Wild weather and Preparedness

Natural disasters and serve weather are occurring all over the country. Here are just some of the major weather systems that are expected to cause large problems around the country. First lets start in alaska where if you did not know a volcano on the Alaska Peninsula called Mount Redoubt has been erupting for the past several days. Of course the erruptions are not continuous but it is still giving plenty of people headaches. Next lets go to the midwest where a river is expected to reach the second highest flood stage on reccord. Now lets go to the south where there are tornadoes, hail, and severe thunderstorms occuring. It laso looks like their is going to be busy a wildfire season across the country. Finally likes go to the rocky mountains especially near colorado where they are expected to get 16 to 24 inches of snow in a very short period of time.

Well Lets get back to the purpose of this post which is talking about preparedness. As scout we try to prepare for all types of incidents that may occur during our scout activities and meetings but are we prepared in our workplace, our school, or our home are we truthfully prepared. The answer for a fair majority of americans would be no we are not prepared. When it comes to disasters whether natural or manmade we are not a proactive society we are a reactive society. So get out their and be proactive, here a few tips to get started:

• Plan: First sit your family down and come up with a plan that talks about what you would do if a emergency occurred in the places you commonly hangout. In this plan also make sure everybody knows where to meet, communication method, alternative communication method, and have everyone not a out of state contact.
• Kit: Put together a emergency kit for your car and your home. The redcross is a great resource to look at for a list of suggested items. The kit should last for 2-4 days without having to be restocked. In alaska most emergency response folks say you should have enough supplies fir about one week.
  
• Act: Even the youth in the troop can make a difference. Take to your local emergency manager about helping inform others about what to do in disasters, helping build emergency kits, distributing fliers, and showing people the importance of being proactive instead of reactive in disasters.
  

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Junior Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 Philmont AA '08