Hurricane experts have lowered expectations  for the remainder of this year's season in the Atlantic. Hurricane John , on the other hand, has been upgraded to Category 3 and looms over western Mexico. The upshot is it's hurricane season—some are rougher than others. One year Carolina, another year Baja ...

Are there lessons here? This week has seen a glut  of "Lessons of Katrina" media. The biggest issue is still the slow pace of rebuilding, and anger at government  as a result. But as I've written, there is another movement of people rebuilding their communities through communication as well as hammers and nails. The blogosphere from the Gulf coast  is thriving and doing great things bringing people toward a common goal .

Today I discovered HurricaneMind , whose aim is to collect people's thoughts as hurricanes threaten—and in real time, too. The blog is trying to build a wiki resource and real-time action and news. As people reckon their actions, they go to the blog and see what other people are thinking and how their choices are taking shape. It's instant communication with neighbors in the region. Movement to hardware stores, to evacuation routes and to shelters are spontaneously coordinated as a community of informed, prepared people forms.

It's "buzz." Not buzz about soft drinks or celebrity fashion, either. It's buzz about getting the kids to a safe place, about getting plywood or a hotel room. It's buzz about keeping the community whole, even as a Cat 5 comes howling in.

It could redefine the community and go macro, couldn't it? After a world community begins to emerge, we all band together with professor E.O. Wilson , whose new book  calls for a world community of science believers and non-believers alike to organize preparedness against man-made environmental tragedies . Wilson's call is this side of Utopia—salvation of endangered species means salvation for all life. And salvation is important to most every belief.

Think of it: a new paradigm for life on earth based on disaster preparedness. It's way too simple, isn't it?

Guided By History will take a break over the long Labor Day weekend. We'll be back Tuesday, September 5th.

Posted by Charles at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Found in At Home, Ernesto, Floods, Get Involved, Hurricanes, Katrina, Natural Disasters, Participate, Prepare, Wells Fargo Bank

One year after Katrina  overtook the Gulf coast region and submerged New Orleans, media are rabid to do Anniversary pieces. (Guided By History was first with the story last week. Ahem.) As everyone seeks the high road, the upshot of all this reporting is the courage of the people and their rebuilding efforts , and the singular importance of preparedness .

New Orleans and the other Gulf areas slammed by Katrina a year ago get two anniversary visits this week   as the cameras roll. While the president appears there, Ernesto is expected to arrive in Florida by Wednesday .

Maybe all the attention is our best gift to Katrina survivors. It reminds us to keep an eye out for our neighbors as a major part of our preparedness kit. We simply can't let this happen to each other. It also reminds us that our situation is precarious, wherever we live—on the fault line, in tornado alley, at the base of a volcano. We all could be the next New Orleans with little warning.

Posted by Charles at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Found in At Home, Ernesto, Floods, Hurricanes, Katrina, Prepare, Remember, Wells Fargo Bank

Tropical Storm Debby  is gaining strength out there in the Atlantic. News and weather agencies are watching it, as they tend to do. nola.com  is on it as well, with links to evacuation and preparedness right there with storm tracking. New Orleans is justifiably antsy—no other North American place is a better study in the hows and whys of being ready.

I can't get over New Orleans. After a year of being knocked about by storms from the ocean and from various capitals, the city is doing everything it can to put itself back in place, step by step . It's a real study in the resiliency of people, too. Lots of people from outside the Big Easy are coming in, as we've posted. And a lot of evacuees from last year are staying away for whatever reason—a chance to start fresh , or maybe no other option . New Orleans, nevertheless, rolls on .

The city was so completely savaged by Katrina  and the aftermath . And while it will take time, rebuilding is going on daily: People live in New Orleans and are working to get their home in order. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that the next "Big One"  is a long way off.

And when it comes, we'll all be prepared and ready for it.

Posted by Charles at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Found in At Home, Floods, Hurricanes, Katrina, Prepare, Remember, Wells Fargo Bank

Thunderstorms  are predicted for Hatch, New Mexico , as last week's floods are abating. The community pulled together  in an impressive way, pouncing on cleanup duties.

Our own Wells Fargo people did their part as well. Patrick from Albuquerque reports:

"We had team members out last Saturday cooking hot dogs and handing out water to residents of the devastated community. We are also offering low-interest disaster loans in this and three other communities we serve, Alamogordo, Anthony and Santa Teresa."

Michelle, a business banker in las Cruces, wrote:

"It was such a great feeling helping them out. The people were so grateful, we saw tears and cheers when we came around. Anyone can write a check, but the people that needed the food and water physically got it. When a check is written, who gets the money? Not the ones that need it immediately. The volunteers were so grateful, too."

I know what you're thinking—or even hollering: This is supposed to be a blog by Wells Fargo, but about Preparedness. As usual, you're right. But as I have written before here and here, preparedness is about being a community, one household at a time. And when you've got a bigger household (Wells Fargo has over 100,000 team members) your preparedness has a wider field.

