OPINION Central Kitsap
Page A4
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signed and include a daytime phone. Send to 3888 NW Randall Way, Suite 100, Silverdale, WA 98383; fax to 308-9363; or e-mail editor@centralkitsapreporter.com; letters may be edited for style, length and content. Friday, January 20, 2012 | Central Kitsap Reporter
Flexible medium IN OUR OPINION
Snow is an interesting temperature-dependent travel medium. By car, truck, Snow Cat, snowmobile, ski or foot, moving across the snow always changes from one trip to the next. Though most in the county were skeptical that snow would come at all to Kitsap, those who did believe, figured it would come down warm and wet. Or, they expected that as Wednesday passed, the snow would warm into a slushy ice mixture. Numerous variables in the atmosphere kept forecasters busy trying to let the public know what to do until the snow began to fall in earnest. Drivers that “braved” Wednesday’s roads in the early morning found dry snow covering most roads several inches deep – hilly or not – and stable below-freezing temperatures that left plenty of friction in the snow to create traction if their vehicle had good all-season tires, or better, and the sense to keep their driving “low and slow.” It’s also a good thing that Mother Nature conspired with the local “media hype” that “overcast” the storm and scared people into staying home because the city, county and state road crews largely left the snow on streets and highways for most of the day. Those not accustomed to Western Washington snow and its water content and those with bald tires and rearwheel drive joined those who had the right equipment, but the wrong attitude, in ditches everywhere – not just in hill zones. Had traffic been heavier, it’s quite likely that collisions would have increased and one or two of our fellow citizens would have made a dire trip to the hospital. We wonder how much money was saved by local governments that left the snow where it fell, told people to stay home and hoped like hell it all melted?
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Are you prepared? Last week to connect with Everything it snowed in your family Bremerton. It members if you Bremerton did again last are separated at Wed nesd ay. the time of the Granted it was a event and phones dusting at best to and Internet are start with, it ended down? with a with several Do you know inches and many where the closroads closed. est community We received a shelter is to your Colleen Smidt mere sneeze of neighborhood? snow compared If you are stuck to other counties on the side of the around Western Washington. road do you have the shoes As I wrote this column on and clothing necessary to walk Monday, the looming threat yourself to safety? Do you have of a major snow event for water and food in your car if Wednesday had me reassessing you cannot leave your vehicle? my household and individual If you answered “no” to most preparations as well as what I of these questions, then you would recommend to others. need to spend some time turnSo many questions popped up. ing those answers into “yes.” If it snowed a considerable When adversity or disaster amount would you be pre- strikes, community emergency pared? resources are stretched very Could the supplies you have thin. As individuals, it is our on hand today support your responsibility to prepare for household for a minimum of our own immediate survival three days with food, water and and safety as much as possible. warmth in the event of a natu- Every community resource we ral disaster or emergency? personally do not need to draw If you could not get to the on directly, we then free up store, gas station or the bank that resource for someone who for a week would you be OK? critically needs it. In the event of a regional disasStart by making sure you have ter do you have a plan on how food and water for everyone in
your household for three days. Make sure you have important identification and household documents secured and copies ready to go. In 1992 the home of some of my in-laws was struck by lightning and burned to the ground while they were away. The best advice from that lesson learned, in a very hard way, was to make a video recording and or take pictures of your furnishings and possessions. Secure a copy of the video and or pictures with someone you trust outside of your home or in a safe deposit box. If your home is destroyed you will then possess a complete visual record of what you have lost. Check with your insurance provider and understand your coverage. Most providers have literature on how to prepare and what to do if disaster strikes. Make use of it. A prepared community is a community that helps itself and ensures its own recovery. Do your individual part to make Bremerton a prepared community.