We have all seen pictures of the hurricane damage in Puerto Rico. A month after the storm 80% of the island is without power and people are drinking from streams. Banking is unavailable to most people and fuel is in critically short supply. People are still struggling to survive.
It is only a matter of time till a similar storm hits Oahu. Oahu is 3 times as far from resupply as Puerto Rico. Oahu is surrounded by deep, deep, deep ocean. The advice to leave our island is not going to work any better here than it did in Puerto Rico.
You cannot depend on Government help. Our Government will be overwhelmed trying to get our basic infrastructure repaired.
Are you prepared to live completely off the grid with no access to grocery stores, banks, gas stations and without electricity and no water? If you have health issues do you have a backup supply of medicine, oxygen, and whatever else you need to live? How will you handle your human waste and other sanitation problems?
How well you can prepare depends on your income. The poorest amongst us will be hit the hardest.
Our community can do a lot to prepare for the next big storm:
- We are forming a non-profit corporation whose mission will be to provide support to Windward emergency preparedness projects.
- We need to inventory buildings in our community that can serve as post-storm shelters for people who have lost their homes.
- We need an inventory of heavy equipment that can be mobilized to help clear roads.
- We need to know what restaurants can prepare meals without electricity.
- We need to know who in our community needs special medical services.
- We need CERT trained teams that can help in neighborhood recovery
- We need a way for CERT Teams to communicate with Dept of Emergency Management.
There is a lot of work to do to make Koolaupoko a truely resilient community. Do you want to help? Fill out the form below to join us and get your free go-kit checklist.
