It is so easy to ask this question when addressing emergency preparedness !
The answer is ......... (drum roll) ........... "at the beginning". You have to know what your "vulnerabilities" are, aka., "what could possibly happen in your community?".
The "Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA)" is a tool used to make sense of all the possibilities, and point you in the right direction. A very good template was developed by Kaiser-Permanente, and you can find it in the "More Info and Links" section of this blog.
Don't worry, complete instructions are included ! The actual determinations are very subjective, but there are many resources in your community with which you can begin. Contact your jurisdictional emergency manager, fire department, and law enforcement--and you should already have contacts in these agencies . You can also check with the National Weather Service (there's a link on the blog). Older, life-long citizens in the community, long-standing church members, and news services archives are also good places to look.
Once you know what you may be dealing with, ranked by probability and severity, you will have a justifiable idea of how to spend your precious few resources and time.
David
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