Neighbor News
Get Ready for the Unexpected With a Disaster “Go Bag”
— Don't think you need an emergency kit? Think again, say families who needed one.
A flashlight, a first aid kit, and ready-to-eat meal packs line the coffee table. The Sawyer family is not going camping — they are preparing for disaster by putting together a “go bag.”
Preparing in advance with a disaster-ready kit has helped families nationwide through extreme and abnormal weather events, which experts warn are on the rise.
Carl and Barbara Sawyer, who now reside in San Luis Obispo, know better than most the importance of being prepared for a disaster. They were living in Paradise, California, when a fire destroyed their community in November of 2018. Because they had "go bags" prepared — one in their car and another in their house — they were quickly able to evacuate when the flames suddenly reached their backyard. The Sawyers estimate that they escaped the blaze with only 30 minutes to spare.
Carl highly recommends the advance preparation of “go bags.” "Get them ready,” he said. “Make sure you've got everything on the list, and then double-check it." Barbara knows the false security many have of thinking a disaster could never happen to them. She said, "I thought the same thing; and it did happen." Grateful that they were prepared, she added, "We ask our family and friends: Have you got your 'go bags' ready?”
“Having a personal preparedness plan increases your chances of staying safe,” according to a training program from Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness.
Jolted awake by a neighbor’s urgent knocking, Aaron and Jacqueline Pate were horrified to see the encroaching flames of the fast-moving Woolsey fire that had been miles away when they went to bed. It burned to within 100 feet of their Westlake Village home in 2018 as part of California’s deadliest wildfire season on record.
"Because we had ‘go bags,’ we weren’t running around trying to pack things at the last minute,” Jacqueline Pate said. “We had the time we needed to comfort our kids and get everyone safely into the car.”
The Pates credited the disaster-preparedness help they received as Jehovah’s Witnesses, both through periodic reminders at their congregation meetings and from tips for putting together “go bags” on the organization’s website, jw.org.
