Emergency Preparedness Matters When It Hits Close to Home
Emergency preparedness is a topic that hits very close to home for me. For much of my life, I lived in a state of denial, thinking, "It won’t happen to me." But that mindset shattered after experiencing not one, but five traumatic emergency events. These included witnessing September 11 from just a few blocks away in Lower Manhattan, enduring three hurricanes that led to flooding in my own home, and, of course, surviving the Covid-19 pandemic. These experiences taught me that preparing for emergencies isn't just smart—it's a critical life skill.
The Reality of Emergency Situations: What You Must Know
Every year, thousands of natural and man-made disasters occur worldwide and usually happen without warning. In the last few years, the number of these emergencies and disasters have been increasing.
The most common natural disasters are earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. But, emergencies aren’t limited to natural disasters. Personal emergencies, such as home fires, carbon monoxide poisoning, gas leaks, power outages, job loss, accidents, injuries, and other traumatic events also cause safety, financial disruption, and major chaos in your life.
Being unprepared for emergencies increases the likelihood of negative outcomes. Yet surveys have shown that a large percentage of households do not have any emergency preparation plans in place.
Imagine that when a global pandemic, terrorist attack, natural disaster, personal emergency, or other traumatic life event hits, you can mitigate some of the risks and face the crisis with more confidence because:
Emergency preparedness is the key to decreasing the negative impact of emergencies and can make all the difference when ensuring your safety and well-being.
When you have a plan you can react more rapidly when time is of the essence.
Any preparation and plans made ahead of time can reduce panic and help you recover quicker, be more self-sufficient, and gain greater security.
Top 15 Tips for Emergency Preparedness Guide.
Why Prepare? The Benefits of Being Ready
Despite the clear risks, many households lack any form of emergency preparedness plan, leaving them vulnerable to devastating outcomes. The power of emergency preparedness is the confidence to face these crises knowing you’ve done everything possible to mitigate risks.
Emergency preparations involve getting ready to respond effectively to a wide range of potential emergencies. Preparing for emergencies is of crucial importance for several compelling reasons:
Safety and Well-being: The number one goal of emergency preparedness is to decrease negative safety and well-being consequences during crises and to protect yourself and your family from harm.
Reduced Panic and Stress: Good decisions are never made under stress and panic. Being prepared helps you stay calm and make rational decisions when faced with an emergency, instead of reacting out of fear. When you are well-prepared, you’re less likely to panic in the face of an emergency and you gain a sense of control. Staying calm allows you to make rational decisions.
Quicker Response Time: Time is your most precious resource during an emergency. Preparation allows you to respond quickly to emergencies, which can make all the difference in critical situations.
Self-Reliance: During major emergencies, help may be delayed. Being self-sufficient means you can manage until assistance arrives.
Financial Savings: Being prepared can save you money as you won’t be in a last-minute rush to buy supplies at inflated prices.
Types of Emergencies to Prepare For
You could face a variety of emergency situations, including:
Natural Disasters: Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, severe storms, and even volcanic eruptions, depending on the particular risks of your local area.
Man-Made Disasters: Chemical spills, hazardous material releases, and terrorist attacks.
Public Health Emergencies: Pandemics, contaminated water supplies.
Power Failures: Prolonged outages can lead to significant challenges.
Cyberattacks: As our world becomes more digital, the risk of cyberattacks grows.
Personal and Family Emergencies: Home fires, medical crises, accidents, and financial emergencies such as job loss, divorce, or loss of a spouse.
Preparation should be done all year round. Check this calendar from FEMA for preparedness tips for every month of the year.
The Consequences of Not Being Prepared
Welcome to New York where hurricanes don’t usually make landfall – until they do..Consider Hurricane Sandy, which hit Queens, New York in October 2012. Neither my family nor I, like many others, ever imagined a hurricane of that magnitude would strike New York City. Yet, we found ourselves in the midst of a devastating storm, unprepared for the chaos that ensued. The inadequate response from local authorities only added to the panic and danger.
This photo below is of my garage door in Hurricane Sandy's aftermath While no amount of preparation could have prevented the physical damage, a more serious approach to emergency planning by local government could have saved lives and reduced the chaos. Instead, we were left powerless for ten days, with limited resources and delayed assistance. If it had been taken more seriously, we would have been evacuated and spared the shear horror of witnessing this destruction first hand for 6 terrifying hours.
Did our NYC Mayor Bloomberg prepare us for this destruction? No, his advice was to “stay home and read a book to your children.” The inadequate response led to increased risk of loss and panic as people in their lower levels were surprised and were trapped. Lack of resources after the storm left us powerless for 10 days, with limited gas supplies, and a very delayed response from Red Cross. (they arrived well over 10 days after our power was back on and we no longer needed their assistance).
So as a word of caution, if FEMA or even the Red Cross, is your emergency plan, you will be in for a lot of grief. Putting your own emergency plan in place will help you to be self-sufficient and not have to rely on a delayed and inadequate response from any external source.
Understanding FEMA and Disaster Assistance
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) coordinates the federal government’s response to natural and man-made disasters. Responsible for coordinating the federal government response to natural and man-made disasters, FEMA also supports the state and local government response.
In addition to disaster response, FEMA is responsible to raise awareness of preparedness, help individuals and communities recover, mitigate impact of future disasters, and provide financial assistance to disaster victims.
Conclusion
Through our shared experience of living through the Covid global pandemic, financial downturn in 2008, and the terrorist attacks on 9/11, we learned the hard way that the world can change overnight. Just watch the news any night and you will see an emergency or disaster happening somewhere in the world.
While FEMA provides valuable support, relying solely on external agencies like FEMA or the Red Cross for your emergency plan is risky. Delays and inadequate responses are common, so having your own plan is crucial for self-sufficiency.
Because we see disasters and emergencies every night on the news in every other part of the world, we become desensitized to them. We believe wrongly that it would never happen to us. Therefore, we don't adequately prepare.
By taking these steps, you can face the uncertainties of life with greater confidence and resilience.
Smart Money Changes Everything is strictly a financial education website. The information presented in this post is solely for your general financial education and is not to be considered financial advice. Always check with your trusted financial professional team who will consider your unique situation and goals to develop your own personalized comprehensive financial plan.
