Jacksonville Division: Severe Weather Preparedness

The southeast of the United States has been fortunate not to have faced another hurricane Katrina for the past ten years but we shouldn’t rely on our continued good fortune to lull us into a false sense of security. Today we have another storm brewing off our east coast and hoping that it will pass far enough away to prevent problems for us. We all understand that we can’t remain at a high level of vigilance forever BUT we need to have a “ramping up” plan. Hurricanes give us lots of warning but other disasters don’t: Fire, flood, explosion put us into crisis mod immediately, without the opportunity to “ramp up” our plan. The best solution is to have an emergency supply to last us three days in case of a sudden disaster. The secondary plan is to begin to prepare us with supplies that will last from four to seven days. If we are still in survival mode after seven days we had better have a plan for many weeks if not months. Remember that those who have supplies will very likely be “visited” by those who did not prepare and may be prepared to relieve you of your supply … and no the emergency services will not be able to help you in all probability. Be prepared to survive on your own skills as that may be the difference to your future.