`In Case There’s an Act of G.O.D. – Get Out of Dodge – I’m Ready’

Read about how folks in Oregon and New Jersey are preparing for disaster. To help your family take action, visit Good & Ready, where you’ll learn how to create a disaster plan, build a preparedness kit and more.

Emily Johnson

Emily Johnson was a child the first time her family outran a hurricane. Its name was Erin, and when it struck the Florida panhandle in the summer of 1995, it sent her family – Emily and three of her siblings, her parents and grandparents, plus the family dog – on a drive across Alabama to a friend’s farm.  

But one month later, when Opal struck blowing at 115 miles an hour, the Johnsons only got as far as a high school gym. Emily vividly recalls waiting out the storm on a cot while disaster relief volunteers provided aid.

“Having that experience of being afraid and not knowing what to do, it really inspired me to be able to know – `What should I do if there’s an emergency? How can I be more prepared and more resilient afterwards?’” she said.

Johnson is now an AmeriCorps member serving on a disaster action team for the Red Cross in Portland, Ore. She came out last Saturday to help out at the Portland stop along a 14-city Allstate Foundation and Points of Light disaster preparedness tour, which also hosted an event that day in the Philadelphia area. At both tour stops, volunteers from Allstate and affiliates of Points of Light’s HandsOn Network helped participants assemble free disaster preparedness kits and learn about emergency readiness.

The kits included flashlights, ponchos and whistles, among other vital items. Research shows 85 percent of Americans are unprepared.

Volunteers talk to attendees of the disaster preparedness tour stop in Portland, Ore., about what to have on hand in case of an emergency.

Sam Workman, an Allstate agent from West Linn, Ore., who volunteered at the Portland event at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, said the effort was intended to spur resiliency: “This is to get people thinking about how to be more prepared. We’re trying to keep them hydrated and dry, with some basics in case of an emergency.”

At the Philadelphia-area event, at the Burlington County Farm Fair in New Jersey, Kevin Mass recalled a time when being prepared helped save time when it mattered. He was asleep when he heard the rap rap rap of police officers knocking on his door at 2 in the morning.

“We live on the Rancocas Creek and it floods a few times a year,” he said. “But this time, they were suggesting that we move our cars and voluntarily evacuate. We didn’t think twice. And, I was glad we did – a little while later, there was a gas leak.”

Fortunately, Mass has always been what he terms a “prepper” – “In case there’s an act of G.O.D. – get out of Dodge – I’m ready,” he said with a laugh. So he gathered everybody together, grabbed a few bags packed with provisions for his family and pets – including clothes, food, water and medicine – and left his home.

Kevin Mass shares how he has prepared for disaster and why he brought family and friends to a disaster preparedness event in New Jersey.

That Mass is the kind of guy who can never be too prepared was evident at the preparedness event. After he and his family took in the amusement rides, cotton candy and fluffy animals at the fair, they joined the disaster kit assembly line.

“I wanted to see if there was anything that I hadn’t thought of,” he said. Reaching into a blue nylon backpack with the words “Are You Ready?” emblazoned on it, he pulled out a small crank-operated flashlight that doesn’t require batteries. “I like this – it’s pretty genius!”

At the two events combined, volunteers and attendees assembled more than 1,000 kits.

The items were starting points, the volunteers emphasized. They also encouraged participants to create a household emergency plan including contact names and phone numbers, medical and insurance information and an agreed-upon family meeting place.

“We didn’t have anywhere to go, so we ignored the warnings,” said Tiffany Watkins, a survivor of a tornado that ripped through Tuscaloosa, Ala., a few years ago. Now that she lives in New Jersey, she said, she knows where she’s going should she ever be told to evacuate: back to Alabama, where she has family.

“Once you see someone’s house being smashed flat,” she said, “it’s too late to realize that something bad is really happening and you shouldn’t be there.”

Turning Complacency Into Action When it Comes to Disasters

Read about how folks in Savannah, Ga., are preparing for disaster. To help your family take action, visit Good & Ready, where you’ll learn how to create a disaster plan, build a preparedness kit and more.

Barbara Moss-Hogan of Savannah, Ga., who moved from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, is prepared in case she experiences another hurricane.

