In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

For my birthday on last Saturday, my kids got me a 33oz. “I AM NOT PLASTIC” water bottle. I bring this up not because I love my kids (which I do) or because I want to contribute to slowing global warming (which I do). But instead because the gift offers me another good lesson about emergency preparedness.
I [...]

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Reader Jonathan Haber was kind enough to send me an article in yesterday’s Washington Post about how Montgomery County, Maryland’s e-mail alert system didn’t notify thousands of people after a major water main break, because the two employees who know how to operate the system were out of town. According to the Post:
When those two employees couldn’t be reached, a third employee [...]

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With a number of natural emergencies now occurring throughout the U.S., I wanted bring your attention to a compelling map I found in the Resources section theunthinkable.com. The Emergency Disaster Information Services, a non-profit group based in Budapest, charts every significant disaster occurring in the world and presents it in a vivid, easily readable map. 
You can find the [...]

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With summer approaching and the memory of the Iowa tornado disaster still resonating, the Linda Wagar of Fox-4 TV in Kansas City had a good story reminding parents to make sure the camp their kids has an emergency plan:
“The Boy Scout camp tragedy in Iowa is raising awareness of just how vulnerable kids can be when they’re away at [...]

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The valiant efforts of the civilian responders in Cedar Falls, Iowa provides yet another example of how average citizens come together and rise to the occasion in major disaster situations. On the Security Debrief blog, Rich Cooper offers a nice tribute and offers the important reminder that even those of us not in currently harm’s way should not miss this “teaching moment”:
“…pay close attention to what is [...]

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At the end of Mayor Bloomberg’s Gracie Mansion reception Wednesday night marking the 5th Anniversary of the City’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program, his staffers handed out “Million Trees NYC” pamphlets promoting the Parks Department’s initiative to plant a million trees over the next decade. Whether it was intentional or not, this was a rare time where [...]

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With tornadoes ripping throughout the Midwest, I wanted to post a tornado safety quiz from the Discovery Channel website that I found on www.theunthinkable.com.  
Unlike the the earthquake quiz I posted recently, I did pretty well on this one – 70 out of a possible 80 points. You can take it for yourself at dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tornado/quiz/quiz.html

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where [...]

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With many parts of the country suffering from extreme weather emergencies, David Stephenson, the guru of Preparedness 2.0, among other things, has reposted his ’21st Century Disaster Tips You Won’t Get From Officials’ and a video version via You Tube on his blog, stephensonstrategies.com. They are well worth reading and watching. The tips focus on the:
“…smart use of personal communication devices, especially in [...]

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The deadly tornado that killed four Boy Scouts on Wednesday night in Iowa was a story of both terrible tragedy and heroicism and teamwork under great duress on the part of the Scouts and their leaders.
As Iowa Governor Chet Culver said yesterday, “These young men … literally saved lives during this time period when emergency management could [...]

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Last night, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg hosted a barbecue marking the 5th Anniversary of the Civilian Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program in New York City at Gracie Mansion on the East River. CERT members came from all over the City to enjoy the beautiful weather and view as well as to celebrate the growth and impact of CERT since its [...]

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