Why People Don't Prepare for Natural Disasters

5 min

Face your fears.

Prepare and practice disaster response.

When it comes to natural disasters,

the most prepared teams:

1. Know what to expect

Every region has unique risks: the East Coast of the United States is more at risk for hurricanes, while the West Coast is susceptible to earthquakes.

2. Have a plan

Do you and your organization have Emergency Action Plans for disasters? If not, ask your supervisor what you can do to make sure all employees know the best response in any emergency.

3. Practice

Evacuation sounds straightforward in theory. But when every minute matters, an efficient response can make all the difference. Once you create your plan, practice it: whether it’s a stop, drop, and hold, or a hurricane evacuation.

Time for a quiz.

Gloria just joined a new company, and was surprised to find out that even though their office is near a fault line, they had no Emergency Response Plan for an earthquake. So she volunteered to work with her colleagues to create the plan, and share it with the company. What can you tell her?

Quiz 1 of 1

What can you tell Gloria about her planning efforts?

a

She’s on the right track because she’s taking emergency response seriously and proactively participating in it.

b

She’s falling victim to normalcy bias because her plan is no different from any other company’s approach.

c

She’s still not doing enough because she hasn’t convinced everyone in the company to participate in planning.

d

She’s taking on a serious responsibility because if she creates the plan, she’s personally liable if it goes wrong.

The correct answer is A.

Gloria's showing a lot of initiative and being proactive about keeping herself, and her organization, safe.

She's making a positive change.

Don't fall victim to normalcy bias.

Whether you’re in a floodplain or on a fault line,

practice your disaster response.

Your Team's Emergency Response Plan

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