Angela D'Amico was about 10 years old the first time disaster struck.
Her family lived in Syracuse during the 1998 derecho, when a supercell thunderstorm and winds over 100 miles per hour ripped through the region. Their neighborhood was without power for five days. A few years later, D'Amico's family lost their home to a house fire.
"It made me realize disasters happen all the time, and it might not be the end of the world for everybody ― but it could be for your household," the Fairport woman said.
Now, D'Amico and other area residents are on a mission to challenge negative stereotypes around emergency preparedness ― or prepping ― and convince their neighbors to join them.
They argue emergency preparedness has moved beyond stereotypes of people
hoarding supplies in bunkers while waiting for the apocalypse. For them, it is more about building community.
In today's climate ― both in terms of extreme politics and extreme weather ― there is a need for families to understand how to keep their loved ones safe and work with their neighbors to survive the unknown.
D'Amico says you don't have to look past this summer for examples: Eight tornadoes swirled across New York this month, including in Webster. Thousands in Gary, Indiana, suffered a two-week blackout after storms destroyed a power grid last month. And coordinated cyber attacks on municipal water systems in July exposed the vulnerabilities of some U.S. infrastructure.
"I feel like it should be seen as a form of insurance," D'Amico said of emergency preparedness.
Build Community, Not Bunkers workshop coming up
Her nonprofit, Ready Rochester, will host a free workshop on the topic Sept. 16. It uses the national curriculum Bunker Not Required ― a thought exercise on the resilience of strong communities.
The workshop will split participants into small groups and ask them to run through different emergency scenarios: What would you do if you were without water for three days? Three weeks? Three months?
"We're fostering the idea that we can depend on the people around us," said Mirabai Marquardt, who will lead the program. "We should depend on the folks around us. We should know the folks around us. It might take first responders a couple days to come and help you. Instead of people panicking, if we can give them a sense of security ... to me it just makes common sense."
D'Amico has seen the value of the training play out in her neighborhood, in real time.
Yes, she has the FEMA-recommended stash of water, a ham radio and "go" bags. But by stopping to chat, she has learned her neighbors include a nurse, a firefighter and a former cop ― critically useful information for a handful of emergencies.
She and one neighbor later compared their pile of emergency supplies: One has a gas generator, the other a solar array with a battery backup. If one system fails, they realized, they can rely on the other without duplicating supplies. Another neighbor passed out flyers about the workshop during her daily walks; now, four more houses on their street are signed up.
Her nonprofit, in fact, was born out of discussions among participants of the Rochester Fire Department's 9-week CERT program, which uses a FEMA curriculum to teach the public basic disaster response skills. The group wanted to find a way to share what they learned with others who couldn't commit to a long course.
"There's a need in the community to come at it from a more pragmatic perspective," D'Amico said. "I'm a boring suburban mom. I don't have an ulterior motive. It's not political. I just want to keep people safe."
The workshop will be held Wednesday, Sept. 16 from 6 to 9 p.m. at 285 Clarissa St. in Rochester. You can register here.
— Kayla Canne covers community safety for the Democrat and Chronicle with a focus on immigration, police accountability, government surveillance and how people are impacted by violence. Follow her on Instagram @bykaylacanne. Get in touch at kcanne@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Forget a bunker. These residents are redefining what 'prepping' means
