Threat Assessment

Every family should do a threat assessment. This is important so you can prepare appropriately for the most probable emergencies. You can begin by reviewing historical records of your area. For instance,  our city has struggled with flooding in the past due to a river that flows through it. However, another serious flood in our area is unlikely since the known hazard has been addressed with high embankments along the river. But we still have problems with flooding in low-lying areas around the city during heavy rains because the drainage system can’t deal with large volumes. Additionally, we live near a military base and several nuclear facilities.


These are all possible threats. In addition to historical data, you should consider things like tornados, hurricanes, droughts, earthquakes, and other acts of God (or nature). The top 8 natural disasters are tsunamis, droughts, floods, earthquakes, heat waves, volcanic eruptions, tornados, and hurricanes.  Volcanic eruption is rare, but devastating. Typically, however, there would be some advance warning of this type of disaster. In some parts of the country, tornados are common, but typically limited to a specific season of the year. Tsunamis aren’t going to affect the majority of the United States, but droughts, extreme heat or cold (including ice storms or extremely heavy snowfall) and earthquakes can happen nearly anywhere. In the past 10 years, we’ve experienced drought, an ice storm that knocked out power to most of our city for days, an earthquake, and the touchdown of a tornado within 2 miles of our home that devastated a neighborhood.


You need to consider your nearness to potential military or terrorist targets, such as Air Force bases or nuclear power plants. Cities with large, popular airports are at risk from terrorist attacks. Be aware of the area in which you live and consider what type of emergency you may encounter. As global warming continues, weather patterns are becoming more extreme and emergencies that were not previously risks for your area may become risks in the future. Of course, you also need to consider the aging power grid and the risk of losing power, temporarily or longer-term.


What about a house fire? This can happen anywhere. When our children were little, we had family meetings to discuss how to react in a fire. We made sure each child knew to get out of the house immediately, not to try and find their parents or siblings. We made sure they understood touching a door to check for heat on the other side before opening it. We practiced stop, drop, and roll. We gave them permission to knock out screens from windows so they could climb to safety. Mostly, we encouraged them to move quickly, without thinking, to get themselves, and only themselves, to safety. We designated a rallying spot, on our neighbor’s front porch. As each family member made their way out of the house, we were to gather there so we could tell firefighters if anyone was missing. Schools have fire drills for a reason. Young children, without practicing how to respond when a fire alarm begins to sound, will instinctively try to find their parents, often running further into a fire and making it impossible for firefighters to locate them. Practice fire alarms with your children. Make sure every family member has at least 2 ways to exit your home and knows where to go for safety. Even as your children grow into adulthood, be sure to communicate to them that they should not try and locate other family members. 


Take a little time to think through the threats that may hit your area. A little thinking may go a longs ways in an emergency. 

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