An Open Letter On Disaster Preparedness

An Open Letter on the Subject of Disaster
Preparedness.

Dear Friends,

I have been following the week’s events with shock and
utter dismay. Hurricane Katrina, as reported almost
twenty-four hours a day on cable news, is “THE WORST
DISASTER EVER TO HAPPEN TO THE UNITED STATES.”

I am sure you feel the same as I, “How could something
like this happen in America?”

But then I remembered that it did happen before. In
Galveston on September 8th, 1900. A huge hurricane
wiped the island of Galveston almost clean off the map
and killed ten thousand people. I have the book, The
Great Galveston Disaster, open in front of me. One
witness reported, “I fear Galveston is destroyed
beyond it’s ability to recover, this is the worst
disaster ever to happen in America.” The accounts of
the Galveston disaster are so similar to Katrina that
it takes your breath away. Looting, murder, rape,
20,000 in need of supplies and immediate evacuation.
A trainload of supplies is sent from Houston, but
there are delays. People die in the heat from
disease. Then there are vigilantes lynching of blacks
when false rumors spread of white women being
attacked.

Heroism and despotism. All reported via telegraph.

A ship captain reporting what he saw said, “No words
can express the scenes of death and desolation.
Nothing can be said that will convey the full
meaning.”

I do not wish to make light of the horrible events
taking place in New Orleans and elsewhere on the gulf
coast right now. But my point here is that disasters,
man made and natural on small and large scale happen.
They can happen in America and they always have
happened. They can happen to you. What you can do is
have a plan and have a few supplies and learn some
basic skills that can save your life and the lives of
others. We are all used to relying on the systems of
government and technology. But they can be disrupted
and you can find yourself completely cut off…your home
or workplace a desert island, those people around you
your only lifeline.

Galveston was rebuilt and continues to exist on the
very same fragile coastal island. New York City
continues to be an island connected to supplies and
rescue by a few bridges and tunnels. Los Angeles
continues to be a city with unsustainable water
supplies built on top of a web of fault lines.
Minneapolis exists in a below zero environment for
weeks on end each year. The list goes on.

What is incredibly clear is that the United States is
not ready to respond to another large scale terrorist
attack. I am not sure that it ever will be ready.
But there are things you can do to prepare for a day
when you might find yourself in a terrible situation.
How will you react when the stress level is do or die?
Will you freeze? There are things you can do to test
yourself and prepare yourself for these events. Here
in LA, I have recently taken a survival class from
Christopher Nyerges. There are other classes like
this throughout America. His services extend to the
individual as well as the small company. His home
page is…

http://www.christophernyerges.com/

Christopher was homeless in Los Angeles for many
months and urban survival is a large part of his
focus. He taught me how to start a fire with a car
headlamp. How to start a fire with a D-battery. How
to store water and treat water for drinking. How many
of the “weeds” that grow at the edge of parking lots
are edible. Christopher likes to say, “In more
primitive cultures a ten year old child can start a
fire without matches. Can you?”

Urban Americans have lost touch with survival skills
and they are the ones MOST at risk. Urban dwellers
are used to instant access to everything-but the
infrastructure of cell phones, internet and microwaved
hamburgers is fragile. Oil and electricity are all
that are keeping us from being in the 1900’s...if not
the 1700’s.

I would like to see a time when it becomes
fashionable, IF NOT LAW, for adult Americans to learn
the basic skills taught to children in the pioneer
days. We have become SO wussified in this country.
And the more we ask our government to take care of us,
the more rights we will lose.

Please understand, I am not saying that if the people
of New Orleans had taken a survival skills class they
would be in a better situation. This is a terrible
situation…the worst of disasters. I have been in
tears several times since last Sunday and I have
prayed for these people to be saved, rescued. But
there is a lesson here...you must project yourself
into this crisis and say, “what if this were me?” And
then ask yourself what are you doing to prepare for
that possibility? A few classes, a few preparations
can mean the difference.

Then go on with your life.

And order that double decaf latte with confidence;
knowing that the wooden stir stick would make
excellent tinder for a fire. Or, if sharpened, it
could puncture the jugular of an attacker.

Feel free to forward this e-mail; I would appreciate
your responses. Be safe. And if you haven’t, send
whatever you can to the Salvation Army. Those folks
are going to need it.

.