Preparing in Diverse Places
By Carolyn Nicolaysen

Recently someone living in earthquake and firestorm prone Southern California asked where people should move to avoid natural disasters. The answer is — there is no such place. FEMA and local governments are recognizing this fact, too, and waking up to the job of urging citizens to prepare on their own.

Family members and friends may not be aware of the threats to family safety in their community. The nation is all too aware of terrorism, but have we considered that small towns and schools are now thought to be likely targets in the future?

Last year we learned about the threat of a pandemic, but it did not happen in 2007. The threat has not passed, however. And then there are natural disasters.

It is no surprise that earthquakes are a real possibility in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Did you know that in all three of these areas they are overdue?

I was raised in New Jersey, and we never thought about an earthquake threat. However, Moorestown and Riverton were shaken on January 26, 1921, by a magnitude 5 quake. On June 1, 1927, Asbury Park, Sandy Hook and Toms River experienced a magnitude 7 earthquake. New York and all the Northeastern states also face the possibility of a damaging earthquake. In fact, scientists and government agencies are currently studying the likely consequences of a quake in New York City.

Insurance agencies have stopped issuing earthquake insurance in parts of Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky. Why? Because the New Madrid fault is "due" to move. The last time this happened, church bells rang in Boston from the movement of the earth.

There are only two states that have not experienced an earthquake greater than a magnitude 5 in recorded history — Florida and North Dakota. The rest of us should be preparing.

Southeastern Idaho and all of Utah are also due for an earthquake. Yet, because earthquakes are not a top-of-mind event in these areas, preparing for them may be overlooked by the average citizen living in these areas or sending their children to universities there.

I used to think ice storms happened just in Canada and areas around the Great Lakes. I remember them in New Jersey. Then, my daughter moved to North Carolina and spent four days with her family in the dark and cold after an ice storm. We all think differently now.

Dust storms? Do they really happen in the USA? Yes, this year there were two major ones in Utah and Southern California — although they can happen anywhere there are drought conditions.

Winter power outages often spell disaster and death in the Midwest and Eastern states. Summer power outages cause urgent problems not only in our major cities, but small town America as well. Deadly heat has also swept Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Africa and South America in recent memory.

Forecasters recently predicted that the 2008 hurricane season could produce seven or more major storms. Experts warn of the potential for a deadly hurricane potential in the Northeastern states including New York City.

A tsunami is predicted to someday return to the Oregon and Washington coasts.

Boulder, Colorado, and Sacramento, California, monitor a danger of severe flooding.

Austin, Texas, keeps an eye out for wildfires of the magnitude that recently burned San Diego.

Dallas and St. Louis are overdue for a deadly tornado.

Such "potential" should not frighten us. Instead, they should only encourage us to prepare and help our families to prepare.

Not Until Doomsday

Being prepared does not just mean caching emergency supplies away until doomsday. There are so many common and subtle reasons to break into your supplies.

Last Thursday we were traveling on the freeway in a rainstorm. Our headlights struggled to illuminate the roadway ahead, and as we rounded a bend, we came upon a disabled vehicle that was inadequately lighted, and parked on the left median shoulder. A man suddenly stepped out from behind the vehicle into the fast lane of traffic. Quick thinking helped us avoid him, but what a close call he had from simply not thinking, and being unprepared!

My first thought was that they should have put on something bright or reflective like the road workers wear. My son-in-law and two of my grandchildren were on an LA freeway when their engine quit, and they were broken down in a similar spot on the center median. It was late at night and the photo we saw of them with traffic racing around them is very frightening. I took them some bright orange vests to carry in their trunk!

I also just replenished my daughter's supply of mylar blankets because she had used the ones in her 72-hour and auto kits to hang on sliding glass doors in last summer's heat wave. There are so many uses for these little blankets and they are inexpensive to give. See my article The Amazing Mylar Blanket at TotallyReady.com for more information.

During a power outage, a family I know had their children wear the glow sticks from their 72-hour kits around their necks. This provided enough light for them to safely walk around — having fun, while being easy for parents to find in the dark, and lighting their steps as they went. Glow sticks are inexpensive gifts for kids and have so many uses if you can keep some in a safe place for a "rainy day."

Then there was the mom who had two small children whining that they were hungry while they waited for their older siblings to get out of a class. Mom just got into her auto emergency kit, pulled out an energy bar, and the crying stopped. This is a good reason to purchase great tasting emergency bars!

We need to stop thinking of our preparedness supplies as useful only during a major disaster and use them when all those smaller emergencies arise. And with so many potential big problems that can trouble us wherever we live in this world — being prepared can help turn the word "disaster" into something more like "adventure."

If you are still looking for Christmas gift ideas, why not preparedness? Review the Meridian article The Gift of Preparedness.