Get Involved in Community Efforts to Help Others Be Prepared

Once you have put into practice steps 1-3, you will have made yourself and your family much more prepared to face the next emergency. You are now ready to move to the final step, which is getting involved in community efforts to prepare others. There are some great organizations that you can join to help. In Etowah County, you can volunteer with the American Red Cross, Citizen Corps, Gadsden/Etowah County Emergency Management Agency, Salvation Army, and the Etowah Baptist Association just to name a few. If you are a part of an organization that can provide assistance in times of emergencies, your organization can join the Etowah County Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (ECVOAD). You could also take a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training course, which would prepare you to assist your community and responders should a crisis occur.

What you can do is dependent on your situation. If you can’t join with one of the aforementioned organizations, then help someone in your neighborhood or family. No matter how young or old you are, you can help. Can you help a neighbor prepare their plan? Can you assist a family member in building an emergency preparedness kit? There are many things you can do to help others be prepared. Take the steps that you have put into practice, and pass them on.

• Etowah County American Red Cross: 547-8667
• Gadsden/Etowah County Emergency Management Agency: 549-4575
• Salvation Army: 546-4673
• United Way: 547-2581
• Etowah Baptist Association: 547-1691
• Citizen Corps/ECVOAD: Call EMA at 549-4575
• CERT Course: Call the EMA 549-4575

Make an Emergency Supply Kit

Building an emergency preparedness kit is step three in making yourself and your family prepared for the next emergency. When preparing your kit, take into account your unique needs. Do you have children? If so, you probably will want to put items in there that will occupy their time such as toys and coloring books. Does someone in your family take prescriptions? Ask your doctor about stockpiling medications for your preparedness kit. These are the types of things that will be personal to you when preparing your kit.

There are some items that every kit will need. Water and food are two of the primary ones. The Alabama Department of Public Health recommends one gallon per person per day for drinking and hygiene. As for food, stockpile non-perishable foods in cans, or items such as granola bars, peanuts, crackers, and electrolyte drinks. Don’t forget your can opener for the canned food!

Other items which you will find useful include a flashlight with batteries, battery powered or crank radio, changes of clothing, and personal care items. These are items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and toilet paper. You may also consider putting important documents such as deeds, insurance policies, and bank account information in your kit. Some people have suggested that having cash in your kit is a good idea, due to the possibility of banks being closed and ATMs not working. Visit www.adph.org/get10 for some great information on preparing an emergency preparedness kit.

Looking at our two examples, the Blizzard of 1993 and Hurricane Katrina, you can see how having these items would have helped those affected during these emergencies. It also underlies the fact that when a major emergency occurs, help may not be immediately available. Many of us remember being without power for days after the Blizzard of 1993. Roads were closed and nearly impossible to navigate in most areas. An emergency preparedness kit could have limited the suffering for many people during this event.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many of the residents of New Orleans who didn’t get to evacuate were facing major crisis. Those who didn’t face immediate dangers from the flooding were still without fresh water and food for quite a while. Unfortunately, some people did not make it. A good emergency preparedness kit would have helped those who so desperately needed fresh water, food, and medications.

Preparing an emergency preparedness kit that can last up to 72 hours is one of the most important things you can do in being prepared. If your kit is too large to take with you if you have to evacuate, prepare a small kit that you can take with you. Don’t forget to check your kit every six months. Having expired foods and medications in your kit will do you no good. As shown by the examples in the Blizzard of 1993 and Hurricane Katrina, you may have to take care of yourself and your family for up to 72 hours after an emergency. Are you ready to do that if necessary?

Make a Family Emergency Plan

After you have identified the hazards which can threaten your community, you will need to create a family plan to deal with these hazards. There are a few things to take into consideration when making this plan.

Ø Learn how to protect yourself from the hazards that you have identified. For instance, most of us know how to protect ourselves from tornadoes. Make sure you have a safe place inside your home, which is on the lowest floor away from windows. Check this place. Is it free of clutter? Can you get inside quickly? Other protective actions to consider are sheltering in place and evacuating. Take a few moments to consider whether you truly know how to protect yourself. If you put it off until an emergency, it will be too late.

Ø Have an out-of-town contact you can contact if an emergency occurs. If a major emergency happens in your community, your family and friends will want to know that you are ok. However, phone lines and cell service could be jammed in your area. It will be much easier to contact someone in an area not affected by the emergency. They can be your point of contact to let others know if you are alright, or if you need help. They can also serve to let you know the status of others which you care about.

Ø Know from where you will get your emergency information during a crisis. Local radio and television stations are often great sources of information during and after an emergency. Also, be sure you have an emergency alert radio which will warn you in case of an emergency. Etowah County’s same code is 001055.