Barbara Moss-Hogan hears a familiar complacency among friends and coworkers living in Savannah, Ga., a coastal city that’s been spared by major hurricanes for more than a century.

Their talk brings back memories of the bizarre items she and her friends took while evacuating New Orleans ahead of Hurricane Katrina.

A string of pearls and a bathing suit were all one friend brought. Others grabbed a sewing machine, a set of golf clubs, a ball gown.

“People don’t realize what you’re supposed to bring,” said Moss-Hogan, a social worker who moved to Savannah shortly after fleeing New Orleans in 2005. (Click here to hear her advice.)

Volunteers from Savannah-area Allstate insurance agencies and United Way Hands on Savannah last week paired up to help inform residents as part of a 14-city disaster preparedness tour, brought to town by the Allstate Foundation and Points of Light. Volunteers set up tables on May 31 outside a Savannah Sand Gnats minor league baseball game to help hundreds of Savannah residents build free disaster kits.

An event attendee, showing her new disaster preparedness kit, talks about getting ready for disaster before it happens. (Click image to watch video.)

They helped participants assemble close to 450 kits containing flashlights, first aid kits, cleaning supplies, checklists for emergency planning and other items proven to keep people safe and prepared.

Many locals receiving kits said they had done little to prepare.

“I’m not as prepared as I should be,” said James Ricks, whose home has flooded three times during tropical storms.

Girl Scout troop leaders Tara Trappio and Evelyn Ragland confessed they, too, weren’t ready for a weather emergency.

“Some of this stuff I have – the flashlight, the first aid kit and the water bottles – but that’s about it,” said Trappio. Ragland recalled evacuating the city because of an approaching storm in 1999. “I wasn’t prepared at all. Everything went too fast,” she said.

Coastal Georgia has enjoyed decades with rarely a tropical storm. Despite 100 miles of coastline, Georgia hasn’t taken a direct hit from a hurricane of Category 3 or greater strength (winds of 111 to 129 miles an hour) since the late 1890s.

The Rev. Kevin Veitinger of Savannah, Ga., moved his family to higher ground not long after helping to pushing cars out of waste-high waters near their rental home.

A hurricane evacuation study commissioned in 2012 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found that many coastal Georgia residents underestimate the vulnerability of their homes to storm surge. Some said they plan to ignore evacuation orders.

Preparing for a hurricane starts with deciding whether to evacuate and where to go should evacuation be recommended. Basic supplies to have on hand include a three-day supply of water – one gallon per person – and non-perishable, easy-to-prepare food. Some families may also need to stock up on medications, baby supplies, pet supplies and copies of personal documents.

“I think the threat isn’t taken as seriously as it should be,” said Marianne Fischer, a Savannah native and Allstate insurance agent who volunteered at the ballpark event to build disaster preparedness kits.

Savannah residents who the recall the area’s only evacuations in recent history – for Hurricane David in 1979 and Hurricane Floyd in 1999 – usually talk of the hours of stalled traffic on the interstates. David hit the city but caused minor damage, while Floyd bypassed Georgia.

Though hurricanes are rare, more Savannah residents are familiar with flooding after heavy rains and high tides have overwhelmed parts of the city’s extensive canal system.

The Rev. Kevin Veitinger moved his family to higher ground not long after spending a rainy afternoon pushing cars out of waste-high waters near their rental home. A United Methodist minister from south Florida, Veitinger takes the hurricane threat in Savannah seriously. (To hear his advice, click here.)

He and his family experienced Hurricane Wilma in 2005, back when they lived near Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The storm took off the roof of his church and left his neighborhood without power for a month.

He doesn’t want to relive that experience in Savannah.

“The city is almost 300 years old,” he said. “If a Category 3 was predicted for Savannah, I’d be out of here.”

Would You Know What to Do if a Fire, Tornado or Other Disaster Was Headed for You?

Read about how folks in Colorado Springs, Colo., are preparing for disaster. To help your family take action, visit Good & Ready, where you’ll learn how to create a disaster plan, build a preparedness kit and more.

Deanne Ladefoged stands on the Colorado property where her house, destroyed by fire, used to be. Her family is rebuilding.

On a sunny day last June while having lunch with friends, Deanne Ladefoged got word through a cell phone text that she needed to return home – immediately. The fire that had erupted that day in Black Forest, a heavily wooded rural community northeast of Colorado Springs, Colo., was headed for her home.

