Millions in Prevention May Be Priceless Preparedness

The news was grim last week about the amount of progress made in the United States toward preventing another disaster like that of Hurricane Katrina. The news comes as a result of a congressionally ordered identifying mission. “After Katrina, Congress directed the corps and FEMA… to identify at-risk levees” (usatoday.com). The report showed that an alarming amount of levees throughout the country are not up to snuff.

The importance of this report should be extremely evident after Katrina. People in that disaster found themselves stranded by their local and federal government. While the waited for relief and rescue, many were lacking survival supplies such as emergency food and water. Surrounded by contaminated water, Katrina survivors often had to scavenge and eek out survival. While emergency preparedness has taken on a higher priority since Katrina and other events have illustrated the need for emergency preparedness, the new findings by the Army Corps of Engineers shows many areas are still at risk.

“The Army Corps of Engineers has identified 146 levees nationwide that it says pose an unacceptable risk of failing in a major flood” (usatoday.com). Most of the levees suffered from poor maintenance. However, the lack of proper maintenance could cost property damage losses of $2 billion and put millions of lives at risk. The danger to life comes from the aftermath of the floods as people are left without shelter, water, food, or first aid supplies. That is why you must prepare with emergency supplies today! You need to take steps towards you and your family's emergency preparedness planning because the outcome looks bleak for many heavily populated areas across the US according to the Army Corps of Engineers.

By Casey Kozoll
QuakeKare Press
January 29th 2007

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