How prepared are you?

I think this disaster is of such a huge magnitude that it caught many people off guard. I "wish" the government could have come sooner, but they were just unprepared for a disaster of this grand scale. Yes, it’s bad out there. People are in shock. There are bodies floating in the water and no telling how many dead people in the submerged houses. Phone lines are down, no power, no safe drinking water, no food and no air conditioning. There is lawlessness and looting. The broken levees are drowning the city. I understand that there is so much damage to the Highways that they are having a hard time getting all the buses needed in and out of the city.

I went to as special church meeting tonight and found out just what kind of help is coming in. We were informed of a huge effort to help the people who are arriving at the Astrodome. My son has a friend who is working at one of our county hospitals who has been sent out to the Astrodome to help. There is a call for doctors, nurses, and EMT's to volunteer some time to help with the sick or injured. I know of a massive food drive we are having here in Houston to help the people in the Astrodome and other shelters. I have friends who are working at the NW Assistance Ministries to sort clothes that are pouring in for the evacuees. Food is being donated by the car loads. It really is nice to see all the good in people. Of course their have been some bad things going on too, but all in all, I see much more good. The Red Cross is having training classes this weekend to train people to do Red Cross work. Our local church is going to be putting together hygiene kits to give out to the People in shelters. The churches in the Houston area are working together to get volunteers to work at the Astrodome to help feed people. There are many, many things in the works to help take care of those in need. What can we do to help? We can give of our time or our money or both. We need to try to be positive and quit pointing our finger when things go wrong. Hopefully many things will be learned from this disaster and if it happens again, we will be better prepared.

I took a hard look at myself to see just how prepared my family is. This could have been us, we were only 200 miles west of the storm. We were spared this time around, but are we prepared in the event that this could happen in the Houston area? I hope this is a major wake-up call. I am going to go thru my 72-hour kit and make sure it is up to date. I want to make sure that if we had to leave at a moments notice that we have everything in one place to grab on our way out. Check out a plan, from the LDS church, for a disaster plan for your family. If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.