Prepare For Disaster, But Use Common Sense.

Lady Lake, Florida - Rescuers stopped searching for bodies on Saturday and survivors dug out from under Florida's deadliest storm system in almost a decade, authorities said, after a tornado reportedly killed 20 people.

US President George W Bush declared a state of emergency in four counties after pre-dawn storms on Friday carved a trail of destruction and death, wrapping metal around trees and launching some victims into neighbouring homes. -News24.com

And in the wake of it all, people across Florida raced to their local Radio Shack, Walmart, Target - to purchase an emergency alert weather radio. One that sounds an alarm in the face of a major weather event. Sales on these radios quadrupled for 2 days while people attempted to "prepare" for this new random act of nature that has happened twice in 3 months - but was previously a non-sequitor for Florida.

However, nobody thought to prepare beyond purchasing another piece of technology. Well, maybe a few people did. What exactly? A contingency plan. A tornado warning only gives you a short window of maybe 15 minutes to wake up from a dead sleep, gather your family and get out quickly. Technology only works with a bit of common sense. Due to the death of the hunter / gatherer, people less frequently look past basic technology for basic survival. They falsely believe that an alert radio will give them security and save them from disaster. Maybe for an oncoming thunder storm, but not a tornado that hits like lightening, and leaves zero room for error or lack of planning.

When preparing for the coming storm, there is no wrong in purchasing equipment that will alert you trouble is on the way. However, buying a weather alert radio without planning on what to do should it go off is like buying a shotgun, but not bothering with the purchase of bullets. It's useless. One may as well have not purchased the radio at all and saved themselves $50.00.

So get your family together, make an escape plan as you would for a house fire. Let them know in an event such as a tornado, you only have a small window to get to safety. Also, make a note of where they say the storm is going so you don't drive right into it. In all of it, be prepared with 100% effort. Don't rely on Radio Shack to rescue you.