Prepare in a Year – Week Two

When people think of disaster, they typically think of the event itself, not what leads up to it or its aftermath.  Like the emergency management process, in preparedness all four phases of a disaster should be considered. The time before a disaster is known as the Preparedness Phase. As the event occurs we move into the Response Phase. Soon after we hopefully move into the Recovery Phase. Finally, as we take steps to reduce the risk or impacts of future disaster we move into the Mitigation Phase.  These four phases make a continuous cycle or loop recognizing the fact that there are not always clear distinct lines between the phases.

When disasters occur, we often recognize or soon realize the impact that event can have on our families. However, what if you could think ahead and not only plan and prepare but in some cases prevent some of the damage or impact a disaster might have.  This is mitigation. 

In week one, we looked at the types of disaster that could impact your family, this week we will look at what can be done to reduce some of that risk.  Although it is not possible to completely eliminate all risk, the impact can sometimes be reduced to a level that is more easily dealt with. An example of this would be removing dry grass, brush and other combustible material from around a home and the creation of a defendable fire break around homes.  This fire break could be the difference between being able to save a home or losing everything to wildfire. Steps taken before can not only reduce the damage during a response but also speed the recovery following a disaster.

Flood Mitigation

With the threat of flooding, there are steps that can be taken individually and as a community that can reduce the impact.  Of course the best option is to not build where a flood is likely to occur; however, floods sometimes occur well out of the typical flood plain.  Rivers are also known to move occasionally and it is possible a home built 50 years ago might no longer be as safe from flooding as it once was.  Additionally, some homes were sited before government has learned better planning and shoreline management practices. As a result, some homes will always be in danger of flooding. There are however mitigation measures that can be taken by an individual or a community to reduce this risk. Among these measures are:

a.       Buy out of flood prone homes

b.      Elevation of home above Flood Elevation

c.       Keeping Debris out of Rivers / streams

d.      Creation of passive flood storage areas.

These are measures that can reduce the likelihood that flooding will cause extensive damage to a home; however, there are other steps that you can take to reduce the immediate danger to your family. The most important of course is to have a plan in advance as to what you will do when the threat of flooding is first discussed.  IN ALL CASES, EVERYONE SHOULD FOLLOW THE DIRECTION OF RESPONDERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS.  Many jurisdictions have public warning and messaging systems that are used to convey critical direction and information during emergency events.  If you have not done so already, contact your local emergency management department and sign up for these alerts.

Additionally, both with Severe Weather and Flooding, every household should have NOAA Weather Radio. The National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA operates a national network of radio stations known as NOAA Weather Radio (NWR), that can broadcast continuous weather and other emergency information.  NWR broadcast official weather warnings, watches, forecast and other critical information 24/7. These radios are available for purchase at many retailers around the area. For more information, go to https://www.ready.gov/floods.

Severe Storm Mitigation

Severe storms, including Thunder, Lightning, Tornadoes and Intense Rainfall all can cause specific damage to homes and otherwise threaten your family. Although little can be done to prevent these storms from having an impact on your home, mitigation measures can be taken that make the disaster more survivable. Having a safe room or space in the home to shelter in case of a tornado as an example is better than not having any plan.  Recognizing the danger of electrical storms if you are outdoors or without shelter. These are all steps towards reducing the overall risk.  For more information, go to https://www.ready.gov/severe-weather.

Wildfire

With Wildfire, mitigation measures will greatly depend on your location.  In areas where it is possible to build a defensible area. If so, the removal of dead or dry vegetation and other fuels near a home can reduce risk.  Having the home and roof built with non-combustible material can also reduce risk. However even if these measures are not appropriate for your needs, even steps like keeping flammable vegetation cleared from around driveways and possible escape routes will help.  For more information, go to www.wildlandfireRSG.org

Activity 2.1     Sign up for your Local Public Warning System through your local emergency management agency.

Activity 2.2     Identify what mitigation measures your household can take to reduce the threat or impact of disaster on your family.

ARE YOU READY?

Every community in Central Texas is subject to disaster. When disaster strikes, will you and your family be ready? The concept of Prepare in a Year is to help families walk through the preparedness cycle over a period of time. More importantly, the concept of Prepare in a Year is to help each member of the family to learn and gain a natural perception of emergency preparedness.  When this happens, preparedness becomes second nature and when disasters occur everyone knows how to respond.

Disasters can and will happen no matter what we do.  The idea of disaster preparedness does not reduce the likelihood or risk of a disaster occurring; however, it can reduce the impact it has on our lives and more importantly the impact on our families.

