National Preparedness Month

How ‘ya gonna’ get out of town?


A few years ago, 2003 to be precise, the electric grid suffered a major failure and power went completely out all over the northeast United States. Can you remember your circumstances at just the instant you realized the extent of the outage? Any trouble getting home from work that afternoon? Worry about the family much? Considering that the events of 9/11 were fresh on our minds, only two years prior, many jumped to the conclusion that it must be another terrorist attack.

My family was caught off guard by the power outage. Both of our cars were pushing empty; to the point that we used the last two gallons of lawn mower fuel to get us to the nearest gas station using a back-up generator. The line was more than a mile long. So that the car didn’t run out of gas, I walked to the front of the line and snuck in between cars for two gallons at a time. We used up most of our cash as neither my wife nor I carry much and the station couldn’t take plastic. The short version is that we were, as I said, off guard.

The movies have covered almost every conceivable natural disaster and apocalyptic event you can imagine. One of the required reading assignments I had in secondary school was a book called “Alas, Babylon” which dealt with a “day after” scenario and the subsequent anarchy and eventual chaos that civilization fell into. Perhaps this type of fictional sensationalism in our media and entertainment industry causes us to be desensitized and to put off a realistic “what if” discussion. I suggest that you visit the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) web site for all kinds of preparedness tips.

Of course you will sound like an alarmist if you show up one day with maps and charts of escape routes, rendezvous points and emergency contacts numbers. Naturally you’ll seem paranoid if you bring home “his” and “hers” bullet proof vests and gas masks. The neighbors will certainly be concerned if you are stockpiling weapons and durable goods or if the “Bob the Bunker Builder” van stays in your driveway for a week.

However you feel about the security of your family, you should communicate with each other and sort a few things out. Some of the discussion questions might include the following…

If there is a fire in the house:

• What are the two escape routes from each room?

• Where will you meet?

• What is the backup location?

• Where is the fire extinguisher located?

• Who is allowed to use the fire extinguisher?

If there is a local disaster:

• Where can you call or tune into for information?

• Who, outside the local area, can everyone call to check in?

• What is the local evacuation plan?

• Do you have an emergency suitcase packed?

• If communication is not possible, where do you meet?

There are professionals who think up various tragic scenarios and how to prepare for them. Check out the Federal Emergency Management website at www.fema.gov and check out disaster mitigation. You’ll see that September is National Preparedness Month.