Hurricane Katrina

In August of 2005 Hurricane Katrina came to visit America. We all can remember the images of that disaster. Many of us were directly affected. We have all seen the failures in the systems that were in place for such an event. I’m not here to place blame on any local government or any individual who failed to act when the warnings were given. I’m just going to pass on a tip that you might want to consider.

A friend of mine asked me about doing a post on hurricane preparedness. I have spent a lot of time and money on preparing for just such an incident, but I don’t want to turn my blog into another “Prepper” site. There are many sites out there to educate you on disaster preparedness.

So,,, you’ve worked hard to get to where you are at. Attended many schools of training and you have the credentials to show for it. You have your credentials, identification and family documents well organized, right? You know right where they are, right? If you had 24 hours of advance notice you could gather them, right? Oh,,,,,,let’s not forget the kids and their credentials; like birth certificates, immunization records and school transcripts.

Oh,,, you have a few hours left, so grab a few family photos and videos.

Now you should be able to pack all of these items in a few handbags.

A reality could end up being, that you are going to be evac’d from your rooftop, building or a bridge. Remember those scenes from Katrina in New Orleans?

Your limo is going to be a nice vintage Huey from the Vietnam War era;

John Corley Police Officer Self-Defense and Family Safety

or,,,,

You could get lucky and catch a ride in one of Boeing’s newer MH-139’s !

Boeing submitted its bid for the U.S. Air Force to buy up to 84 MH-139 helicopters to replace its Huey fleet. Go inside the MH-139 and learn about its unique capabilities.

Well,,, guess what,, they are not taking all those bags. They are there for the body (You). You will be lucky if they let you on with a small backpack.

Now, here’s the tip:

Put together a “Neck Safe” for each of you. It’s a small container such as one of these;

Pelican Case

Neck Safes

Neck safes should have a jump-drive in it with digital copies of all your valuable documents on that drive. There is no need to risk the hard copies of your documents. They should be stored in a waterproof fire safe anyway and digital copies of all important documents should be in the cloud.

Family photos and videos on the jump-drive also.
Small amount of cash.
Any prescription medicine that can hold you over for a few days.
Emergency contact information.
School/training certificates, medical history, identification

A “Neck Safe” stays around your neck and is out of sight. If you find yourself standing in front of a F.E.M.A. checkpoint, you can simply hand them the jump-drive and they will immediately be able to identify you and any special needs you might have.

FEMA.gov

You can digitize the documents & photos with a flatbed scanner; very cheap these days.

Or,,,,,,

You can go the smartphone app method. Apple has a great app called “Scanner Pro”. It’s fast and extremely accurate in detail.

Scanner Pro by Readdle.jpg — Scanner Pro

By Readdle Inc.
Available in the App Store for iPhone

Keep the family’s neck safes in a place where they can easily be accessed. When you first hear the warning, put them on.

This tip might save you a headache someday.

Thank you for listening,,,,,,,,