Originally Published November 19th, 2006
OK, this is my public service announcement posting for the year, so bear with me.
I spent a nice afternoon this weekend with my brother-in-law, an insurance salesman (reseller/independent agent) and he was telling me that were really lucky right now. Seems insurance rates in the Southeast have been increasing dramatically since Katrina hit, but only in the states affected (MS, FL and LA). Since we live in Northeast Georgia, we have actually had rate decreases in that time, because the actuary and risk assessment tables have been adjusted. That, combined with a “boring” hurricane season, made for a Georgia market that had insurance agencies jumping in and competing for (our and others) business.
“Enjoy it while it lasts,” he said, “’cause it may not last long.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well, for one, the New Madrid Fault. If we have another Mag 8 earthquake there, it’ll affect everyone. Lots of property damage. Lots of people dead. Not to mention if we have another nasty hurricane season like last year, the market will adjust again, and this time everybody’s rates might go up.”
My friend Jeff is a natural disaster buff (strange, I know, but so is he) and had mentioned New Madrid before, so I was not ignorant. I mentioned the conversation to a coworker Monday. He was ex-Army, and worked with FEMA for years during his his second stint (when FEMA was run by James Watt). He reinforced my brother’s opinion.
“Yup, If the New Madrid fault goes, you’ll have Katrina times ten. When I was working up there we had emergency plan reviews every quarter, and when the review of the New Madrid occurred I found out there was no real planning for the worse case scenario for the emergency personnel up there.
“If a Mag 6 earthquake happens, there will be NO first responders. They will not have the capacity or capability to respond. It’ll be like You’re on your own. Things may have changed since then, but I doubt it.”
So I looked up some articles on the web and found out the chance of a magnitude 8 or higher earthquake, one that will effectively cut off the East Coast from the rest of the country for quite a while and cause unimaginable destruction? An earthquake that would be far more destructive and impactful to the world economy than “the big one” in California?
10% likely, in the next 40 years. The odds of a “lesser” quake? Only 85%, same time period.
Yikes.
So, taking the advice of Glenn Reynolds and many many others, I have put together a “Grab and Go” kit for my family. It’s about $175 worth of food and supplies that would take care of us for three or four days if we had to, and, as it’s name entails, we can grab it, throw it in the van, and we’re gone.
Click this link for lots of advice. I URGE everyone to remember what happened with Katrina ““ it took almost four days for the help to get to some people and some were on their own with NO supplies. The government may (I’d say probably) not be there to help you.
We may never have any use for it but, keep this in mind: wouldn’t you rather have it and not need it than not have it and desperately need it?
We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.
– Joe