Have you noticed the number of newspaper articles that describe the various natural disasters that have occurred recently?  Tornados, floods, cyclones and earthquakes have struck somewhere on our planet and thousands of people have had their lives disrupted in one way or another. Both the human loss and property damage have been unbelievable. Just how ready they were to cope with the aftermath is an appropriate question to ask.

Locally, an article on the front page of The Press Democrat (5-5-08) – Bracing for disaster – stated that there are a few people who heed the warnings, but most say they don’t have time to prepare for The Big One. “Eagle-Eyes” reminded “Me, Myself & I” that many people no longer read the printed edition of our newspapers, but rely on the electronic versions for their daily news. In order that His Majesty, Emperor Norton II won’t get on our case for being lazy in our old age, “I” decided it was time to get off his duff and do something constructive. “Me” suggested that online sites, like Petaluma360, are worthwhile sources of information and that more and more readers have been shifting over in order to get their daily news. In the meantime, the third member of The Trio – “Myself” – had already researched and lined up two more electronic sources of information that are available online, 24/7; hence the title, Are You Ready to COPE?

Just to the south of Petaluma, the Get READY Marin program has been serving the residents of Marin County for some time. There is a most informative power-point presentation available for viewing at http://www.getreadymarin.org (Look under Resources and click on Get Ready Presentation.)

Just a few miles to our north is the City of Santa Rosa, where they are urging its citizens to Be Prepared with its COPE program (Citizens Organized to Prepare for Emergencies). Clicking on http://www.cope.srcity.org will take you to additional links related to the basic questions that The Trio has been blogging about since 2005. The main question is still the same, Are you, your family, and your neighbors prepared?

Please take the time to view the 11 minute video produced by the COPE program. If it doesn’t shake you into action, we don’t know what will; except another 5.0 M or greater, earthquake. But, by then it will be too late – won’t it? Start to get ready, today, before another major disaster hits our favorite river town. Stay tuned, there’s more to come.