Being prepared for multiple contingencies can save you many headaches. Disasters cause crippling fear and anxiety. The feeling of loss can be emotionally devastating. If you, as an individual, prepare for a fire, tornado, earthquake, hurricane or any other geographical threat, you can ensure that your family and even your community have a plan. Everyone should be ready to evacuate a home within five minutes if necessary. Public shelters should be shared and well-known meeting places throughout the community. Individuals should be trained in first aid and stop the bleed so anyone can become an emergency medic if the situation calls for it.

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When individuals and communities prepare for a potential threat, it mitigates the impact of the disaster. Proper preparation saves property, money, and emotional stress. In flood-prone areas, those individuals that have taken measures to divert floodwater or have sandbags on the ready can ensure that their home stays dry or receives less damage than it would have. Well before an earthquake, you should have items secured to ensure their safety during the event. If you have a defendable space that is well maintained and a fire suppression system in place around your home, you can stop a wildfire in its tracks.

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The government is investing in preparation. In the spring of 2019, the Federal Government passed the Disaster Aid Package. This package contributed nineteen billion dollars of supplemental disaster aid packages for states affected by 2017, 2018 and 2019 disasters. The additional money does not include homeland security funds but does include language directing FEMA to consider stricter revisions to costs the agency should consider when determining whether to rebuild storm-impacted facilities.

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This funding included some key provisions. Three-point two six billion dollars were allotted to the Army Corps of Engineers. One billion dollars of this money was allocated to Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies to prepare for future floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters, as well as support for certain emergency response operations. Another 800 million dollars were allotted to investigate and build high-priority flood and storm damage reduction projects.

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Preparedness planning didn’t stop there. Three billion dollars was allotted for crop losses via block grants to states and territories and another two-point four billion dollars were earmarked for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. This provision featured several restrictions and requirements, in part requiring any remaining funds to be used for mitigation activities. One point six five billion dollars were reserved for federal aid for highways emergency relief. Fifty million dollars were allotted to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to improve the forecasting of disastrous events to mitigate damage. Also, fifty million dollars were reserved for Title IX funds for public-private partnerships to support coastal resiliency.

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If the government is allotting this much funding to preparation, don’t you think you as an individual should be too? Disasters disrupt hundreds of thousands of lives every year. Each disaster has lasting effects, both to people and property. If an emergency occurs in your community, local government and disaster-relief organizations will try to help you, but you need to be ready as well. The first responders may not be able to reach you for a while or there might be more pressing matters requiring their attention. Individuals should know how to respond to severe weather in any given geographic location. Different regions may be affected by hurricanes, earthquakes, extreme cold, flooding or terrorism. Three days of self-sufficiency preparation should be a minimum. This planning should include providing for your shelter, first aid, food, water, and sanitation.

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There is also something to be said for staying spontaneous and flexible. That doesn’t mean lacking preparation, instead be ready to change plans in a moment’s notice. That means you need multiple ideas in place ahead of time so you can quickly pivot. Despite all your planning, you may need to think fast and develop new plans on the fly but having a solid base of survival strategies should make that a breeze. Don’t get too rigid in following procedures that you developed tunnel vision.

 

Works cited:

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/why-prepare/

https://sheriff.deschutes.org/divisions/special-services/emergency-management/before-a-disaster-emergency-preparedness/