HELP is not coming; you are on your own.

Vickie Katsubayashi looks at a red-tagged home near downtown Napa after the 6.0-magnitude earthquake in August. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

These seem like harsh words that one may expect to hear in a developing country. Contrary to what many may think, this is a first world issue. Lack of self-reliance and resiliency is real. The intent of these statements is not to create fear or even anxiety, but, to inspire action. Inspire a plan. In the United States we are afforded a considerable amount of protection and security from things that could do us harm. Significant natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes are all too real. Events such as hurricanes and tsunamis may provide for some early warning; while others like earthquakes, present little to none. The media does a great job highlighting the events before, during and after. Does it fall on deaf ears? The average person is not prepared. How many people have emergency plans or even a simple kit to deal with natural disasters? Due to incident activity, local fire and police departments may be unable to render assistance for the first 24, 48 or ever 72 hours. People may actually need to be self-sufficient during these initial periods. You could be on your own.

Photo: AP

It takes individual initiative to overcome these disasters. Waiting for someone else to come to your immediate rescue may not be the best strategy. People living in neighborhoods with more social connections and resources are more resilient. They are more likely to say their neighborhood is well prepared to handle a disaster and more confident that their neighborhood would recover quickly after a disaster. This takes the concept of crowd sourcing a different direction. Use crowd sourcing to enhance you and your family’s safety. Leverage community relationships to secure physical and social resources. Social resources include a number of different aspects of social life in a community including:

Social cohesion: how connected people are within their neighborhoods.

Social control: the informal ways that people in the neighborhood maintain public order.

Social exchange: how neighbors help each other out.

General trust: how much a person trusts people overall.

Picture a post disaster block party. Here is a hypothetical example that can easily take place with some minor preparation. We are not talking “doomsday prepper” level here, just some basic, old-school community networking. Have a pre-event conversation with your neighbors. Come to a consensus that you will all work together as a social network and collaboratively pool resources. You need to plan for the worst; no help for several days with no available utilities. Focus on food and shelter. Once shelter has been identified and secured, develop a food and water plan. For buildings that are structurally safe, utilize the water found inside residential water heaters (generally 30 to 80 gallons each). Next, determine who has portable gas generators. Use these generators to power refrigerators and freezers containing perishables that have been sorted by the group. Lastly, combine all the perishables with no refrigeration. Then, have a big neighborhood barbecue with the food that could not be refrigerated. It seems simplistic, I know. A simple plan like this will get you through the days until help arrives. All it takes is some self-responsibility and actually talking to your neighbors.

From a proactive respective, FEMA focuses much of their marketing on preparedness. Are you ready? is a FEMA initiative and educational campaign that provides a step-by-step approach to disaster preparedness by walking the reader through how to get informed about local emergency plans, how to identify hazards that affect their local area and how to develop and maintain an emergency communications plan and disaster supplies kit. Other topics covered include evacuation, emergency public shelters, animals in disaster and information specific to people with access and functional needs. Are You Ready? also provides in-depth information on specific hazards including what to do before, during and after each hazard type. The following hazards are covered: Floods, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Thunderstorms and Lightning, Winter Storms and Extreme Cold, Extreme Heat, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Landslide and Debris Flows (Mudslide), Tsunamis, Fires, Wildfires, Hazardous Materials Incidents, Household Chemical Emergencies, Nuclear Power Plant and Terrorism (including Explosion, Biological, Chemical, Nuclear and Radiological hazards). America’s PrepareAthon , is a grassroots FEMA campaign for action to increase community preparedness and resilience. Join others around the country to practice your preparedness!

Take it upon yourself to get educated and enhance personal safety for your loved ones in the face of a natural disaster.