Earthquakes and Tornados and Hurricanes.. Oh my!!

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I guess a few natural disasters can definitely give you a huge reality check. 6 days ago my girlfriend and i had just finished taking our boys to the park and thought to go back to her place for lunch. We were chatting over by the computer when all of a sudden the shelves and desk started to shake. She had thought her vertigo had kicked in or that it was simply all in her head. Initially i thought it might have been a huge freight train ( thoughts of the movie "Unstoppable" featuring Denzel Washington and a runaway train) passing by her house (she does live near train tracks). When i realized that I too was shaking while nursing Tristan. We couldn't both be loosing it, could we? Our kids were so preoccupied with their cars and trucks they hadn't even noticed there was any sort of commotion.

I suggested we check on Facebook; what better source is there for instant updates on the happenings of the world? Eyewitness news was checked afterwards. Several friends had already posted and my girlfriends father who was so panicked confirmed that we were actually feeling tremors from a 5.8 quake that hit Virginia right here in NYC. We felt like idiots analyzing the source of the house shaking rather than grabbing our boys and fleeing. We definitely weren't alone, many people told stories of being in their offices and their chairs rolling away from their desk repeatedly and thinking they were exhausted or someone was pushing their chair. The idea of an earthquake was the furthest from our thoughts.

Photo of Huricane Irene approaching via  nytimes.com 

4 days later all anyone could talk about was Hurricane Irene and how on Sunday the 28th she was going to wreak havoc upon the East Coast. Facebook was flooded with Hurricane posts and Eyewitness News was doing 24 hour coverage. Airports and towns were evacuated and for the first time ever mass transportation in NYC was shutdown. At one point there were even a few tornado watches. People Filled their tubs with potable water, joined last minute shoppers on crazy supermarket lines for essentials {not sure the chocolate cake we picked up qualified} and tried to put together an emergency "GO" bag. I think the best thing that came out of this was many families realizing how unprepared they may be for an emergency and making a change for the future. From Coast to Coast we should make sure all precautions are in place for the rare occurrence.

 Ironically i stumbled upon an article Sunday afternoon in the September issue of Parents Magazine "Are you prepared for an Emergency?" that i think is worth everyone taking a look at .

        Dr. Wendy Swanson lists steps needed to take in an unexpected emergency { For full details see link}

1. Create a communication plan {Teach your children phone numbers of family members, Choose a location for family members to meet, Designate an out of state contact etc.}
2. Assemble a Kit {Stash cash (no electricity, no ATM), water, food, first-aid kit, important documents, flashlights etc.}
3. Know your neighborhood {Contact local fire departments to inquire about threats to your neighborhood such as streets prone to flooding etc.} 

Hope this was helpful, our kit isn't fully complete but I'm glad that we've started a conversation and have started collecting these important items.

xoxo Dellah