Some crazy things have been going on here in our fair country! I hope that everyone had a safe and exciting Independence Day holiday yesterday!

Fires

Photo of the fire burning in Alpine right now

I live in Utah, and it feels like the entire state is up in flames. Other western states are in big trouble as well, namely Colorado! I have a dear friend who is a firefighter here in Utah, and she hasn’t had a day off of work in over a month. We are lucky that a fire hasn’t come anywhere near our house, but many others haven’t been so lucky. 

Over 20 of the Utah fires have been caused by target shooting. You would think that perhaps that number would deter people from going out shooting, but the fires keep starting, so I’m not sure why some residents feel that their shooting pleasure is more important than the safety of our state. Luckily, the state is working on some type of target shooting ban to last for the duration of the fire season.

Despite the reasons for the flames, it’s important to be aware that during this dry season, a wildfire could start anywhere. Now, more than ever, it is important to make sure that you are prepared to evacuate your home at any time. Thousands of people have been evacuated, and many of them had an extremely short time frame from the time they heard about the evacuation, to the time that they had to be out. Some people haven’t even been at home when the evacuation occurred, so they didn’t have a chance to get anything from their house.

Derechos

Another disaster has hit the mid-eastern part of the US. Now this is something that I have never heard of, but it’s called a “derecho.” (click here to learn more about derechos!) Basically it is a really strong gust of wind, that moves in a straight line, but does damage similar to a tornado! Well, one hit last week and swept from Indiana to Washington DC in a matter of hours. At least 13 people died in this storm, and millions were left without power. (Some still don’t have power, and it hit last Friday!)

Prepare Now

This is a classic example of how a little preparedness can go a long way. With millions of homes sitting without air conditioning, and millions of unprepared families struggling, think of what a small supply of food storage would have been able to do for them. If you have been affected in this horrible storm, check out this website, which gives tips for surviving the heat, and also a cool info graphic that lets you know which food items you should be throwing out if your power has been out for very long.

If you haven’t yet registered your cell phone number with the reverse 911 look-up, I would strongly recommend that you do it. Otherwise, they only call people with land lines, and if you aren’t home when it happens, you are out of luck.

It saddens me greatly to hear of all of the destruction going on in the U.S. It also inspires me even more to be passionate about preparedness, because you just never know what is going to happen! This is a cool map that tells you which disasters are more likely to happen in your region. Check it out, and make sure that you are ready for the various crisis situations that could occur at any time! Create Emergency Action Plans for any of the different emergencies you may encounter! Are you ready to handle any of the events that may strike in your area?