“Now’s a good time to check and make sure you have…”

Those are the words used by many dive-masters aboard countless dive boats prior to leaving the docks for a day of SCUBA diving. The gist is to get divers to check their dive bags and equipment before the dock lines are cast to insure they’re prepared for a day of diving once they’re out at sea.

“…a mask, a snorkel, two fins—otherwise you’ll swim in circles...”

All joking aside, the call-out of an item list is done to prompt divers into running their checklists and to physically inspect their gear—and that of their dive buddy, too.

Following checklists and being responsible for another is not limited to hobbyists like SCUBA divers.

During hurricane season we need to establish a plan, and have some semblance of an idea as to what we’ll do if the wind blows and the waters rise.

We owe it to ourselves, our families and for those who are so inspired--to our neighbors—after all, one tenant of the good book is to “be thy brother’s keeper”.

When I co-authored, “What to Do til The Cavalry Comes” with Thomas Van Hare in 2006, our intent was to reduce the chance of revisiting the heartbreaking scenes of New Orleans post hurricane Katrina.

The visions of Americans lined up in the streets, as well as those seen floating in the toxic mix of the storm’s flood waters still haunt us to this day.

Three years after we published “What to Do…”, another preparedness guide rose from the wreckage of southern Louisiana. Its title is “Survival: How a Culture of Preparedness Can Save You and Your Family from Disasters”, authored by Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré (U.S. Army, ret).

The Lt. General’s guide is written in what I consider to be “pure Honoré” style. For the uninitiated his wording may be harsh truth; but as he relates to preparedness, the Lt. General’s beliefs are congruent to ours and follow this basic understanding:

“The U.S. had a Culture of Preparedness during the 1960s, when every home, government agency and institution did something to prepare in the event of a nuclear attack from the former Soviet bloc. Once that threat was all but gone, we abandoned our readiness.”-- Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré (U.S. Army, ret)

What he means

In the 1960s when the threat was a nuclear attack; schools were civil defense shelters, students were drilled on “duck and cover” and the skills of survival were engrained in us.

Back then, home builders offered underground bomb bunkers as an option in my South Florida neighborhood—an area that had its own Nike missile base established to defend against the Soviet missiles pointed towards the U.S. during the Kennedy era.

Families stocked canned goods, Sterno, candles, bleach and other supplies at the ready in their homes. We relied on each other in a time when there was more of a sense of community--and of “being American”—after all, we were being led by the generation that was born of the “greatest generation”.

FEMA was not considered part of a personal preparedness plan and in fact did not exist as it does in its current role today.

The thought process was if you were ready for “the Big One”, you were ready for just about anything and being basically prepared meant you had half the battle won.

The same holds true today

“One of the harshest lessons learned from recent disasters, especially Katrina, is that you are your own first responder.”-- Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré (U.S. Army, ret)

I’m not one to wait in line on a good day. I’ve been known to leave restaurants when there’s a wait for a table, and I plan my grocery shopping for mid-week to avoid the weekend rush.

The joke I make amongst my friends in my “preparedness circle” is that I have everything I need, except for fresh limes and mint—two ingredients needed for mojitos and rum-n-cokes.

I’m not advocating that a hurricane is a time to party, but once my home is secured and the choice of “stay or evacuate” has been made; I sit back and relax—while the lines at the grocery store and Home Depot grow!

To me, the only lines that are worse than those before a disaster are the FEMA lines for the “free” food, water and ice afterwards.

The realities of today make it necessary for those who are capable--even on the smallest scale—to do what they can to prepare their family for a disaster—be it natural or man-made, hurricane or terrorism.

Remember, you’re not only preparing for the event, you’re preparing for the days and weeks afterwards.

Hurricane season began June 1st—the dock lines have been cast--“Now’s a good time to check and make sure you have...” before you find yourself “…swimming in circles.”

Bad Planning, Bad Performance, it’s not just BP...

...our government is also guilty!

