A couple recent events on the U.S. East coast illustrate the need for emergency preparedness in North America. The February 6 snowstorm in the Washington DC area has left some 300,000 without power from Pennsylvania to Virginia. And just a day later, an under-construction Connecticut power plant suffered a massive explosion. Had this facility been operational, and had these two events happened in the same general location, the strain on the electrical grid could have brought catastrophic results.

Just a few years ago, the Northeast Blackout of 2003 struck during the Summer, and without electricity to power mass transportation, hundreds of thousands of New York City residents were left stranded in the streets with temperatures in the 90s. The outage was the result of a cascade of power failures stemming from high-voltage power lines contacting overgrown trees. What if a similar blackout happened during winter, during an epic blizzard, or perhaps during an outbreak such as H1N1? With apologies for using an overused cliche, this would be a "perfect storm" for the Northeast or other parts of the U.S. Similar scenarios could be envisioned for much of the country or anywhere else on the planet for that matter.

It has been said that during a man-made, natural or accidental crisis, we are just 9 meals away from a complete breakdown in public order. Or in other words, total chaos. That apocalyptic scenario is not as farfetched as we would like to believe. California wild fires, Midwest flooding, coastal area hurricanes, and blizzards are just a few natural occurrences that can devastate an area. Couple one of these scenarios with the failure of a public infrastructure system such as a power plant, dam, highway system or bridge, or telecommunications system and an uncomfortable and inconveniencing situation would become one of survival. Any further compounding issues like bad weather, an outbreak or food shortage would only make a bad situation a whole lot worse.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) both recommend the public prepare for disaster and offer information on how to do so. The DHS even launched Ready.gov in 2003 for this very purpose. And only last Friday (2/5), FEMA issued a draft version of the National Disaster Recovery Framework and requested comments from all stakeholders, including state, local and tribal governments, nonprofit partners, the private sector, and the public. When this document is finalized DHS says it will provide a model to collectively identify and address challenges that arise during the disaster recovery process.

Have you prepared emergency supplies, made a plan in case of an emergency, and taken steps to stay informed? Ready.gov recommends to, "Learn more about the potential emergencies that could happen where you live and the appropriate way to respond to them." Knowing that a storm is about to hit is not the time to go to the store and stock up on supplies. Once the storm hits, it may be too late, and you may have to get by with what you have for a some time.

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