Emergency Preparedness

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. I can't even begin to imagine what the thousands of survivors have to deal with in the aftermath. I, like many Americans, would not know where to go, or what to do during the recovery process. A big thank you to the Librarians Index to the Internet (www.lii.org) for providing a link to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) "Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness."

This 21 MB PDF file (204 pages!) includes sections on floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms and lightning, winter storms and extreme cold, extreme heat, earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides and mudslides, tsunamis, fires, hazardous materials, household chemical emergencies, nuclear power plant disasters, and terrorism.

This is, without a doubt, unpleasant reading material, but so very necessary to our very survival in the face of disaster, either natural or man-made.

FEMA also has sites for teachers, parents and kids with lesson plans, activities and many links to helpful websites that may be more age appropriate. Perhaps all teachers could use the Hurricane Katrina disaster as a teachable moment using these resources, and the thousands of pictures and first hand accounts that are already available on the Internet.