A Case for Emergency Preparedness – Natural Disasters

Updated 8 December 2017

Asteroid that could’ve obliterated NYC skimmed past Earth – and NASA didn’t notice

Updated 29 November 2017

Asteroid expected to make closest pass by Earth in over 40 years

Updated 21 November 2017

Fresh warnings over ‘The Big One’ as study finds seafloor sediments off the Pacific Northwest could unleash a megaquake AND a tsunami

These contingency plans reflect deep anxiety about the potential gravity of the looming disaster: upward of 14,000 people dead in the worst-case scenarios, 30,000 injured, thousands left homeless and the region’s economy setback for years, if not decades.

Few of my fellow Americans are aware of the potential risks to daily life posed by nature.

Asteroids

A 2.7 mile-wide asteroid will pass earth on September 1, 2017. The NASA Near Earth Object (NEO) program discovered this asteroid in 1981. This pass will be its closest encounter with the earth since 1890.

Volcanoes

There are sixty super volcanoes known to the USGS and the one with the greatest potential for death and destruction is Yellowstone. However, as potentially dangerous as Yellowstone is, there are eight active volcanoes in California that pose a significant threat to America.

What is the danger to America by Yellowstone? Read from the Daily Star: NASA plan to save Mankind from Yellowstone supervolcano eruption could trigger NUKE WINTER

What is the significance of this volcano alert from the USGS? According to the USGS, using fewer than 1% of U.S. farmland, the Central Valley supplies 8% of U.S. agricultural output (by value) and produces 1/4 of the Nation’s food, including 40% of the Nation’s fruits, nuts, and other table foods.

Tornadoes

In 2015, 228 tornadoes blasted across Texas. On average, we experience 140 tornadoes per year in the Lone Star State. Fortunately, most tornadoes appear in open country, but when they hit residential communities, lives and businesses are disrupted, as it has happened in Royse City, Rowlett, and Rockwall.

There is little advance warning, apart from National Weather Service Doppler radar and local news broadcasts.

The Texas tornado season typically runs from April to June and can occur at other times of the year.

Hurricanes

Those of us raised on the Texas Gulf Coast know that tornadoes are a small component of hurricanes that typically spawn numerous twisters which, when concurrent with extraordinary flooding can disable entire cities for months.

Your Plan of Action

Why do I write all the above? It’s to elevate your awareness of the risks to you, your family, and your property should one of the above natural disasters hit your community.

What Can YOU Do?

FEMA’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program trains volunteers to prepare for the types of disasters that their community may face. Through hands-on practice and realistic exercises, CERT members:

• Learn how to safely respond to man-made and natural hazards
• Help organize basic disaster response
• Promote preparedness by hosting and participating in community events
• Prepare “go bags”, small backpacks with essential items: medicines, first-aid kits, emergency clothing, and other items you and your family may need to carry you over until temporary residency can be found.
• If you were to lose 40% of your retail food supply, do you have a backup pantry to feed your family?
• Join City of Rockwall CERT Serves Rockwall and Heath
• Join EastTex Regional CERT

My wife and I received this training two years ago.

Here in Rockwall County, the Office of Emergency Management provides this training. Think. Prepare. Act.

Questions?

Submit your questions via a reply to this posting and I will promptly answer.

John White
Rockwall, Texas