“Luckily we had learned a lot from Waldo,” a 2012 canyon fire, she said. “We already had all of our important papers, titles, birth certificates in a fire-proof box. We also had the photos all in one place set aside.”

Ladefoged’s family had 30 minutes to evacuate. “By the time I got home,” Ladefoged said, “I was able to grab the videos of the kids, a handful of clothing, a little bit of jewelry, medications, the dogs and dog food. Then we left.” Her son grabbed the photos and box with the documents. The fire destroyed their home – along with about 500 others – but the family made it to safety.

The Lasley family – Marissa, Jeff and 6-year-old daughter Skyler – put a disaster kit together at the Colorado event.

The lesson: Be prepared.

To help people across the country do just that, The Allstate Foundation and Points of Light last week launched a 14-city disaster preparation tour. Participants put together their own disaster preparedness kits with materials provided – including flashlights that don’t require batteries, first aid kits and other essentials – and learn strategies they can use. The campaign’s first stop was in Colorado Springs on May 21, at a minor league baseball game. Other stops include Savannah, Ga., Baton Rouge, La., and Los Angeles.

“Nobody ever thinks it’s going to happen to them,” said Tamie Farris, an Allstate agent Colorado Springs. “Even with fires happening here two summers in a row, people have short memories.”

In fact, according to Jan Epstein, senior manager at The Allstate Foundation, a sponsor of the Good & Ready preparedness campaign, 85 percent of Americans are unprepared to deal with a disaster. And that number has not changed from 2012 or 2013.

Epstein said of the Colorado Springs gathering, “This is much more than a kit-building event, it’s an educational opportunity. We have to take action before disaster strikes. If we don’t, where will we be?”

Event participants line up to create their disaster preparedness kits with the help of Allstate agent volunteers at Security Service Field in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Several Colorado Springs-area Allstate agents volunteered at the event by explaining to the participants the significance of each item in the kits. Ashley Simpson, with the Cally O’Donnell Allstate Agency, handed out water bottles. She explained the importance of having an ample supply of water and being aware of expiration dates.

Many participating in the event at Security Service Field, home of the Sky Sox, admitted they would not be ready if disaster struck. Chris Vrana, a 19-year resident of Colorado Springs, said, “I do have a family and I do want to be aware. I think we think it won’t happen to us, but it does happen to people, so I think I need this. The fire in Black Forest was scary. … At the time it made me think I should start doing something, but of course I didn’t. I’m glad this (event) is getting me thinking about it again.”

Farris, the Allstate agent, said she’s made disaster preparedness kits for her family for 20 years. She calls them 72-hour kits, because they contain items that would provide aid in the first 72 hours following a disaster.

A few creating kits said they are comfortable with the plans their families have put together should fire strike again. But they said they still learned something new.

Jonneen Kistler, a 21-year resident of Colorado Springs, said her family has a disaster plan and has set aside water, batteries, extra food and more. Nonetheless, she was putting together a bag with her children because she said it was important to keep thinking about being prepared. She added, “We didn’t have a whistle or filtration masks. Now we do. I didn’t think about those before.”

As for Deanne Ladefoged and her family, they’re breaking ground on their new home in the same location. They have already planted 110 seedlings and spread grass seed around their once forested property. They spend as much time as possible clearing debris and dead timber from the land.

“The experience made me realize I could become a bitter or a better person. I want to be a better person,” Ladefoged  said, adding that while you can never prepare for every contingency when it comes to disaster, “you can do some things that help make a difference.”

What Is it About Disaster That Brings Out the Best in People?

This post is by Tracy Hoover, president of Points of Light.

Like many in Atlanta, I’m snowbound today. This week’s rare snowfall – a disabling two inches – hit our city and triggered a massive traffic jam, the kind that only happens when more than 1 million people rush home at the exact same time, on the exact same slick highways.

After more than six hours in my car – to make an eight-mile commute home – I can tell you that when the sun sets on Atlanta’s icy overpasses, behemoth trucks stall and 10 lanes of traffic screech to a halt. For days! Abandoned cars and stranded motorists created an impossible crisis, the scale of which even hundreds of tons of sand, fast and coordinated government action, and the National Guard couldn’t match.

