New York Citizens Prepare for Disaster

Citizen Preparedness Program Certificate of Completion
handed out Saturday in Staten Island, N.Y. 

By Mark E. Ruquet

Do you know what to do if another disaster strikes? Is there a bag ready to do with all your survival needs? Do you know how much you will need and what to bring? Where will the family meet? Do you know what the three types of potential disaster are?

Last Saturday officials with the state of New York gathered at New Dorp High School in Staten Island to launch the Citizen Preparedness Program—an effort to ready us in case another disaster should strike and we are once again cut-off from the security or our homes and our routines.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo dropped by for this inaugural event and emphasized in his comments that Staten Island was the appropriate location to kick-off this statewide program because the borough suffered so much from Superstorm Sandy.

The Staten Island Advance said that the governor expects to train 100,000 New Yorkers in emergency preparation. On Saturday, Cuomo said the aim of the preparedness program is to provide the foundation for a citizen army capable of first caring for themselves and their family in times of emergency and then helping their neighbors to survive the initial disaster and pull it back together.

“You learn what you can do and build back better than before,” he said.

He called the program a simple concept will make a difference in the future of everyone to “prepare, respond and recover.”

Cuomo noted that the need to be prepared is becoming increasingly apparent as changes in climate patterns are becoming more evident. He said this was not the time for debate over climate change, but the increasing number of severe weather events is a reality. While his father, Mario Cuomo, was governor, the elder statesman experienced only a handful of federal disaster declarations in New York, the governor said. Since he became governor, Cuomo said he has been through nine such declarations. The changes happening around us, no matter what the cause, cannot be ignored or controlled.

Saturday’s two-hour program was one hour of speeches from local representatives and Major General Patrick A. Murphy commander of the New York National Guard. The second hour, led by instructors from the Army National Guard, was devoted to citizen preparation and recovery.

The program will be an on-going effort. Anyone interested in additional information or in receiving emergency alerts can go to NY-ALERT.gov.  For information about planning for what you will need in an emergency go to Ready.gov and learn what the essentials are for your Go-Bag and be prepared to leave quickly at a moment’s notice. One item mentioned during the presentation, which is a departure from the usual advice, where Ready.gov tells people to have three days of food, water and medicine at the ready, New York officials are recommending 10 days, one of Superstorm Sandy’s lessons.