In Case of Attack, Look to Yourself, Not Uncle Sam

Now we know. We are on our own. It's every man for himself.

Hurricane Katrina has shown us that the country is no more prepared for a terrorist attack today than it was on Sept. 11, 2001. The question is what to do with that information.

How do we protect ourselves and our families, knowing that the government is probably not going to protect us? A Sept. 11 front-page story said that Washington "lacks a comprehensive way to tell people what to do in a state of emergency, especially a terrorist attack with no warning" -- this at a time when a terrorist attack is considered imminent.

"The next attack is more likely to be catastrophic," says Stephen Flynn, a terrorism expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. The terrorists will have spent the years since Sept. 11 rebuilding their attack structure, he says, and he lists dirty bombs and assaults on chemical facilities near large population centers and on the food supply, as the next likely forms of terrorism. Hurricane Katrina has "created an incentive" for a terrorist attack, Flynn believes, and "the Department of Homeland Security is not ready for prime time." Anyone who is not prepared for an attack, he continues, diminishes the capability to help people who really are in need and becomes part of the problem.

So what is Flynn doing?

"I've got my bottled water, a generator, canned goods, a radio and flashlight and two numbers to call."

More than two years ago I wrote a piece telling people to be prepared ["We Can Do Better Than Duct Tape," op-ed, Feb. 13, 2003]. Preparedness now is more important than ever. We have seen in New Orleans what happens when people are not prepared.

Here's what you need:

Water and food for at least a week. A radio and a flashlight with batteries. Contact numbers for the family, emergency routes and a full tank of gas (if you can afford it). First-aid kit, backpacks with medicine, the antibiotics Cipro and doxycycline (don't tell us to wait and get a prescription from the doctor after the anthrax attack. The doctor won't be in, and the drugstores will be closed). And yes, plastic sheeting and duct tape. An N95 mask, which sells for a few dollars at most drugstores, could save your life.

Here's why you need to do all this: We cannot count on the government to help us, and when it can, it will have limited resources. A segment of the population will always be incapable of preparing. Every person who prepares means one less person to rely on government resources, so it is irresponsible and unpatriotic not to prepare if you can.

More than that, it is stupid. Not being prepared puts your life and the lives of your family at risk. At the same time, if large numbers of people are unprepared, those who have prepared could have their resources taken from them, possibly at gunpoint. Therefore, the less prepared the population is, the more dangerous the situation will become as people grow desperate.

As citizens, we can and must do something else too: Complain.