# 4426
The night before last, tornados - along with violent straight line winds - swept through my area damaging (and in some cases, destroying) homes very near to where I live.
While not on a par with the massive twisters of the mid-west, springtime in Florida can spawn a lot of these `minor’ tornadoes. `Minor’ may not seem adequately descriptive, however, if it is your home that’s just been struck.
Which is one of the reasons I stress the need for emergency preparedness in this blog.
Having a good family emergency plan, a decent first aid kit (and the knowledge to use it), and some emergency supplies can go a long ways towards keeping you and your family safe.
The time to prepare is now.
You never know when the ground beneath your feet will begin to shake, a funnel of tornadic winds will snake down out of the clouds in your direction, or the wiring in your house will overheat and cause a fire.
Each year in the U.S. most of the country switches to Daylight Savings Time in the Spring, and back to Standard Time in the Fall. For another view of this clock change, you might wish to visit Effect Measure this morning and read An epidemiologist and daylight savings time.
In recent years FEMA has reminded Americans that this clock setting routine is also a good reminder to check the batteries in their smoke (and carbon monoxide) detectors, and to review their family’s emergency plans.
Here is this Spring’s reminder. I’ll return with some more thoughts.
FEMA Reminds Americans to Make Sure Their Family is Prepared as They Spring Forward this Year
Release Date: March 12, 2010
Release Number: HQ-10-039WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is encouraging Americans to take advantage of the March 14 time change for Daylight Savings as a reminder to ensure their families are prepared for a possible emergency. A few simple steps like checking smoke alarms, developing a family communications plan, and putting an emergency kit together can go a long way toward keeping families safe.
“No matter how much the federal government, the state, or local officials do to prepare, we can’t do it alone – individuals and families must do their part to be ready in case of an emergency,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “The public is the most important member of the nation’s emergency management team, and so I encourage everyone, as they spring forward this year, to also take a few minutes to check their smoke alarms and talk through what your family would do during an emergency.”
Admittedly, had an F2 or F3 twister hit my humble abode on Thursday night, my emergency supplies would probably have been strewn to inhabitants living somewhere over the rainbow.
There are some events that – no matter how hard you try – you simply aren’t going to be able to mitigate.
But anything short of a direct hit . . . well, the odds favor those who are prepared.
I also use this twice-a-year time change as a reminder to go through and check my stash of emergency supplies, discarding any foods that are out of date (and either using - or donating to the needy - those that are still good, but will expire in the next 6 months).
Agencies like FEMA, READY.GOV and the HHS are constantly trying to get the preparedness message out, so that when (not `if') a disaster does occur, human losses can be minimized.
For more information on how to prepare for emergencies, up to and including a pandemic, the following sites should be of assistance.
FEMA http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm
READY.GOV http://www.ready.gov/
AMERICAN RED CROSS http://www.redcross.org/
A few of my (many) preparedness essays include:
An Appropriate Level Of Preparedness
Inside My Bug Out Bag
Red Cross Unveils `Do More Than Cross Your Fingers’ Campaign
The Gift Of Preparedness
At a bare minimum, every household should have a disaster plan, a good first aid kit (and the knowledge to use it), and emergency supplies to last a minimum of 72 hours during a disaster.
While it takes more than a few minutes to become prepared, once you’ve laid that foundation, a few minutes twice-a-year may be all it takes to maintain it.
