Along with many of us, I
too have been watching with utter shock at the extent of devastation caused by
Typhoon Haiyan. This has become a regular occurrence worldwide - causes
ranging from earthquakes, hurricanes to torrential rains. But this is
where the differences end. The devastation to our way of life is repeated
over and over again regardless of where in the world the disaster has occurred.
All of this begs the
question as much as we see this over and over again how prepared are we?
Do we do our part? We are all too well aware of the limitations of
our various governments or the non-for-profit organizations that seem to step
in time after time. Do we realistically think they can save all of us
within hours? Or do we have a duty as citizens to do our part to prepare.
I must confess over the years
FEMA puts these ads on radio, TV and newspapers etc about preparing for a
disaster but it was not until this morning that I decided to actually take a
look at the information offered. Driven
more by the photographs of the people at the airport in Tacloban, Philippines –
mind you I am not faulting them. But I merely
understand their desperation enough to question my own expectations.
We need to make a concerted effort to be more appreciative of first responders. But more importantly make their jobs easier by being more personally prepared. Doing our part. When disaster strikes “time to gather things and prepare” is a luxury that will not be available to you and besides you will be so panicked that you will not think straight anyway. Conventional wisdom says practice makes perfect – run drills with your family. Have a plan! Know where and how to communicate in case you are separated. Have cash and batteries to sustain until things come back to normal.
Below is a link to the FEMA website – please make the time read through their guidelines.
No comments:
Post a Comment