Disaster preparation is citizen obligation

"Being prepared is part of Utah's great heritage and greatly reflects what we stand for. History will not look kindly on any of us if we are not prepared," said Lt. Gov. Gary R. Herbert at a recent Preparedness Symposium.

He quoted Yogi Berra, "Prepare now for tomorrow. How we fare will be determined by what we prepare for now." Vince Lombardi said, "Get back to basics. Anticipate the problem" (i.e., have a 72-hour kit. Anticipate needing to help your family and neighbors, etc.) Bobby Knight said, "É it's not enough to succeed ... prepare to be successful." I paraphrase Horatio Alger's quote "É it's not enough to know something É it is important É to do something."

Herbert said "the future is so bright, we will need to buy sunglasses É but we need to be wise. Adversities strengthen us. Let the strength of those who came before us motivate us to be able to withstand the challenges we face. Think 'Team Concept.' Together, everyone achieves more. We can't do it alone."

He encouraged Utahns to prepare because it may take longer than 72 hours for help to arrive. Prepare now for a better chance of sustaining yourself and your family during that interim.

He also mentioned health disasters. "In the event of a pandemic bird flu situation, there may be people rushing away rather than people rushing in to help us. Ready your family, community, schools and businesses." (See www.BeReadyUtah.org, www.fema.gov, www.redcross.org, www.providentliving.org and www.des.utah.gov.)

Poignant questions were asked. Brian Garrett of the Department of Public Safety said, "The ability of government to be ready (and to recover after an emergency) is directly related to the preparedness of its citizenry. Those who faced our most recent, strong, microburst winds, with weather-cell radios in their kits, had at least a 20-minute warning to draw in their family members" for their safekeeping.

Jeff Graviet of the Department of Homeland Security said, "Who fares best is relative to what we have done for our families. In 2005, there were 750 earthquake tremors in Utah. This is a good thing, because it releases pressure along fault lines. Not all of them are felt by us." He also said that "exercises have been performed with Utah's National Guard. Col. Bart Barry said that there are three main areas of concern: (1) Take care of the people (2) Take care of second responders (3) Go back to No. 1."