The world has watched the environmental horror as the BP oil geyser has continued to gush black gold into the Gulf of Mexico since April 20th.

Of course as in any major disaster, there was the initial shock of “it” happening as heroic crews rushed to the scene in search of survivors and to douse the raging inferno—much like we saw on 9/11.

We then witnessed BP’s limp corporate response, most likely due to them wrangling with the “financial liability issues” and waiting to see what the U.S. government was going to do.

BP’s response—finger pointing and denial of ownership of the oil rig and blowout preventor—finger pointing which continued into hearings on Capitol Hill on May 11th.

Of course the Obama administration responded—and much like past governmental responses it was too little, too late--with the administration rolling out it’s department heads a little over a week after the event to deliver a reiterated and very prepared quote.

Homeland Security chief, Janet Napolitano told Meet the Press that The White House knew "from day one that this could be a catastrophic failure,” and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar emphasized the same talking point on the same Sunday as a guest on State of the Union saying, “From day one there was the presumption of worst-case scenario”.

“From day one…” It kind of has that, “You’re doing a fine job, Brownie,” ring to it, doesn’t it?

If in fact, “from day one” our leadership “presumed” or “knew” of the magnitude of the BP oil spill, why wasn’t the "In-Situ Burn" plan--a plan produced by federal agencies in 1994 that calls for responding to a major oil spill in the Gulf with the immediate use of fire booms—activated?

Because once again, just like on 9/11, post hurricanes Andrew, Katrina and Ike, the recent flooding in Tennessee and just about every other disaster to have hit the U.S.--the federal government was caught flat-footed—unprepared--and that’s the proven truth to our nation’s ability to respond to disasters.

Americans have been told to prepare and to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours since the 9/11 terrorist attacks; yet the government has failed to respond within that time frame to any disaster since--either natural or man-made.

The agency responsible for responding to the BP oil spill did not have a federally required fire boom and it took U.S. officials eight days to locate the sole unit in the country before getting it delivered and conducting a test burn in the Gulf.

Former NOAA oil spill response coordinator Ron Gouguet --who helped draft the 1994 plan --said that officials had pre-approval for burning. "The whole reason the plan was created was so we could pull the trigger right away."

Our leadership, with their multi-paged preparedness plans replete with hierarchy and flow charts has proven their ability to do nothing more than create barriers to immediate and direct response in the event of any disaster.

Perhaps in the early days of the BP blowout, the DHS chief and Interior Secretary could have FedEx’d the printed federal oil spill response plan to Louisiana so as to be laid upon the Gulf—allowing the document to soak up the first few thousand gallons of oil that escaped to the surface.

The reality is, is disaster response requires money--and there is none.

My statement was reinforced on May 11th--just three weeks before the beginning of what some experts are predicting to be an active hurricane season--with a preemptive warning of sorts from FEMA.

It seems that this year's numerous disasters have tapped the Federal Emergency Management Agency dry.
The House agreed March 24 to give the agency an extra $5.1 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. But the Senate has failed to act--despite recent flooding in Tennessee.
Sixteen states experienced a combined 18 disasters this year before the House voted to give FEMA the extra funding.

Since then, major disasters have been declared for winter storms or flooding in Maine, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Connecticut, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Maryland.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said while visiting Tennessee on last Thursday that "there's an urgency" to approving the funding and said the agency could respond to emergencies as they occur but couldn't help rebuild afterward.

Record flooding in early May in Nashville killed at least 20 people and caused an estimated $1.5 billion in damage.
"We are not going to be delayed in helping individuals in the emergency response costs," Fugate said. "But as this flood is going to show, we already have almost $1 billion in outstanding projects from previous disasters that we cannot move forward on."

FEMA is still paying for disasters dating to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. For example, the agency is still rebuilding schools in New Orleans, and an arbitration panel ruled in January that the agency must pay $474 million to rebuild Charity Hospital.

