Did you know your neighbors at your precinct caucus?

Last night, in spite of the cold and my cold, I dragged myself out to the precinct caucus to help Colorado make history. For our very first Super Tuesday, there was quite a turn-out. There were thousands of people trying to get into a middle school and adjacent high school for I don't know how many precincts.

It occurred to me that I had never seen so many of my "neighbors" in one place. It was relatively orderly, but pretty confusing.

Two things came to mind. First, evacuations and shelters - what if we all had to go to those schools for shelter? How would we have coped with temporary communal living? Would I have been able to grab anything from our "go-kit" on the way out? My emergency supplies container is huge - and that's even without food and water. I resolved to make backpacks for each of us with our bare essentials for an evacuation on foot.

Second, my neighbors - there were three people there from my block that I knew by name and possibly a few more by sight. I wish that I had thought about this before the caucus, but wouldn't it have been nice to start a neighborhood registry? I think I will call my city council representative about having a neighborhood event to help people get to know each other.

Finally, I skimmed through a few blogs this morning and saw that our friends at READYColorado posted a piece about planning for our pets. When I thought about sheltering, I forgot about this - even though we have two dogs.

Check out that information about how to prepare for your pets during an emergency. It's great information. http://breadyblog.com/

Someone you love needs this

Just read a good publication for people who have a disability that would make evacuation difficult. Read pp. 4-6 about 9/11, and you will see how important it could be to make plans for and practice rapid evacuation.

http://www.cdihp.org/evacuation/emergency_evacuation.pdf

It was a good consciousness-raising experience for me, a non-disabled person (or, as some might say, temporarily able-bodied, or TAB).

The document encourages people to take responsibility for their own special needs, to the extent possible, yet also makes it clear that everyone needs to pitch in. And isn't that exactly what everyone has been saying about emergencies in general? No one agency, person, family, or jurisdiction can implement an effective response in a vacuum. Just as we hope that our federal, state, and local officials will work together, individuals will have to, also.

If you know someone who has a communication or mobility impairment in particular, show him or her that you care, and share this information today.