Saturday, October 5, 2013

"How to Plan for a Disaster: A City Dweller's Guide to Emergency Planning" by Ruth L. Harding

NEW RELEASE
How to Plan for a Disaster:
A City Dweller's Guide to Emergency Planning
by Ruth L. Harding


Description
Even though most of us have not endured natural disasters, they are all too frequent. Floods, tornados, earthquakes, landslides and devastating storms strike all too often. Recent weather related disasters and terrorist events have crippled communities for weeks. Yet even with all the information available online, many people are still not prepared to look out for themselves, even for a day. Survivalists and preppers seem to fare well, so what about the rest of us?
When you are suffering from information overload it's best to focus on the basics. If you haven't been a boy scout or a girl guide, if survivalism and prepping isn't part of your way of life, this book will tell you what you need to do, step by step, to get through the first few days.

Excerpt
The ultimate goal of this book is to get city dwellers to a state of readiness to cope with any disaster. Survivalists can just take off and go to their cabin in the woods and preppers will have enough food and water stored for months on their homestead. If a disaster does impact wilderness areas there are significantly fewer people who will need assistance from emergency service agencies and so the disaster is unlikely to overwhelm local responders. On the other hand, city dwellers, many living in single room occupancy buildings, apartments, townhouses, and condos don’t have the space or the means to follow suit.

Review
This is an excellent book with a ton of good ideas. I am "lucky" to live in an area where we must be prepared - the offshore Gorda plate creates numerous earthquakes every week and the storms take out our power several times every winter. Plus, we're remote enough that there is no easy access here, so we have to be self-reliant.
Having served with various public agencies, I've been involved in several disaster planning and emergency response meetings and trainings, at the city, county and state levels. So I take all this seriously.
This is a well written book that's easy to understand and covers most of what you'll need, whether you are a city dweller or a country dweller. I concur with almost everything in it - and there were even some things I'd never thought about before, so I will be upgrading my own disaster supplies based on what I learned.
Highly recommended.

About the Author
With over 25 years under her belt as an Emergency Management Consultant, Ruth L. Harding has extensive experience writing. From emergency plans to fire drills to flood evacuation procedures, she has done it all.
Now she writes for fun!
Ruth, a true Renaissance woman, is a master of many skills: DIY wood working, cooking, construction (an extreme DIYer she built a luxury Straw Bale home several years ago), wood turning (she makes exquisite fountain pens and bowls), and web design. She has much to share about her journey.
A prolific collector of all things beautiful, and some not so, she is writing books on a variety of subjects to show others how to fulfill their dreams.
Seize the day!

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