Not everyone thinks about emergency food preparedness but perhaps they should Communities should have a plan in place for disasters and unexpected events but individuals should too There are many reasons why people should have a plan in place

Some weather related disasters can be predicted to a certain extent Meteorologists can tell people where hurricanes are likely to hit and about how bad they are expected to be They cannot predict the actual outcome or how severely the storm will impact peoples lives Hurricanes have been shown to cut off people from food supplies for days if not weeks

Fires have been shown to burn thousands of acres at a time in the Southwest and other areas Hot dry winds push them further out and make them hard to extinguish Thousands of people can loose their homes at times like these Other fire related disasters have including rupturing gas pipelines that have burned up entire neighborhoods

Earthquakes and terrorist attacks have been shown to disrupt the lives of many people suddenly and unexpectedly Floods and tornadoes damage peoples homes and make them unlivable Sometimes entire communities are wiped off the map a
nd there is no place for survivors to go for meals or anything else

All of these types of events force people from their homes They usually end up in a central place like a stadium school gymnasium or other gathering place Because so many of these events are unpredictable and happen quickly people have no way to take food with them from home Depending on the scope of the disaster people may be stuck in one place for days or weeks

Communities need to be prepared for this type of event While the Red Cross or FEMA may be able to come to their aid sometimes this does not happen immediately There have also been events that have been so large in scope that aid is spread very thinly

There are vendors who can prepare food for large groups of people on short notice These companies can prepare boxed lunches that are freshly prepared and transport them to the areas that are needed Communities who want to be ready for unexpected events may want to learn about these types of services in order to make a disaster plan By learning what services these companies can provide and having a plan to use them community members can receive needed food at critical times Communities need to have emergency food preparedness plans in place before the disaster comes