Sunday, March 18, 2012

But which disaster do I prepare for?

First the party line - prepare for ALL Hazards.  Most of the preparation you do can help you in any emergency or disaster that might befall you.  In emergency management, we categorize the disasters we prepare for in their simplest form as Frequency vs. Risk because there are things to plan for AFTER all hazard that are specific to a hazard. In short its about learning what hazards may affect you.

For example, the frequency for snow vs. the risk of a snow "storm" in Seattle would be High Frequency/ Low Risk (HF/LR) because we typically (in the last three years) get one to two snow storms per year; but the danger is low (short of falling on your butt). 
On the other side is an earthquake (we live in a seismic area) which has a Low Frequency/ High Risk of when it happens (LF/HR).

So what does all this mean? It means that while you should prepare for snow (stay home) you need to pay attention to the LF/HR too.  Just because an earthquake hasn't happened for 500 years, and only has a 10%-14% chance in the next 50 years doesn't mean it won’t happen; and it will be worse than a snowstorm.
Just because you did not experience landfall of hurricane the last two years, doesn't mean it won't this year, or next.
For the LF/HR event, you will likely be on your own for a longer period, so you must plan accordingly.

Now look at our area and write down all the hazards you can find out about (hint- check your local emergency management site for information), then do a little research and classify for Frequency & Risk. 

Now plan accordingly.

Any questions?
disaster dave