Preparing for Changing Times

We moved to the Midwest when my wife was offered a job as an emergency manager in a large, urban county near the geographic center of the country. Coming from a state on the Ring of Fire one of her first concerns was an absence of any plans in place for dealing with movement of the ground such as the New Madrid Fault, which had its last major event in 1811 and 1812. The geologic record for this young and active fault seems to indicate that past events have usually been in magnitude 6.0 to 8.5 range which makes any event a major disaster. And statistically the fault is overdue for a large event.

Nevertheless when my lady suggested that planning for an earthquake in the center of the country might be a good idea she was immediately told that “something like that will never happen here” and told to focus on floods and tornadoes. Now several years later the government is planning a regional exercise covering all of the Midwest in response to (don’t say we didn’t tell you) a magnitude 8.0+ earthquake focused on the New Madrid Fault.

The social and economic impact of such an event will be enormous and, sadly few people are prepared for any type of disaster event. Here in what is considered the heart of tornado country very few homes have any type of built in severe weather protection and people routinely tell me that they don’t need a weather radio “because the TV and local government” will inform them and take care of them. Even stocking extra food in the pantry frowned on and nobody wants to take responsibility for their own well being. I fear the emotional toll of any disaster will far exceed the economic impact of the event.

Be it human causation, rogue water, high wind or shifting ground we are all vulnerable to having a disaster visit when we least expect. Take time to learn what your local exposure is be going to your local emergency management office at local or state level for information concerning personal and family readiness. You can also visit www.fema.gov for lots of good information and resource referrals.

Remember that the first few days after a disaster you will most likely be on your own while government focuses on restoring essential infrastructure and gearing up to help individuals. You will be on your own…so plan ahead and be prepared.