Disaster lessons

Our recent ice storms have taught us many things.

Collectively, the area was resilient during the outages, and our emergency responses seemed to be appropriate. To our knowledge, everyone survived the power outages.

But in the grand scheme of things, an earthquake could be much worse than an ice storm.

Last Saturday, representatives from relief agencies presented a program filled with critical information about preparedness for disasters and earthquakes.

Representatives from the State Emergency Management Agency, the American Red Cross, Missouri Department of Natural Resources division of geology and land survey and the Central United States Earthquake Consortium had exhibits lining the walls of a classroom packed with informational handouts, including a 1997 Cape Girardeau/Perryville-area earthquake hazards map marked with epicenters of earthquakes magnitude 2.0 and greater.

Since 1990 and Dr. Iben Browning's failed prediction that the New Madrid fault was going to shake loose on or around Dec. 3, we've heard all sorts of prognostications on when and how bad a New Madrid rumble might be.

While the government must take precautions and organize plans for a major disaster, it would be foolish to depend on government assistance for a disaster of that magnitude. It's a good idea for individuals and business owners to periodically evaluate their own disaster plans. Now, after the ice storm, is a good time to do those evaluations.

If something big happens, what would you eat? Where would you go? Where would you get your water? How would you communicate with family members? How will you find out information? How would you manage your finances?

Simple safety kits should be re-evaluated annually to stay up-to-date on changing conditions of individual family members while replacing water every six months and batteries according to expiration dates.

Don't let the next disaster be the next time you evaluate your situation.