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Entry bubble Are You Prepared for a Major Emergency?

By: Stephanie | September 04, 2009 | Category: General

pedestrians with red background “There’s smoke coming from the Pentagon!” one of my coworkers shouted. I ran to his office window where we worked at the top of the Old Post Office Building in downtown Washington, DC, to witness black ribbons flowing from the Department of Defense building. This, after just watching the Internet’s news about the attack on the World Trade Centers that morning, September 11, 2001.

We were allowed to leave work—but I was at a loss as to how to get home since I had heard that the subway was closed. I had just moved from DC to a suburb in Maryland, and didn’t know an alternate way to get home. I ended up stuck on a gridlocked bus for four hours because I didn’t have another plan.

Are you prepared for a natural disaster, potential terrorist attack, or other major crisis? September is the sixth annual National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The companion website, Ready.gov, gives you tips on what to include in a basic emergency supply kit, and suggests ways to contact and regroup with family members in an emergency. It also offers information on a variety of emergency situations, such as influenza pandemics, wildfires, chemical threats, and winter storms, and recommends preparations for businesses as well.

Interactive features help you personalize a family emergency plan, and links take you to sign up for free emergency alerts from your local government. You also can follow Ready.gov on Twitter, or take the Readiness Quotient quiz.

USA.gov offers information on preparing for emergencies for specific groups, including people with disabilities, kids, and pets, and links to federal information on disasters and emergencies.

Since 9/11, I’ve maintained an emergency supply kit and made it a point to learn a variety of ways to get home. Do you have an emergency kit and plan?

| View Comments [8] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: department_of_homeland_security   dhs   disaster   emergency   national_preparedness_month   plan   ready   stephanie   terrorism  

Comments (8):

blue comment bubble Posted by Andy on September 04, 2009 at 11:29 AM EDT

I live in a city where everytime it rains, we have a lot of car accidents, people got stuck in metro stations and public bus services stop! That happens only during a certain season of the year. But rain here is always a serious thing!

Now I have my own car and I drive to work, but a couple years ago, everytime we get rain our plan was that no matter where we were, we had to call mom or dad and, tell them where we were at, not to leave that place until rain stopped!

Wet pavement on my city means serious DANGER! So no matter if i drive my car or ride a bus we should stop somewhere and give a call to my parents. There is always floods across the entire city.
Now that i drive when it rains I just stop somewhere and wait until it stops. Lucky me that i have like 8 starbucks on my way home so i can stop and have a little time to enjoy a hot green tea latte!

It might sound like a very silly contingence plan, but that was our plan. Luckily for me, rain has never messed up with my cellphone signal! haha!

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blue comment bubble Posted by ready on September 04, 2009 at 05:03 PM EDT

i contacted homeland security that sent some great material to help me prepare incase of emergency.
so i would advise they call 1800beready so the government help you get prepared

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blue comment bubble Posted by Stephanie on September 04, 2009 at 05:39 PM EDT

Andy, thanks for your comment. The coffeeshop is a nice way to ride out the storms! Of course I'm wondering, what city is it? :)

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blue comment bubble Posted by Stephanie on September 04, 2009 at 05:56 PM EDT

Hi Ready, thanks for passing on the Department of Homeland Security's number, 1-800-BE-READY, to request helpful materials.

BTW, I just saw that Ready.gov also offers a kids' website, http://www.ready.gov/kids/. Take a look!

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blue comment bubble Posted by Thelma on September 05, 2009 at 02:30 AM EDT

I think our president is working for another country. Why wasn't cash for clunkers program given a stipulation of buying American cars? USA needs a shot in the economic arm. We screwed ourselves, He screwed us.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Andy on September 05, 2009 at 11:18 AM EDT

Hi Stephanie, well i was born and raised in texas but my father is mexican. So we spent some time in texas, and in Monterrey city as well. I currently live in monterrey and i work for a US bank here.
The dangerous wet pavement city i was talking about is monterrey city in mexico. But anyway the citi where i was born, McAllen, TX has some rain issues as well.

Thanks for blogging!
You have a great day!

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blue comment bubble Posted by Deepak on September 06, 2009 at 09:16 AM EDT

We should be ready for any emergency.


http://www.mylicindia.com

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blue comment bubble Posted by Bradley on September 20, 2009 at 01:17 PM EDT

Im not sure this is all that necessary,
what i see all of this doing is causing unnecessary fear in the general public. Tom Bournakas The stability of the economy as well as other aspects are affected by this type of 'social awareness' created by the US government. Dont get me wrong, Its good to be prepared, but i do believe things can get out of hand.


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