Is Your Neighborhood Prepared?

Is your neighborhood prepared for survival? Do you know what paper supplies if any, your family can use at the local school(s) nearby your home after a disaster? Or what paper products are available at the local church(s) located near your neighborhood, or at least a distance you could walk to?

Mark and I decided to make several phone calls to get opinions from a school luncheon person and several members from a number of different churches representing different faiths (I promised I would not disclose any names). Here’s the deal, we have all been glued to the television to stay updated about Hurricane Matthew (yes, I am updating this post). It seems we have even more tornadoes and hurricanes these days, right?

As I update this post there are tropical storms brewing in the Caribbean, and who knows where they’ll end up during landfall and which communities will be affected. It’s critical we combine our efforts and make sure as many of us as possible are prepared for the natural disasters most likely to it our neighborhood.

• How to Survive a Tornado
• Prepared: What Does That Mean?
• Why We Need To Be Prepared Before The Storm

Is Your Neighborhood Prepared?

South Carolina

I have heard some people have stayed in their homes to ride out the storm and millions are subject to evacuation by auto or flown to safer locations. I heard from a close friend that her daughter bought a home about a year ago in South Carolina and in their garage they store the boards used to cover the windows during storms. There is one family that has some resources and supplies to make it through. They really are ready to use those resources for any hurricane, tornado, or a number of other disaster situations. They are ready to cover all the windows and doors in the house. Okay, this is new to me since I’ve never been through that kind of emergency.

Home Depot Sand Bags

When we lived in Southern Utah, we thought about what we we do if we have an earthquake, fire, or flooding. In the last flood we had, Home Depot provided sandbags and sand to protect our homes from the raging rains as part of neighborhood programs available. I realize if the roads crumble we’ll have to survive with what we have in our own homes. If our homes are still standing, that is.

It’s great to see some commercial enterprises jumping in and assisting with community preparedness as part of an overall disaster preparedness plan. Having things done at the neighborhood level really brings things home, and actually makes sense since each neighborhood is unique as it relates to their specific makeup and needs.

The Government Will Not Deliver Food

I realize some people are very prepared for survival, but there are countless people who believe the government will swoop in and save them. Or maybe the American Red Cross will provide first responder help. Well, listen up friends, that’s not going to happen. At least not right away. We must be prepared to take care of ourselves if the stores become empty, which they will after an unforeseen emergency.

Let me share my findings with you after the many phone calls and visits I made here in the state of Utah only. Here’s the deal, most everyone has water and food to share with the neighborhood if the need comes up. But we need to be able to serve that food to share with each other. Oh, I realize some will not share anything they have stored. I get it, that’s their right

Government agencies have limited resources when it comes to large disaster events. Yes, there is a degree of disaster readiness on a national, state, county, and local municipality level. The stronger communities have planned ahead and can serve a fairly large populace. But there are communities that have limited plans and resources to deal with property damage, personal trauma, extensive power outages, wildfire safety measures, food and water service, and rescue operations. That’s why we need to organize ourselves to help meet the needs of family members in our area and work to maintain the quality of life we’re all accustomed to.

Is Your Neighborhood Prepared:

Schools (that serve lunch):

1. Lunch trays: the schools typically order cases of 500 styrofoam meal trays at a time. They like to keep 8-19 cases of these on the premises at all times. Minimum 1 case=500 trays, Eight cases=4,000 trays, 19 cases=9,500 trays.
2. Cups: they store very little because they serve milk, chocolate milk, etc. in drinkable cartons
3. Silverware: they store ample silverware for the schools
4. They do have ample chairs and tables because they feed the children on school days

I must admit I was very impressed with the supplies they keep on hand for our children in the schools. Please note, as the school year comes to an end the excess products are shipped back to the local school district warehouse. In other words, in the summer we would have very little paper products for the neighborhood if the school was opened for survivors after a disaster.

Church (close to my home in Southern Utah):

1. The kitchen is prepared with a few paper plates (less than 100). They have ample silverware for 200-300 people. The church members are not allowed to cook in the kitchen but can warm dishes in the oven those food items that are cooked and brought from home. This rule would change, I’m assuming, after a disaster may strike. No cooking pans are located in the kitchen, zero hand towels, or washrags. They do have tables and chairs to feed a few hundred people. In other words, WE better be prepared with paper products folks!
2. We have a pastor friend that has a church in St. George, Utah and they get food from the food bank and local churches to feed the homeless every Sunday. He mentioned once that the things they need most are paper products. You heard me right, paper products. We need to step up our game, if we haven’t already, with paper plates, bowls, cups (cold and hot), and paper towels. Please make sure you have a can opener. OXO SoftWorks Can Opener

Please take a few minutes and assess how many paper products you may have stored. I’m wondering if people on my street have more than 25 or 30 plates. That’s good, for their own family if they can reuse them for a week. That’s not enough for 2 weeks, a month or more. I will not waste any water on washing plates, cups, and utensils. Let me know if you live in a neighborhood prepared in a few ways.

Take Neighborhood Preparedness Surveys

It’s important to know not only what supplies may be available, but also personnel resources to provide basic disaster response skills. As citizen neighbors, we need to understand who has skills in CPR, and the ability to respond to minor and major severity of injuries. Hopefully, we all have a first aid kit and know how to use its various contents.

It’s so helpful to know who has an emergency “toolkit” with power tools to remove many of the hazards in streets and yards, whether it’s debris or downed wires. Who knows when the utility responders will arrive, so we should provide some lower-risk assistance as best we can. We need to know who is willing and able to provide active participation like is anticipated from people with Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. We need to have a record of those who can provide some emergency communication support by way of walkie-talkies and/or ham radios.

We should also poll local organizations like civic clubs and others who can provide emergency kits, shelter, food supplies, or other simple steps to help their “neighbors.”

Final Word

I hope you enjoyed this post I updated from 2016, the information is critical for people to be prepared for the unexpected. It’s interesting how expensive paper products and other supplies have gone up. We have enough for our lifetime, I’m glad we purchased them many years ago. Yes, they are packed in boxes in our storage unit waiting for our home to be built. Please work on your own emergency plans and be willing to share your knowledge, supplies, and other resources to help those in need. May God bless this world. Linda