"While we can meet the immediate needs of survivors in these declared disasters, and we can support state and local government in the immediate response, we do not have the ability now to fund permanent work," Fugate said. "And that's going to be a key factor in this recovery as well as previous disasters going all the way back to Katrina."

Based on the historical data and supported by the fact that it’s not a matter of “if” but “when” a disaster will strike, today more than ever, if you’re not putting a personal preparedness plan in place, you’re “BP”.

FEMA’s recent statements practically insure there’s no tractor trailers full of water, food, blue tarps, generators and all the other “free” things hurricane victims seem to love to stand in line for while awaiting deployment at first light after landfall.

While the government has a written preparedness plan, part of that plan is an initial assessment or as I called it earlier, the hand-wringing. The secondary phase of the plan includes amassing equipment and personnel, and that takes money—and we’ve been warned softly—there’s none left, but it might be in the pipeline to being approved.

Now would be a good time to check and make sure you have what your family needs and begin preparing yourselves for this year’s hurricane season.

My suggestion is to plan on surviving without federal help for a minimum of seven days-- or more. That’s depending on how long it takes the Secretarys, Assistant Secretarys, Chiefs and their staff to realize that real people with real lives are hanging in the balance of FEMA’s checkbook and their ability to make a decesion on when they’ll deploy after the winds and tides subside.

For those of you who wish to plan and would like suggestions, our preparedness guide, What To Do til the Cavalry Comes: A Family Guide to Preparedness in 21st Century America is online--FREE. No credit card or personal info required.

What To Do… is endorsed by Mississippi’s Lt. Governor, Phil Bryant and co-authored with three-time Pentagon appointee, Thomas Van Hare. Each chapter is formatted with suggestions and checklists to help you establish a personal family preparedness plan that will work for you.

Email me, Matt@mattlawrencebooks.com and I’ll send you the direct link so you can read it online, full screen, in it’s entirity—thanks to a service provided by fREADo.com.

Hurricane Season starts June 1st, now's the time to prepare!

Hurricane season 2009 starts June 1, and while the “busy season” statistically runs during August, September and October, now’s the time to prepare.

Preparedness – Having a Checklist

School teachers use checklists in lesson planning for your kids, pilots use them before each and every flight, SCUBA divers use them before every dive and doctors use them before surgery. Hopefully, you already use one, even if it’s a mental checklist that you have for each day before you start your car and drive to work – although we know there are some drivers on the roads who appear to have no plan of where they are going!

Keep in mind that nothing is set in stone, the things you need to make your life comfortable may not be the same as others. Basics should include copies of important documents, food, water, personal medications and a plan for shelter, whether that be a plan to sty at home (ie: Shelter-in-place), or to evacuate to a friend or family members home or even a community shelter.

Packing your Kit

While I base my personal preparedness on hurricane planning, your preparedness plan will be regional in application, although the basic preparedness kit contents may be the same.

Your preparedness kit should be sealed in waterproof plastic containers or coolers. It should be your complete solution, holding just about everything you’ll need to survive for the first week after an event, and is not to be confused with another critical item, the “go bag,” which contains just the most essential items for a sudden evacuation, when you cannot take much with you.

If you live in an area that’s safe to do so and you’re planning on sheltering-in-place, focus on supplies for the home. These are the types of things you buy once and pack away knowing you have them if you need them. They are mostly non-consumables and can be stored year after year for the emergency you hope will never come.

You don’t have to run out and buy all of these items at once. There’s a good chance you’ll have some of these items already on hand, but they’re probably stored separately and without any organization, in various closets, or wherever you found space the last time you were putting things away.

Need ideas on what to put in your preparedness kit? Check out the related videos on this blog or got to my website http://www.mattlawrencebooks.com/ and click on my preparedness guide, What To Do Til The Cavalry Comes: A Family Guide to Preparedness in 21st Century America.

I’m always interested in hearing other people’s ideas, so if you think you have an innovative idea or know of a product that makes preparation easier, contact me via my website! You might see your idea in an upcoming article! Existo paratus!

Matt Lawrence