By: Jason Jowers
The Importance of Having a Disaster-Relief Plan
Making and having a plan is always a good idea. Plans keep us on track to accomplishing our goals and succeeding in life. Typically, our plans are centered around things we want to achieve in a positive way, but what about planning for negative outcomes? It always helps to prepare for the worst.
Some of the worst unforeseen challenges come in the way of disasters and hazards. Whether they come from natural disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, flooding, and drought. Or from human-caused disasters like community violence and terrorism.
Military service members and their families experience added stressors and challenges in the face of disasters and hazards. Service members are often out providing support during various types of disasters and hazards. They will oftentimes be separated from their families due to these responsibilities or due to deployments. That is why military family readiness plans are a necessity for the potential of these difficult events.
Ready.gov Resources for Disasters and Emergency Preparedness
A fantastic resource for both civilian and military families is Ready.gov. Ready.gov has info for various types of disasters to prepare for. Here are several examples:
- Ways to prepare your family in case of flooding, especially before, during, and after a flooding event, and ways to stay safe.
- Fire Safety tips to prevent house fires and ways to make a plan of action in case of a fire. Also, plans of action related to wildfires.
- Prepare with Pedro is an interactive activity book that teaches kids about disaster preparedness and taking action during an emergency to stay safe. You can download the activity book in several languages!
- Finally, they provide a step-by-step guide to building a basic disaster supplies kit with all the recommended items, maintaining the kit, and suggested storage locations for supplies.
MFRA 2021 Disaster and Hazard Readiness
For more on Disaster and Hazard Readiness, sign up for our OneOp 2021 Military and Family Readiness Academy courses! These courses cover the basics of disaster preparedness, impact and response, and dive deeper into family caregiving, personal finance, the community recovery aspect!
The MFRA 2021 covers 16.5 hours of FREE content for professionals, educators, and those interested in learning more about disaster and hazard readiness, each offering continuing education credit.
Blog Post Image: Pixabay [Emergency Signage, October 8, 2015, CC0]
