What a September it’s been so far for disasters! With raging forest fires in California; and not only Harvey, Irma, and Jose but what may well end up being the season of an increased number of devastating hurricanes and tropical storms in a number of years occurring one right behind the other, a large portion of the US will be caught unprepared.

In 2003 the US Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) created “National Preparedness Month” as a way to offer American families and businesses an ‘opportunity’ to take steps to prepare for emergencies – whether natural or ‘man made’ – their homes, workplace, schools, and communities.  This year’s theme is “Disasters Don’t Plan Ahead. You Can” – and, according to ready.gov, this year’s goal is to increase the number of individuals, families, and communities who engage in preparedness actions.

Each week of September 2017 has its own theme:
Week 1 (September 1-9)     – “Make a Plan for Yourself, Family, and Friends”
Week 2 (September 10-16) – “Plan to Help Your Neighbor and Community”
Week 3 (September 17-23) – “Practice and Build Out Your Plans”
Week 4 (September 24-30) – “Get Involved! Be a Part of Something Larger”

In addition to ready.gov, there are any number of national, state, and organizational web sites you can go to for information about the “whats,” “whys,” and “hows” of disaster preparedness.  Many of the sites have tool kits and sample plans to get you started.  The American Red Cross, for example, has a landing page (http://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/mobile-apps) where mobile applications can be downloaded to help with first aid for both you and your pet(s); and to help you prepare for and receive warnings about severe weather (i.e., tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, and floods).

One thing logisticians ‘at work’ do extremely well on a daily basis for our companies and customers is planning for ‘what ifs?’  However, the one thing we probably don’t do as well is plan for our own ‘what ifs?’  It’s SOLE‘s sincere hope that whatever this summer’s/fall’s disasters may bring, you’ll have remembered to take time to help yourself, your family, your company, and your community ‘be prepared’ to “weather the storm” safely.  And, if the worst should happen, know that the there’s a whole community of logisticians and responders there to help.