Fire, Natural and Man-Made Emergency Update
So you're sure they're coming
to the rescue?
 It's becoming very clear that we'll have to look after ourselves in times of crisis. We see that in the news every day.
Even state and county planners are finally admitting that to each other - in private.
This site was prepared by individuals experienced in emergency / crisis planning and response - including members and advisors in the "disability" community. We've invested thousands of hours in emergency response training, practice and research.
If you have better informed, more reliable sources, please use them.
A TV game show popular in the 1950's and 60's was named "You Bet Your Life."
For the "disability community" in today's world, it's not a game.
The information here contains some hard truths. But most of us in the adaptive community are used to hard truths on a day to day basis. So there's not a lot of hand-holding here. You deserve better then that.
The site is designed to dispell myths, to give you facts, and to help you prepare for emergency situations.
If you'd prefer not to think about such things. There's nothing here for you.
What qualifies as an emergency?
An emergency doesn't have to be a Hurricane Katrina or a 9-11 event.
An emergency can be anything from a house or building fire to the loss of electricity or water during a heat wave.
You might be able to see it coming - such as a flood or hurricane - or it might hit suddenly, like an industrial accident or a highway ice storm.
But the bottom line is an emergency is any situation you're not prepared for.
We urge to start by taking a hard inventory of your own state of preparedness, and to what degree you rely on a personal or governmental support system.
Then ask yourself, "with what I know now, can I rely on my local, state and federal governments to rescue me in time of need?"
Regarding emergency response agencies: Are responders more likely to find me, or to care for their own families in times of severe emergency?
Will my personal support system be able to get to me in an emergency? On what basis do I believe that? What will I do if they won't or can't?
We have to develop our own survival skills.
This web site was developed to help you with the basics of helping yourself. We'll can help you function outside of the chaos.
The Basics
Step #1: Know where you stand
Step #2: Develop your get-away plan
Step #3: Assemble your Go-Bag
Step #4: Build your Shelter-in-Place inventory
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. June 16, 2008. No FEMA response as of that date.
Levees brioken,
25,000 residents under mandatory evacuation.
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July 24, 2008 -- FEMA Seeks Immunity From Katrina Lawsuits
17 June 2008 - Red Cross: Disaster Funds Depleted
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Mike Leavitt
Secretary, Health &
Human Services
April 10, 2006
"Any community that fails to prepare -- with the expectation that the federal government can come to the rescue -- will be tragically wrong."
Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré
The gruff, cigar-chomping general who led federal troops into New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina is convinced America hasn’t learned its lesson from the storm.
“There’s an attitude everywhere else that people are smarter than they are in New Orleans and in Mississippi."
"They’re not. What happened in New Orleans could have happened anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard.”
“Don’t get stuck on stupid!”
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Hands-on 
