After a major disaster occurs anywhere in the world, as happened last week with the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan, discussion invariably turns to “what would happen if this occurred here in St. Louis?” In the case of an earthquake, we may not like the comparison.
As many of us are aware, earthquakes are not unheard of in the St. Louis region. We are approaching the bicentennial of the massive 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes that rocked Missouri and Illinois. For the most part, fortunately, the region was scarcely developed 200 years ago. A quake of that magnitude today would be a vastly different story.
The point of these comparisons is not to scare anybody. In fact, there are a number of “emergencies,” like a power outage, that aren’t terribly frightening, but can be sorely inconvenient. Instead of fear or apathy, we should take stock of how well we are prepared, not just for earthquakes, but any emergency—fires, tornados, floods, blizzards, even earthquakes.
It’s important to point out that Japan, sitting squarely on the “Ring of Fire,” is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. It is also one of the best prepared to deal with them. Having survived a massive quake in 1923, they understand the importance of preparation. Many perished in the earthquake and resulting tsunami last week, but many say the damage would have been far worse in any other country. Japan adopted strict building codes, drilled their population, developed warning systems, and constructed special defenses. "Yes, the island nation was admirably prepared,” says Norimitsu Onishi at The New York Times. "Had any other populous country suffered the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that shook Japan on Friday, tens of thousands of people might already be counted among the dead."
Of course, all the preparation in the world can't prevent an earthquake, tornado, blizzard, or other emergencies that could possibly strike, often with little warning. Still, despite the extent of the death and destruction, it would be much worse if not for Japan's hard-earned “culture of preparedness.” And that is what we in St. Louis should strive for—a culture of preparedness.
Many cities have an emergency plan, and many agencies such as the American Red Cross and United Way, among others, work diligently to inform the community of the need to prepare for disasters. Without the individual preparedness efforts of individuals, however, the positive outcomes of any emergency response are seriously diminished. Many more people could be helped if they simply knew ahead of time what to do, where to go, and how to get information.
In 2007, the FOCUS St. Louis Disaster Preparedness Task Force released a report assessing our region’s state of preparedness with nearly 20 recommendations pointing the way to building a safer, better prepared region. With assistance from this report, we are now fortunate to be in the beginning stages of a public awareness campaign that will be a valuable element of preparedness efforts in our region. The All Ready campaign is a unified effort among emergency preparedness experts in the bi-state region that focuses on the importance of emergency preparedness by residents. Please visit www.allreadystl.com to see how you can better prepare yourself and your family.
About the writer: John Wagner is the Community Policy Director at FOCUS.