Earthquake in Chile: Important Lessons

Are you prepared for a natural disaster? When I heard that there had been a devastating earthquake in Chile the other day, only a few months after the earthquake in Haiti, I was shocked. I mean, I guess I shouldn’t have been all that shocked because Mother Nature doesn’t space apart natural disasters for our convenience, but I was still surprised. Living in the SF Bay Area, I am all too aware of the threat of a big earthquake. Every year on the anniversary of the 1908 earthquake in San Francisco, I tell myself that I am going to make an emergency preparedness kit. I have been telling myself this for 5 years, and I still have no kit. But after seeing the footage of the earthquake victims in Haiti and hearing about the military intervention against looters in Chile, I am now more than willing to immediately put together an emergency kit for my family and me. If a natural disaster ever strikes, whether it is an earthquake, flood, or snowstorm, I think that we should always be prepared, because you can’t expect that the government or some rescue organization is going to immediately come in and save the day. Just take what recently happened in Haiti and now in Chile, people get stranded without food, access to clean water and no electricity. Do you know how you would handle a situation like this? Are you ready to feed yourself for three days if something were ever to happen? Personally, despite the fact that my Mom loves to buy prepackaged food, I know that we aren’t ready to survive on what is in our cupboards. It doesn’t matter if you live in an area that is prone to quakes, floods, tornadoes or hurricanes, or even if you live in an area that doesn’t face any immediate threat from Mother Nature, we should always be prepared to be self-sufficient in case of an emergency. The four most important things that you will need in the event of an emergency are water, non-perishable food, a flash light with extra batteries and a first aid kit. You will need one gallon of water per person for at least three days. You will need enough non-perishable food to last you for three days. A flashlight and batteries because you might need to see in the dark if there is no power or electricity. And a first aid kit to take care of any injuries. Check out www.ready.gov to learn about all of the different things that you should include in your kit. It is also recommended that if you take any medications that you store extra prescriptions along with your other emergency supplies. We never know when or if the next disaster is going to affect us personally, but it is better to be ready for it than caught off guard.