Ø Finally, write down and practice your plan. You will have more success with your family plan by do so. Go over it with your family. Practice it at least twice a year. Make sure your family is well aware of what you will do, and who to contact in emergencies. Otherwise, your plan may not be effective.

Having a plan can prove to be vital, as proven by Hurricane Katrina. Those who were prepared fared much better than those who had taken no prior preparedness measures. Hurricane Katrina and the Blizzard of 1993 also show that in a major emergency, response units may not be able to arrive immediately, due to the amount of emergencies around their community. Preparing yourself and your family by making a plan, writing it down, and practicing it will help you be much safer when the next emergency occurs. Visit ready.gov for more information on how to create a family plan.

Identify Hazards Which Threaten Your Community

One of the first things you will need to do to be more prepared is to identify what hazards exist in your community. It seems easy enough, and really it is. Let’s take a look at some of the most common hazards to Etowah County, and north-central Alabama.

Tornadoes-According to the National Weather Service’s tornado database, Etowah County has not had a tornado-related fatality since 1913. Etowah County has had 24 documented tornadoes since 1908; however that number is almost certainly higher due to non-reported tornadoes in rural areas of the county. The most recent was in 2003. Two destructive tornadoes occured within a year of each other in 2000 and 2001. The best known of these was the tornado that struck Coates Bend on December 16, 2000. It caused 14 injuries and damage to 250 homes. Despite the common myth, Etowah County is not protected from tornadoes from the surrounding mountains.

Thunderstorms-A way of life in the south is dealing with thunderstorms. Late spring and late autumn are generally the stormiest times for Etowah County. Of course, we are all familiar with the pop-up thunderstorms of summer as well. The main threats from thunderstorms are lightning, high winds, hail, and tornadoes. This year, the Gadsden/Etowah County EMA has received hundreds of reports of damage due to thunderstorm winds and lightning strikes.

Floods-Many communities in Etowah County lie inside the Coosa River’s floodplain. In addition, Etowah County is also downstream from Weiss Dam in Cherokee County. It has been a long time since Etowah County has experience a truly catastrophic flood. However, it is inevitable that it will happen again.

Hazardous Materials Accident-The next time you are out on a major highway, look and see how many placards you see pass before you. Placards are the diamond-shaped signs on trucks or rail cars which indicate that a hazardous material is being transported. Etowah County has several major highways, and a major railroad which traverses it. These transportation routes routinely have vehicles which pass over them with hazardous materials in their cargo. While these trucking companies and railroads take great precautions to protect these shipments, accidents do occur.

Anniston Army Depot-Hopefully, everyone is aware of the chemicals being incinerated at the Anniston Army Depot. Currently, the final chemical, HD Mustard is being destroyed. Due to the nature of Mustard, the direct threat to Etowah County has been greatly reduced. However, if an incident occurs at the Anniston Army Depot, Etowah County could play a supporting role to Calhoun County in response. Due to this, it is still important that everyone keep the Anniston Army Depot in their minds and on their lists.

Winter Storms-Etowah County is in one of the best locations in Etowah County to be affected by winter storms. The highest reported total for snowfall during the Blizzard of 1993 was in Walnut Grove. While Etowah County has not been affected by a severe winter storm is several years, it is once again important to keep this in your plans.

These are some of the first that come to mind. These are not the only ones. It is important for yourself and your family to identify all of the things that you think can cause harm to you. Write them down. The next step will be to make a family emergency plan. We will discuss this next week. If you have questions regarding the identification of hazards, contact the EMA at 549-4575 or at ema@cityofgadsden.com.

National Preparedness Month

September is National Preparedness Month. This month, we will explore some ways to make you and your community more prepared for disasters. Being more prepared will make you safer, should a disaster occur. Here are the four steps which you can take to increase your preparedness level:

1. Identify hazards which threaten your community.
2. Make a family emergency plan.
3. Make an emergency preparedness kit.
4. Get involved in community efforts to help others be prepared.

We will apply these steps to two events that occurred within the last twenty years. These events are the Blizzard of 1993 and Hurricane Katrina. Keep these two events in mind when reading about the four steps we will discuss this month. Think about how they could’ve been applied to help prevent some of the suffering that occurred as the result of these events.

We will release a new blog post each week this month. Each post will focus on one of the four steps you will need to take to be more prepared. Think critically about how well you and your family are following each step. Is there more you can do to be prepared? Do you have a friend, family member, or loved one who needs help getting prepared? Visit ready.gov for some great resources.