Something to think about

I’ve been sitting on doing a post like this for a while. I simply do not want to sound like doom and gloom during the hot days of summer. The fact that school is restarting means that now is a good time to talk with you, and for you to talk to your kids about natural disaster and man made disasters.

Man made disasters sound ominous, but the simple truth is that Smyrna was a rail road stop, and a lot of shipping of bizarre chemicals move through the very center of our town because of that same railroad. Add to that the major highway running through the east side of town, and you have a lot of issues to worry about. Issues big enough that you should take the time to think about what would happen if you get the word that leaving the area fast is required.

If you have to leave your home, does your school age child know where to go to meet up with you if this happens? Have you a place preplanned to gather at like another relative’s house? Does your child know this relatives telephone number and not just their name on a programmed cell phone.

Be it tornadoes, rail road derailing, or one of many other reasons, there might be a day that you have to run to the car and head out. For those here during the flood of 2010, you know how easy it is for whole sections of a community to be cut off due to raising water.

Here is a link to a FEMA guide (PDF) entitled “Are you Ready?” This guide goes over much more than I could, and in better detail than I could, the basics of what you might want to do if something bad happens.

A simple question to ask your self is this. What happened the last time someone cut their finger in your house? Did you have to hunt around for a Band-Aid, did you have some antibiotic cream or even an antiseptic swab to clean the cut? A simple first aid kit is discussed in the FEMA guide as something that does not cost a lot, yet can give you a basic sense of security in this one area.

On a personal note, many people, including myself, have a 72 hour bag ready. This has some basic dry food (granola bars are so good), a change of clothing, some bottled water and other basic items. If you have to leave your house suddenly, a nice change of clothes would be nice, because disaster does not wait for you to have the proper attire on at the time. In fact I have two, one for myself and one for my wife.

Take the time to read carefully the FEMA manual and if you have questions or suggestions, please leave them in the comment section or message me. Thanks