Emergency Preparedness. It’s a serious subject yet necessary topic. Every time there is fire, earthquake, or a flood in the area or anywhere in California, I always talk about it with my family, friends or coworkers but are we ready?  Well, we just had several earthquakes recently. There were so many in a short period of time they call them earthquake swarms.  I didn’t even not there was such a thing. Well, that was enough to “shake” me out of my stupidity. It’s got me moving, pun intended.

Whether you believe Climate Change is real or not, the weather is constantly changing and has been more severe in recent years.  Natural disasters are happening more frequently. Whether it is a hurricane, tornado, flood, earthquake, or fire we all need to be prepared for potential catastrophes.

When you turn on the news, it seems as if a particular country or state is having some type of disaster going on.  Lots of TV commercials and internet ads about being prepared and having a plan, but do people really have a plan?    My co-worker and I would casually talk, and I would say “what would you take if you were told you had an hour or 2 to evacuate?” “What would you take if you were told you had 10 minutes to evacuate?” “Where would you go”?  All good questions but they are more than office gossip.  You need to have a plan!

In California, we are in the height of fire season, other states have tornado or hurricane season. No matter where you live, you need to be prepared for any type of natural disaster, severe weather, or emergency. Not asking you to be a “prepper” but I am in favor of preparing and or planning for an emergency.

Most cities, counties and states have a Department of Emergency Services that can provide some checklists.  The National one is Ready.gov.  https://www.ready.gov/plan.  

You can find California’s checklist here at  https://www.caloes.ca.gov/.  Every state has some form of checklist online. They have tons of valuable information on how to plan for your unique situation including how to plan if you have children, animals, or aging parents.  Many things you may not have thought of or realized you needed.  Review a couple of different checklists and then sit down and make your own checklist to fit the needs of your family.  Once you know what know need, you’ve taken the first step. Now get started.