El Nino are still fresh enough on the minds of many. So are the yearly wildfires, devastating earthquakes (Northridge 1994), or even the (not so natural) disasters such as the riots after the trial of the officers involved in the Rodney King beating (which although of a different class of event, still left many people stranded in their homes much the same way a natural disaster might). As the East Coast has been hit with debilitating snowstorms, and the fire season is expected to be as bad as ever in California, what are the lessons we can all take from these disastrous occurrences?

One lesson we can learn is that natural disasters can be unpredictable. As in the case of earthquakes or wildfires, some incidents are completely incapable of being forecast.

Perhaps the greatest lesson to be learned is that preparation is the one most common element of survival in an emergency or natural disaster. While the causes and effects of a wide array of natural disasters can vary as much as the locations that they strike, emergency preparedness cuts across all geographical and scientific divides as a common ingredient for those afflicted. Throughout the narratives and stories of those who have been caught in these events, those who survive typically were in possession of at least some essential emergency supplies. Emergency water is a must as civic water supplies often can become contaminated and unsafe. Such is the case after an earthquake. Even in a flood, emergency water supplies for drinking and sanitation can provide key elements of one’s chances for survival.

By Casey Kozoll
QuakeKare Press
May 3rd 2007

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