Is there a country that needed an earthquake LESS than Haiti?  The people were so poor they were actually eating dirt!  Watching the news, you realize how close to disaster these people were living before the quake hit.  Perhaps the best we can do is to draw any lessons from their experience.  One thing that stands out is how long they had to wait until help could arrive.  We saw this after Hurricane Katrina.  We saw this after Hurricanes Charlie, Francis and Jeane came through our neighborhoods.  Help is not sitting down the road, waiting.  In the immediate aftermath, you are on your own.

The standard preparedness requirement is 3 days.  If you remember after Hurricane Wilma hit Palm Peach County, people were on television as soon as the winds died down begging for help.  Clearly, they were not prepared.  And do not think you will run out to the store just before the storm arrives.  It is a running joke how empty the stores get before a hurricane arrives.  And tornados do not give a warning.  They show up every summer in the thunderstorms.

I am not a very good advocate.  I have yet to take this basic step myself.

So what do we need in those first three days?  It is pretty simple: Food.  Just start with a five-gallon bucket from Home Depot.  You need three meals for three days for every member of your family.  Just go to Publix.  The middle of the store has everything that stores well.  Go through and pick out enough  for nine meals for everyone.  Take it home and seal it in a Homer bucket.  Write 72-hour kit on the top and put it away in a place you can grab it quickly. 

So get off your duff, and get this kit put together.  It is a simple step to do.  Think of it as the cheapest insurance you can have.

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