Neighbor News
Get Ready for the Unexpected With a Disaster Go Bag
— Don't think you need an emergency kit? Think again, say families who needed one.
Flashlights, a first aid kit, and ready-to-eat meal packs line Maria Seeto's living room table. She is not going camping — she is preparing for a disaster by putting together a “go bag.”
Preparing in advance with a disaster-ready kit has helped families nationwide through extreme and abnormal weather events, which experts warn are on the rise.
The increased intensity and dangers of wildfires in the Bay Area has heightened the need to prepare for various natural disasters. Born in San Francisco, California, and currently living in the Mission District, Maria Seeto knows a major earthquake is not a matter of “if” but “when.”
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“The video ‘Are You Prepared for a Natural Disaster?’ on jw.org gave me some great tips on what I should prepare ahead of time, such as an emergency ‘go bag’ and an escape route,” Seeto said. “While I hope I never have to use them, knowing that I have everything I need gives me peace of mind.”
“Having a personal preparedness plan increases your chances of staying safe,” according to a training program from the Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness.
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Jolted awake by a neighbor’s urgent knocking, Aaron and Jacqueline Pate were horrified to see the encroaching flames of the fast-moving Woolsey fire that had been miles away when they went to bed. It burned to within 100 feet of their Westlake Village home in 2018 as part of California’s deadliest wildfire season on record.
"Because we had go bags, we weren’t running around trying to pack things at the last minute,” said Jacqueline. “We had the time we needed to comfort our kids and get everyone safely into the car.”
The Pates credited the disaster-preparedness help they received as Jehovah’s Witnesses, both through periodic reminders at their congregation meetings and from tips for putting together go bags on the organization’s website, www.jw.org.
"Life is precious, so we encourage all to heed the Bible’s advice to take practical steps to protect ourselves from danger,” said Robert Hendriks III, spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States.
Go bags also have proven useful in the opposite circumstances as “stay bags.”
Disaster-preparedness suggestions and tips for putting together a go bag are available from FEMA at ready.gov and from Jehovah’s Witnesses at https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/awake-no5-2017-october/disaster-....
