Be prepared for possible terrorist attacks

The 10th anniversary of 9/11 reminds us of the need to be prepared for the unexpected emergency. None of the thousands of people in the World Trade Center that beautiful morning had any idea that they would find themselves scrambling for their lives. Residents of lower Manhattan had no idea that their homes and neighborhoods would become a war zone with toxic dust everywhere. The first responders who went into the towers didn't know what they faced.

Usually when we talk about preparing for disasters, we are referring to hurricanes or tornadoes or fires, but the threat of a terrorist attack is also a very real possibility in this age. Just as our parents and grandparents posted Civil Defense signs, created fallout shelters and prepared for a nuclear attack in the 1950s, today's generation must be prepared for the possibility of a terrorist bombing or military-style attack.

If a terrorist attack shut down electric power, contaminated the water supply, spread deadly disease or released radioactive dust, would you be prepared? These situations might require you to "shelter in place," sealing your home and subsisting on what you have on hand. That is why every family should have an emergency plan and an emergency kit that includes medication, hygiene supplies, important papers, water (one gallon per person per day), and non-perishable food.

The Red Cross is prepared to shelter the survivors of a terrorist attack, just as they did in 2001, when 60 shelters housed 3,554 families and served more than 14 million meals. The Red Cross in partnership with other agencies, formed the Liberty Fund to distribute the $1.1 billion in donations following 9/11. All of that money has been distributed, including $700 million spent in the first year, with just $130,000 remaining. Most of that sum will be spent closing out the remaining active grants.

In a world where a handful of terrorists can bring down tall buildings and blow a hole in the Pentagon, it behooves all of us to prepare for the worst even as we hope for the best and trust military and intelligence agencies to obstruct potential attackers.