Which Hazard Should We Ignore?

I have often told one-person emergency agencies that they will have to decide what they want to work on since you can't do everything. In setting those priorities you will be setting the direction for your program.

The job of setting priorities is not getting any easier. Just the other day I got another infograph. This one highlights the dangers of bioterrorism. Check out Biological Attack Are We Ready? Simple answer is of course, "No!"

Of all the federal programs, if I was to single out one that I believe has been a huge waste of funds ($1 billion), it would be the BioWatch program. Not because they haven't found anything, but because I think the program is flawed. Someone sold the government a bill of goods and we evidently enjoy paying the price.

Which leads me to the title of this blog post. Which hazard should we ignore?

• Earthquakes
• Hurricanes
• Terrorism
• Nuclear attack
• Dirty bomb
• Cyber attacks (ask Target about this one)
• Solar activity (had a briefing on this one today)
• Mudslides (evidently do so at your own peril)
• Flooding
• Winter storms
• HAZMAT
• Volcano (It is a problem in my neighborhood)
• Etc. etc.

It all feels a bit overwhelming. Even with taking an all-hazards approach to planning, training and exercising there are some bases we won't cover for specific aspects of individual hazards; evacuation for a hurricane, but not an earthquake for instance.

It all seems a bit daunting. I believe in doing worst case planning which will help some. But, still it could leave a gaping hole in your response. No easy answers here!

Lastly, in looking at the list of bio hazards on the infograph I think I may have contracted Botulism--I've got the symptoms!