The New Reality of Preparedness…

A REPORT FOR CLIENTS OF THE DALE STEWART   COMPANY

We sat down with our CEO, Dale Stewart, who discussed how to prepare for and respond to natural disasters. The following is based on that discussion.

Dale, you’ve been involved in emergency response planning for more than 25 years. How do you begin developing a family plan?

Well, emergency family planning is a shared responsibility. Have a family meeting and discuss the need for a plan. Let various family members have input.

Where do you go from there?

Assess the potential disasters that might impact your area. This step is critical. It is not enough just to recognize that your family home is vulnerable to a hurricane. You need to know how the high winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surge might affect your property, your family’s well being, and your community as a whole. 

You need to consider: What damage can be expected? How bad will the flooding be? Will our house or neighborhood be isolated by floodwaters? This assessment determines the overall design of your family emergency plan.

I imagine this includes evaluating your family’s resources to deal with these threats.

Absolutely. Today, you might have only a few minutes of warning time from the moment a meteorologist spots a tornado on radar to the time it reaches your location. If you don’t have a preparedness plan in place your family may waste precious minutes deciding what to do, where to go, and what to take. If you have not identified, for instance, a “safe room” in advance, you may not have time to reach a safe location or you may not have enough space for all family members.

Training must play a big role as well.

Training is an absolute must. Each family member must understand his or her role and responsibilities as well as the warning signals and protective actions. Remember, it is possible that family members will be in different locations when a disaster strikes. They need to know what to do and how to communicate their plan with other family members. Training and exercises are a means to pull everything together.

Obviously, developing a family disaster plan requires time. How can a family speed up the process?

Crafting a thorough family disaster plan does take time. However, the right expertise can help shorten the process. Use your local Red Cross Agency, fire department, and emergency management agency to help answer questions. Also, here at the Dale Stewart Company we have put together an easy to use workbook that takes you step by step through your family’s planning process.

What are some of the mistakes and misconceptions that you see?

A common misconception about natural disasters is the amount of time available to complete preparations. We’ve seen storms intensify, speed up, and change directions suddenly and unexpectedly. If families do not plan, acquire, and arrange resources in advance, they will not be ready when the disaster strikes.

Another misconception is that emergency services in their community will come to their ad in a timely manner. Your family must be prepared to be “on their own” for a least 72 hrs. Often times emergency services are overwhelmed or simply may not be able to reach your location due to flooding, debris, or other factors.