BR3T challenges each person to take the Prepare in a Year Challenge.  We ask that you pledge to contribute a minimum of one hour every month for preparing yourself and your family for disaster. We ask that you follow the activities, take the appropriate actions for each task and discuss as a family what is being done. Each month BR3T will highlight certain themes that will help each family become better prepared.

Each week of BR3T’s Prepare in a Year campaign will feature information and articles relating to the Prepare in a Year theme for that month.  This month we kick off the campaign with theme one, developing a Family Disaster Action Plan.  The reason why this is an action plan is because this will not be a passive program where you put a few items in a backpack and say you are prepared.  This plan will require participants to be active and to spend some time both thinking about what is needed in preparedness and discussing as a family, what you can do to be ready to face disaster.

This September has five weeks, so it will allow a bit more time for participants to write a comprehensive Family Disaster Action Plan.

Week one, we will talk about the types of disasters that could impact your family and begin thinking about how each disaster might impact your family. 

Week two, we will discuss what steps can be taken to reduce the impact of disaster on your family including some basic preparedness tips

Week three, we will develop a communication plan including the importance of developing an out of area contact.

Week four, we will develop evacuation plans for different types of disaster and certain safety issues that should be recognized.

Week five, we will put everything together into a formal Family Disaster Action Plan and prepare for Theme Two: Building or Enhancing Go Kits for each member of family (including Pets).

Theme One

Developing a Family Disaster Action Plan

Every year individuals, families and communities are impacted by disaster events.  These events can have short term impact such as a heat wave or it can have long term impact such as was seen with Hurricane Katrina.  When disaster events occur, government, disaster relief organizations and responders will try to assist your family; however, they may also need to focus their efforts in other areas of the community first. Individuals and families need to take steps to be prepared themselves. Individuals and families who take appropriate steps to become prepared are empowered, have reduced fear and anxiety over a disaster and often have fewer losses.

Being prepared is not just building a go kit. It is also having a plan for what to do in case of a fire, where to seek shelter during a tornado, or when and where they should evacuate to if necessary. It is also knowing what steps can be taken to reduce the impact that a disaster event might have on your family.

When disasters strike, having a plan in place will definitely help improve a person or family’s odds of survival. The process of writing a Family Disaster Action Plan will help in understanding the risk appropriate to your household, what should be done in case of disaster and additional steps that can be taken to reduce risk even more.

The first step in developing an emergency or disaster plan is recognizing the types of hazards that could impact your family.  Most of Central Texas share common natural and human caused threats.  Although this list is by no means definitive, if a person or family is prepared for these events, they should fare well in other events.

1.      Flooding, riverine, shallow and urban

2.      Extreme and Severe Weather, Thunderstorms, Hail, Tornados,

3.      Extreme Temperatures, both Heat and Cold

4.      Brush / Wildfire

5.      Drought

6.      Pandemic

7.      Hazardous Material Spill

8.      Terrorism

Your household may or may not be subject to any or all of these potential threats. However, recognizing what could happen and taking logical steps to reduce the impact of any disaster.  Now we will walk through each of these events so individuals and families can decide what information they want to include in their personal plan.

Once you identify what hazards your family is subject to, a risk assessment should be performed based on which hazards create the highest impact. Hazards should be ranked with those events that would have the greatest impact to those events with the lowest impact.  A second list should then be created with hazards ranked as most likely to happen to least likely to happen.

Both of these list should then be placed on a matrix with Quadrant #1 being High Risk / High Likelihood, Quadrant #2 being High Risk / Low Likelihood, Quadrant #3 being Low Risk / High Likelihood and Quadrant # 4 being Low Risk / Low Likelihood.  This matrix then allows the family to identify, rank and prepare for the most critical needs first. 

In your family emergency plan, the first priority should be to prepare for Quadrant #1 events first then #2, #3 and #4.  This allows you to prioritize your efforts where they can have the greatest impact on your safety.  In ALL EVENTS, individuals and families should always follow the direction, advice and warnings of public officials, emergency management officials and responders.

Activity 1.1: List out emergency and disaster events that could impact your family

Activity 1.2: For each event consider the degree of impact. For each event apply the label high, moderate or low.

Activity 1.3: For each event consider the likelihood of this type event. These events should be labeled frequent, probable or infrequent.

Activity 1.4:  Organize events by those with high impact or risk and listed as frequent first to those with low risk and infrequent last. Moderate risk and probable type events will be an individual choice for where you want to place them.