Community and Disaster Preparedness, Part 1

Reader Contribution by Kyle Ferlemann
Published on December 2, 2019
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I was going over the books available for Christmas and, as I do, I checked out the “survival” books. I don’t know how else to say this. If you are lost in the woods and separated from rescue these books have good and helpful information, but In a disaster scenario the advice in some of those books will leave you exhausted and friendless within a week.

During 33 years of working in disaster situations and conflict zones, and after hundreds of interviews with war and disaster survivors, I have never heard a single soul say; “I wished I’d had a gun, that would have made everything better.” What they said was, “I wish I’d have had my friends and family.” The other most heard desire was, “I wish we had a safe place to go.”

The two most common desires of people who are displaced by disaster or war was people they could trust and a safe place to stay. This was even in places where there was little food and water. This aspect of access to community is important. 

Survival vs. Surviving a Disaster

There is a distinct difference between “survival” and “surviving a disaster”.  In a survival situation you are separated from society. You have to survive on your own because you are separated from people, services, shelter, and supplies.

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