Wells Fargo is committed to being an integral part of the communities where we do business. This is motivated by a couple of key points. First, regular people have jobs with the company in their home areas—it's not so much Wells Fargo helping out as it is local people helping their neighbors while wearing Wells Fargo T-shirts. Second, when you're part of the community, people might trust you with business more than they might trust some heartless monolith. Whatever the difference, Wells Fargo would rather do the decent thing and contribute.

It's not all cynicism, you know. Sometimes people really do help out. Bank of America  has a similar program of involvement, as do Microsoft , Sears , and Liberty Mutual . Whether you believe their sincerity or not, these mega-corps still have the programs in place that connect with communities. While size certainly limits the direct, face-to-face involvement that neighbors have, it also means greater resources committed to the programs.

At root, though, you'll see people out there in the mud after a flood, picking up shards of roofing after a twister, and hammering a floor joist at house building programs. Regular folks on the case, no matter who is buying the hot dogs and pop.

Posted by Charles at 01:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Found in At Work, First-hand Accounts, Floods, Get Involved, Participate, Prepare, Wells Fargo Bank

Is New Orleans becoming a frontier?

Reuters has a story today  about regular folks moving to New Orleans to help the city rebuild. But it's not just Good Samaritans. They are entrepreneurs, people with a sense of adventure, and value hunters. These people are moving there to carve out a little piece of the future for themselves.

"The largest contingent of new Reuters piece continues, "are Latino workers who are ... doing much of the city's renovation work." And if these new residents generally conform to statistics , they are young men with families, ready to work hard and get a piece of the "American Dream."

Ernie the Attorney  writes about this also—bloggers (and other important New Orleanians) are gathering this week for the Rising Tide Conference . The conference is an event for organizing people, to help them connect via the blogosphere and within neighborhoods. The people of New Orleans—native AND new—are putting the city back together in two important ways: structurally (natch) and through the creation of an organic, self-generated voice. The voice will try to take back the story of New Orleans' tragedy and heroism, and have it be the first resource.

Posted by Charles at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Found in First-hand Accounts, Floods, Hurricanes, Katrina, Participate, Wells Fargo Bank

Nationwide Insurance won a federal court case yesterday  that frees the industry from paying certain claims against damage by Hurricane Katrina last year.

The gist of the ruling(PDF) is that the damages were from flooding, and the plaintiffs did not have flood insurance. The plaintiffs argued that their policy covered wind damage, and the flooding resulted from a wind storm—a hurricane. The judge decided a flood's a flood, no matter how it gets to you.

Opinions  will certainly run the gamut . For now, both sides claim victory: Nationwide for saving money and the plaintiffs because the judgment concluded that provisions for denying coverage are ambiguous. Judge Senter , who ruled in the case, is presiding over a huge number of suits brought against insurers by Katrina's victims.

(One of the more interesting pieces of Leonard v. Nationwide is the Leonards' complaint that the insurance agent told them they didn't need flood insurance. Good advice or bad, the guy is on the hook for keeping their premiums down.)

Whatever the outcomes that follow, it is imperative that you get knowledge about insurance in general, as much as getting knowledge about the insurance you need for your situation. Insurance Consumers  has a very helpful website to help you look deeper and ask the right questions. It reminds us that it's not just about cheaper rates.

And governments might actually help you . The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (yes, really) has this contact map  to help you find the people whose job it is to look out for your interests.

Posted by Charles at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Found in At Home, Floods, Hurricanes, Katrina, Wells Fargo Bank

The National Weather Service has a pretty benign set of warnings  today. Watch out for fires in the Northwest and in the Plains, it’s hot in central regions, and there are thunderstorms expected in many areas. All in all, just another day across our continent .

So why prepare?

The obvious is, well, obvious. You can save your own life by having the right implements and the right knowledge. The right tools and supplies  will get you through the days without access to food, water and shelter. First Aid  is critical if trauma happens and access to care is impeded because of disaster conditions. You prepare to get through The Big One.

Keep in mind, though, that preparation lasts longer than the event and its aftermath. Preparedness is an important feature in community response to crisis. When you are prepared, and prepared as a group, your community gets through it better and recovers faster.

New Orleans might never get back on track, or take a long time getting there, but it will be only because of physical changes to the place. Many people have returned after a long year away and those who have not returned are still part of that city. "Voices of Katrina" from the New Orleans Times-Picayune  displays letters of support and affection between neighbors far and wide. The spectrum runs from bittersweetness  to dogged persistence , but it’s all the same thing. A city getting its life back.

Posted by Charles at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Found in At Home, At Work, Earthquakes, Events, Fires, Floods, Hurricanes, Natural Disasters, Prepare, Tornadoes, Tsunamis, Wells Fargo Bank