It's been quite a while since Guam suffered any major disasters. In my time here, which just past ten years, we haven't experienced anything more than a tropical storm. This morning I was flipping through some websites and came across the Joint Information Center's "preparedness fact sheet," which is one of many you can find on the internet. This one in particular was focused on providing information sources during disasters, which is an important piece of the being ready puzzle.

Netflix junkie that I am, I've watched a number of documentaries on hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami that wiped out part of Japan (you can actually tour some of the damaged cities on Google Earth streetview now), and typhoon Hiyan which just shook the Philippines to it's knees, as well as a few of the other disasters that the world has suffered the last decade. There seems to be a common story line, that always starts with a dreadfully slow response by the government. It took Washington DC a days to become concerned about the victims of hurricane Katrina, in fact I believe our President at the time continued on with his vacation. And Louisiana is only a few hours from Washington. We're closer to 16 hours flight time.

It made me wonder how long it would take us to get a government response to any disasters here. True, the military has a lot of resources. But, if you're off base, the one thing you can count on that the military will be taking care of the situation inside the gate first. And I'll go out on a limb and say the Government of Guam has very few necessities lined up for displaced disaster victims.

I was still employed with "the Government" in 2011 when the tsunami hit Japan, which is only a few hours flight from here. Tumon, the tourist district on the west side of the island, was evacuated as a precaution, and many people living at sea level on the coastline headed for higher ground. My personal observations of the activities after the announcement of the potential danger are few. Traffic was not jammed, it was STOPPED completely for hours, and there was no way to make a phone calls. In fact, the agency I worked for resorted to communicating via SMS. Since most of the senior leaders were home for the night, most had to make due with personnel they had on hand. Luckily, the water level only rose a couple inches here and there was no danger at all.

So, that's about it. So where are the tips? They're all over the internet, put there by people much more qualified than me to help you put together a disaster kit.Personally, I keep it simple. Fill the cars with gas, get as much cash as practicable (if there's no power ATMs and gas pumps don't work), and fill up the bath tubs with water for flushing, and I always keep an extra propane tank for cooking on the grill. Batten down the hatches and ride it out.

The "good" thing about typhoons, if there can be such a thing, is that you can see them coming. They don't just show up.