Essay --

Develop a Personal Disaster Plan A natural disaster is any event that is caused by the force of nature on environmental factors that has catastrophic consequences. Natural disasters include: avalanches, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, impact events, landslides, mudslides, tornadoes, tsunamis, tropical cyclones, typhoons, and volcanic eruptions [1]. I live in the state of Missouri and based on the geographical location it is frequently affected by natural disasters like Ice storms, tornados, severe storms, and flooding. Since the year 1990, Missouri has recorded more than 30 federal disaster declarations. Local government keeps track of disaster information locally and it is the responsibility of State Emergency Management Agency to work with the local government to make sure that they get all the information needed and then they integrate all the information and send it to the governor. Based on the intensity of the event, the governor may request the president to issue an emergency disaster declaration. [2] Advance Preparation: Preparing for the disaster in advance might save your life. So, it’s always a wise thing to prepare in advance. My steps are: †¢ Designing a floor plan for my apartment, this makes me aware of the doors and windows to get out of the building during emergency. †¢ Creating an emergency contact of a person who is residing out-of-state and name that person as ‘ICE’ in my phone’s contact list, because whenever we are involved in an accident the officials might call to that ‘ICE’(In Case of Emergency) contact. †¢ Registering to weather alerts and being aware of the climatic conditions. †¢ Keeping the first aid kit in an emergency location in your house. †¢ In case of tornados, planning a location which is beneat... ...t locate a restore point, so that all the members of the family meet at this point after the disaster. †¢ Periodic drills must be done to ensure that, all the members of family execute their plan as planned. †¢ Talk to the children’s school officials asking for disaster plan when the disaster hits during school hours. If they are not made support them by giving your own ideas. †¢ Update and discuss the plan with all the members of the family once a year. REFERENCES: 1. Natural Disaster. (2014). Retrieved March 12, 2014, from http://www.hccmis.com/international-insurance-definitions/#N 2. SEMA. Declared Disasters in Missouri. Retrieved March 12, 2014, from http://sema.dps.mo.gov/maps_and_disasters/disasters/ 3. Family Disaster Plan and Personal Survival Guide. Retrieved March 12, 2014, from http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/oes/docs/FamilyDisasterPlan.pdf