Get informed. Contact the local chapter of the Red Cross or the emergency-management office (to find one near you, go to
www.fema.gov and select “State Offices & Agencies”). Ask for information about the types of disasters you may encounter, as well as their timing and severity, especially if you’re new to an area and unaware of potential risks.
Ask these groups about
community-response plans, potential sites for emergency shelters, and warning procedures used. “Some level of chaos breaks out no matter how small
a disaster,” says psychiatrist Joseph Napoli, coauthor of Resiliency in the Face of Disaster and Terrorism: 10 Things to Do to Survive (Personhood Press, $15, www.amazon.com). “The more you know beforehand, the less frantic you’ll feel.”
