Hurricane Sandy exposes faults of modern family preparedness

Our take: What once was enough emergency preparedness for a husband and wife is not sufficient when a child is added to the family. Jacoba Urist, a contributor for NBC news, shares her family's experience with Hurricane Sandy on The Washington Post:

"Three days ago, I thought we were among the most thoroughly prepared parents in lower Manhattan.

We'd spent the weekend doing everything youre supposed to do when every forecaster known to man tells you a freak superstorm has a high probability of hitting your city and youre the parents of a small child. My husband was dispatched to the hardware store for flashlights, batteries and huge bottles of water. I stocked up on Power Bars, toilet paper and dog food.

On Monday morning, we downloaded a collection of G movies and charged every gadget that we own. By Monday afternoon, we'd filled both of our bathtubs, set all our supplies out on the kitchen counter and coordinated a schedule of intra-building play dates for our three-year old son, so hed hopefully see the storm as a fun diversion from normal life and not a stressful day or two."

Read more about A family's emergency preparedness on The Washington Post.