Ike and Gustav Reveal America Is Unready to Protect Children During Disasters

During the onslaught and aftermath of Gustav and Ike, sympathy, donations and support were in supply as Americans came together once again.

One of the best examples was Toys "R" Us, which provided more than 300,000 baby care products for families displaced by Ike and Gustav.

But also in supply was many Americans' sense of security from not living in a "disaster state." That sense is betrayed by one simple fact: ninety percent of us live in places prone to Earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural disasters. And, of course, terrorism can strike anyplace.

While the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA and other state and federal disaster relief agencies are there to protect us, there is one tragic and gaping hole in our disaster relief system: the protection of our kids.

At any given time during the day, 67 million children are in schools or child care facilities. Yet only four states have set basic standards for child-care facilities, and 18 states are still behind in setting minimum emergency preparedness standards for schools.

Simply put, this means that an unanticipated disaster -- and most are -- won't just destroy homes and communities, but they will likely tear families apart and leave children stranded alone in the midst of chaos or a life-threatening situation.

Even when families are united in shelters, the hazards are unconscionable. We saw this in San Antonio where shower and bathroom facilities were located in poorly lit parking lots or far from a family's set of cots, putting children at risk of child predators or other dangers.

Save the Children, the nation's leading organization fighting to help kids in crisis, is working to get every state to adopt basic standards to meet the challenge of disaster. There are some simple first-step regulations that every child care and school facility must adopt:

• Maintain written disaster plans that are coordinated with local emergency responders;
• Conduct evacuation drills in conjunction with local communities;
• Develop reunification plans for children and families;
• Develop written procedures to provide for children with special needs;
• And all K-12 schools should have written emergency procedures that are coordinated with local emergency responders.

Finally, it's not just the kids directly affected by disasters that we need to protect. A child's sense of security may be one of the most fragile things in humanity. And it is easily shattered by the kinds of images we saw on the news last weekend.

It's important we turn off the TV, listen to our children and give them reassurance. There's a complete guide to helping your kids understand these disasters on Save the Children's website.

If the family is our most treasured national resource, then there is no national security imperative more important than implementing a nationwide plan to protect our children during times of disaster.

And we have to act today because disasters don't wait until the day after tomorrow and they won't just strike someplace else.

Comments

[LeonBNJ]

In Ike and Gustav, too many families and their children didn't evacuate what became very hard hit areas. Some could not afford to or couldn't leave jobs until too late as live pay check to pay check. Some had no place to go outside the target areas or feared shelter conditions like described in this article. Some had no cars or had ones in poor condition or too small to take every body and their basic needs. Some were either ignorant or foolish for the need to leave. That put who know how many children facing those storm possibly killed, injured or mentally taumaised.
A poster to another article on Ike suggested some kind of funding for persons and families to get out, have access to health care, safe shelter and enough food to allow them to leave danger areas and have a place to go.

[SailFree]

World ends. Women, children, and minorities hit hardest.

[Halfandhalf]

Here in Southern California most of our schools have solid emergency plans implemented in case of earthquakes or wildfires. Even so, the thought of being separated from my children for days during a disaster, and of them being separated from us, is devastating. My heart goes out to all parents and kids in those states--red and blue--that don't have good plans in place yet. Kudos to Save the Children for taking this on, at a time when there is so much else happening to divert our attention away from a family's basic need to be together and safe.

[Kindheart]

Bush has great difficulty running a country, much less emergencies. He has vetoed a children's health insurance measure, why would he show he cares about children in emergencies. He only cares about protecting the wealthy.

[Bladernr1001]

Kind..,

Let me ask you a question. Do you think I should have to pay the medical bills of someone else's child?

Now think about this. I have children too. I have to pay for their medical care. Let's say at a 35% income tax rate I have the money to do that. But if you raise my taxes to 40% then I might have choose to forgo purchasing medical insurance for my kids. But presumably that extra money is going to pay the medical expenses of someone else's kid. Is tha fair?

The government of this country was not set up to take money from one citizen and bestow it on another. There is actually still nothing in the constitution that grants this power to our government.

Think about this. You think it is ok for the government to take a portion of my earnings by threat of force and hand it out to someone they, the government, deems more in need of it than myself. I do not get any input to how this money is used even though I am the one who earned it. How do they determine that I make "too much" money? How does the government determine who is entitled to my money? How could anyone truely devise a system to make this transfer and have it be truely fair?

I am glad Bush vetoed SCHPP. I was one of the very few good decisions that he made.

[truesteam]

Yes, I believe it is ok.
Providing children with health care (and a solid education, also) benefits us all. The belief in the commons is what keeps us progressing. Investment in all of our children provides our Country the basis for progress.
Even with your attitude, I would gladly provide for your children if you were not able. That is who we are. We are a community. We are Americans.

[SailFree]

Anybody has great difficulty running a country. Especially one as big, diverse, and with as much freedom as the USA. I suppose it might be easier in a dictatorsh­ip...

"Running" the USA is much like herding cats. Each has a mind of its own...

[Sisto]

Where is McCain and Palin! Was Gustav used as an excuse for not having Bush and Cheney speak at the Republican Convention! Fema! Fema is a joke! They ordered a no fly zone over the worst devastated ares so no one would find out how badly damaged it was in southern Texas. Fema just doesn't function and again Bush droped the ball again! It's time to really clean house at Fema and personally sue those people responsible at Fema! McCain and Pakin is no where to be seen in Southern Texas! BUSHED AGAIN!

[JulieSA]

Ike didn't hit South Texas, and FEMA didn't order a no-fly zone as a cover-up. NOAA and USGS have done a complete set of new aerial images, which are available on the web and as a Google Earth download file. People can check out their own house on the web, if they want to, and see if it was flooded or washed away. Calm down, take a look at the facts, and stay from sites that push rumors like the one you are helping to spread.

http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/ike/post-storm-photos/index.php

[nogornc]

So there was no effect on Bolivar? Nice look at the devastation FROM SPACE. The cover-up is about the interior damage, not the coast line. How do you explain Gov Perry's dodges. He would only talk about Galveston, then said it was a local decision, and then said there are no fly overs because that is a federal decision; wow he has a Bush two step on denial down! Does he just not know what is going on or is it horrible? He looks awesome in that hat though...

[Rescisco]

The 2003 decision to place FEMA within the DHS umbrella (it had formerly been an independent agency with its Director having cabinet status) drained it of resources and leadership. The "brain drain" of experienced disaster hands throughout the agency, hastened by budget cuts for establshed and effective preparedness and mitigation programs for natural disaster, the exclusive focus on terrorism, the appointment of incompetent leadership, and the general crippling of FEMA all have combined to weaken our ability to respond to natural disasters. America is more unready across the board! Good luck to us all.