[MR] our disaster plan?

[Sean D. Sorrentino]

Should we develop a disaster plan of our own? 

Watching the mess that is New Orleans at the moment, I
am wondering what would happen to us in the same
situation. I am less concerned with the money than the
lives. I am sure that had this hurricane smashed into
some less developed country, hundreds of thousands
would have been lost. The difference? Most people got
into their cars and left the area. I keep hearing
people say, what about those who have no place to go?
Maybe we should have a plan for that. 

Would it be a good idea to develop a short and long
range evacuation plan for the Kingdom? For instance,
should a hurricane bear down on Hampton Rhodes, where
would the people of Marinus and Tir-y-Don go? The
obvious place is Richmond. I think that by developing
a simple plan, we can assist those closest to us in
evacuating. I think we should decide in advance where
people could go for short distance and long distance
evacuations. What if Richmond is threatened? Could we
all go to Raleigh/Durham? Or would Charlottesville
support all of us? 

In our modern world many of us are living far away
from blood relations. I could drive all the way past
Pennsic to stay with my parents. But that seems
excessive in most situations. A short distance
evacuation would also encourage people to move out
rather than risk staying. You can drive 150 miles in
three hours to stay with friends, making it much
easier to stomach the thought of huge distances to
family or a week in a Red Cross shelter. 

Some might say that it was selfish to offer space to
your friends and leave others to fend for themselves.
In a situation like that, each person fed and housed
privately leaves another bed and another three meals a
day for someone who needs it more. 

I think that each landed group should maintain a list
of crash space available for sheltering “refugees,”
and should also develop a list of all people and their
proposed evacuation plan. It should also include a
simple method of contacting and verifying the safety
of each other. 

In crisis, people react the way they have trained.
People who have not thought of their options will not
suddenly think of options when disaster strikes. Let’s
think about our options now. I’d rather be skilled
than lucky. 

Domenico


Sean Sorrentino
Email:
sean at seansorrentino.com
check out my photos @
http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/sdsorrentino


		
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