How can we prepare for natural disasters? – Best ways

It's important to know how we can prepare for natural disasters with proper emergency preparedness plan for less natural disasters damage.

A natural disaster is a catastrophic event that occurs as a result of natural processes of the Earth. These events can cause significant damage to the environment, property, and human life. Examples include earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires, and volcanic eruptions.

We have developed several natural disasters early warning system which provides warnings of natural disasters before they impact people and property. However, in spite of all the capabilities for advance warnings, we are still quite poor at preparing for these natural disasters.

By 2015, on average over 375 million people per year are likely to be affected by natural disasters. This is over 50% more than have been affected in an average year during the last decades,  a 2009 Oxfam report has mentioned forecasting the natural disasters 2015 statistics.

But there are many things we can do before a natural disaster strikes to prepare ourselves. We should know what our risks are and prepare to protect ourselves, our family and community. Below are three important ways as how can we prepare for natural disasters.

Register for Natural Disaster Alerts

Get registered for natural disaster alerts on your cell phone and email on your computer. Many local governments are offering these for free. Facebook has added a feature called ‘Safety Check‘ to help its users notify friends and family that they're safe during or after natural disasters. Facebook safety Check will help the users to let know their families and friends that they are safe, check on others in the affected areas and mark users friends as safe. Even, Google public alert notification warns you about natural disasters.

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Natural Disaster Emergency Plan

The first step on 'how can we prepare ourselves for natural disasters' is to create a disaster preparedness kit. We also need to have a set of basic emergency kits in our car and at work. Our family may not be together when a disaster strikes so it's important to have natural disaster preparedness plan in advance.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends following items in the basic emergency supply kit.

• Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
• Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
• Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• First aid kit
• Whistle to signal for help
• Dust mask to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Manual can opener for food
• Local maps
• Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger

FEMA has even encouraged everyone to give the emergency preparedness gift to their family members and friends for the holiday season. Recently, the World Health Organization’s Southeast Asia Region Office has suggested countries to develop emergency preparedness to be much safer and sustain less damage during an emergency situation caused by natural disasters.

Natural Disaster Insurance

There are national, state and regional volunteer agencies, business and insurance services, as well as government disaster programs, loans and benefit guidance that can assist us through the claims process and recovery.

There is a myth that damage caused by natural disasters is never under home insurance policies. But it's important to know what our insurance policy covers and what doesn't. The natural disaster insurance policy differs according to the countries and the insurance we wish to add.

Earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and other natural hazards cannot be prevented. Is your home insured against these natural disasters? The insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters totalled USD 34 billion in 2014, the preliminary estimation by Swiss Re’s sigma research unit has shown. Earthquake, flood and landslide were among the worst natural disasters to hit the world in 2014.

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These are the basics answers to the questions as 'how can we prepare for natural disasters?' Beside
physical damage, natural disaster could create long term effect.

A research has claimed children born during and after 1997–1998 El Niño were on average shorter than others born before the event in Peru. A research article published in Journal of Disaster Risk Studies has shown the flood disasters leading to children’s poor academic performance in Muzarabani District of Zimbabwe.

Another study by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) published in the journal Science has shown education making people less vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods, landslides, and storms that are expected to intensify with climate change. The research explored the connections between fatality rates in natural disasters, education levels, and other potential factors that could contribute to resilience such as wealth and health.

Are you prepared for the next natural disaster in your area? Natural disasters can strike anywhere, without warning, anytime – Be Prepared.

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