Disaster preparedness must be a community priority

THE BELLINGHAM HERALD EDITORIAL BOARD

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There were many differences between the disastrous aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the arrival of Hurricane Gustav last week.

Most important, the hurricane was not as strong, and it missed the most heavily populated areas in New Orleans.

But almost as important was the human reaction to the threat that nature had amassed.

In Katrina, citizens and local, state and federal officials failed to take the dangers seriously, and failed miserably to react after the hurricane destroyed homes and neighborhoods and levees.

Consider that miserable response, which left so many stranded without water and food and a place to sleep, a lesson well-learned. This time around officials in the Gulf states were prepared, amassing food and water, setting up shelters and sending citizens to higher ground as Gustav headed to shore. Citizens smartly heeded the warnings.

Our community should learn from what happened too. Natural disaster is just around the corner for all of us. In our community, earthquakes and floods and even volcanic eruptions are just kept at bay by time. Some time, soon or not, these things will happen in Whatcom County.

So we were encouraged to read in late August about how neighbors in Bellingham are working together to prepare themselves and their neighborhoods for the potential disaster. The Map Your Neighborhood program launched in Bellingham in 2007, part of a statewide effort to get citizens personally involved in disaster preparedness.

The program encourages neighbors to organize their block, providing phone contacts and identifying who in the neighborhood has the tools or skills that will be needed in the event of an emergency. City fire officials say neighbors are the first and main line of defense and assistance in a natural disaster. Likely, emergency officials will be dealing with major problems first, fires or road collapses or people in immediate life-threatening danger. That means neighborhoods may be on their own.

Bellingham officials say the Cordata neighborhood and the Lakeway Mobile Estates park are two of the most active groups in the coordinating and planning project. Others have organized blocks in the Lettered Streets. Some communities in the county have also organized.

We urge citizens to join these efforts. Whether you live in a house in a neighborhood, an apartment complex, or on acreage with your nearest neighbors farther away, you and your neighbors will need to work together and depend on each other in the event of a catastrophe.

And getting involved is easy. With the support of fire officials, neighbors hold a meeting and receive packets of information about how to respond to disasters. The packets also include a way for the neighborhood to map out homes gas and water lines and propane tanks. That is important information for every citizen to have when trying to be safe after a disaster.

We encourage all citizens to take part. More information is available by calling the Bellingham Fire Department at 778-8440.

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Saturday, Sep. 06, 2008

Disaster preparedness must be a community priority

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