Times Community Newspapers - Editorial/Opinion - 09/15/2005 - Another Voice:Prepare now so disasters don't catch you off-guard

Times Community Newspapers - Editorial/Opinion - 09/15/2005 - Another Voice:Prepare now so disasters don't catch you off-guard

"Another Voice:Prepare now so disasters don't catch you off-guard
By Louis G. Dominguez, Gainesville
09/15/2005

Waiting for the federal, state, or local government to save you from disaster may well cost you your life.

Disasters can occur at any moment and they can happen anywhere. Even when such an occurrence is unlikely and there is no reason to expect that your daily routine will be interrupted with some unexpected calamity, the risk is always there.

There are countless possibilities for a disaster, like a tornado, tropical storm, hurricane, flood, earthquake, volcanic eruption or severe snow storm.

One also has to consider the possibility of a man-made disaster. Man-made disasters usually happen without any warning, when least expected, so such events also have the tendency to inflict shock in the victims.

Blackouts, nuclear and other types of explosions, chemical spills, food and or water contamination, uncontrollable fires, derailments and plane crashes in populated areas, riots and insurrections, terrorists attacks and a variety of other man-made events are a real possibility.

So, what to do? As we have seen, a lack of planning and preparation has resulted in a heavy death toll and destruction after Hurricane Katrina."