But people could. Many of those who abandoned their cars to walk miles in the cold stopped to check on those who couldn’t. They shared jackets and helped the elderly, children and those in frail health move into cars with gas and heat. Some good Samaritans got home, then walked back to the highway with blankets, flashlights, hot chocolate – and hope.

Michelle Sollicito, a tech contractor in Marietta, Ga., quickly created a Facebook page, “SnowedOutAtlanta,” that became a fast sensation. The site connected stranded motorists with nearby strangers offering a place to stay, a gas can, a cell phone with power or help moving a car out of the way.  

As volumes of stories like these unfold, I’m reminded of how effectively and immediately Americans respond in times of disaster. 

I should have been in Washington, D.C., today attending a meeting of America’s Promise Alliance. Instead, I’m listening by phone to the Alliance’s trustees talk about their heroic efforts to reduce the dropout crisis – efforts that are working and that could be accelerated by increases in public and private investment and a large-scale citizen response.  

The connection between Atlanta’s storm and America’s schools is clear me. We have to do a better job of tapping the urgency and limitless reservoir of good will and citizen service that we see during weather disasters to meet the everyday disasters of failing schools, struggling families and the catastrophic effects of poverty.

What would it take for good people everywhere to see children with everyday needs in the same way they see children in the back seat of a snowy car that’s spun off the road?  

Here in Atlanta, it’s been painfully clear that government can’t do it all, and just as clear that people can do a lot. That’s a lesson worth remembering long after the last icicle melts. 

Thank you for your service – today and every day.

Three Things You Can Do Right Now to Help Colorado Flood Victims

Today’s post is by Kristy Judd, executive director of Metro Volunteers, a HandsOn Network affiliate in Denver. See the end of the post for recommendations from Points of Light about how you can help.

Colorado is one of those states where collaboration and cooperation matter a great deal. We have small communities with limited capacity to manage large scale disasters. Together, we’re stronger.

The volunteer centers in Colorado have adopted that same philosophy when tasked with managing spontaneous, unaffiliated volunteers, especially when multiple incidents are happening concurrently. For that past five years, our Colorado Volunteer Center Network has worked together to develop the Volunteer Coordination System. Crafted by phenomenal VISTA members, this scalable program can be implemented remotely with Internet connections. It gives us the ability to have Aimee Liotino in Colorado Springs support Sue McCullough in Boulder. Or Emma Woods in Greeley support Jami McMannes in Fort Collins. 

Even though we’re in a state where disasters aren’t frequent, when they hit, they are devastating. That our network took the time to develop this system, train our staff and establish clear communication tools has given us the ability to be the “go to” organization. While we’re the quiet, behind-the-scenes group, we have the opportunity to put citizens to work to help their neighbors in meaningful and impactful ways. 

This work is important. Sign up to volunteer with your HandsOn Network affiliate and please, also write them a check.  Without their organizational skills and knowledge, much of the work in communities to recover from a disaster wouldn’t happen.

Here are three things you can do to help Colorado’s flood recovery efforts:

1. Register your interest to volunteer here. (Please do not self-deploy to affected areas.)
2. Donate to support Colorado’s HandsOn Network affiliates that will be engaged in what will be a long-term recovery effort. You can give online to the Foothills Flood Relief Fund, which will support ongoing volunteer efforts led by Metro Volunteers in Denver and Foothills United Way.
3. Be prepared! Visit www.goodandready.org to download an emergency preparedness checklist and create a disaster readiness plan for your family.

Get Good & Ready: Hurricane Season is Here

Just six days into the 2013 Hurricane Season, Tropical Storm Andrea drenched the Gulf Coast and East Coast of the United States, bringing heavy rain, flooding, tornadoes and high winds. It’s time to think about what you can do to prepare your family and your community for disaster.

For tools, resources and to get engaged, visit Good & Ready, an online – and on-the-ground emergency preparedness program led by Points of Light, with Ready.gov, the American Red Cross and the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes.

The Good & Ready initiative aims to help 1.5 million Americans become more prepared for disasters by 2015. The initiative is made possible with generous support from Target and The Allstate Foundation.

It doesn’t matter where you live, disasters can strike anywhere, at any time. Don’t wait. Get involved! Go to Good & Ready today.