CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — If there were an emergency right now, would you be ready? Were you prepared for last year's February freeze when the lights went out and we had no water? Many of us weren't.
Bob Fancher of Corpus Christi may have been born in Oklahoma, but he has lived here for 50 years now. He considers himself a true Texan.
“I’ve grown accustomed to it,” Fancher told us when we asked him if he has gotten used to the climate.
But as with many of us, Bob certainly didn't expect the February freeze. It was the storm that left us in the dark, without water, not much food, and 246 Texans dead.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports nearly half of us don't have the emergency supplies we need before the next disaster hits.
When we asked Bob about an emergency kit in his SUV, he told us, “I'm sorry to say I do not. We just don't expect those kinds of things to happen I guess.”
When it comes to a first-aid kit, Bob has one at his house “for accidents around the house.” But after last year's deadly storm, experts ask, why aren’t people even more prepared than ever?
“Especially after last year,” Brad Greer, the CEO of DrySee, told us. “You'd think we would have learned, Paul, we have not.”
When asked why he thought people didn’t have them, Greer told us, “Well, Well, typically people are overconfident.” Adding, “they think they can handle the rain. They think they can handle the ice on the road. Even here in Texas, we think we can handle the ice on the road and most of us cannot.”
So you might be asking yourself, how much are you going to shell out for all this? We went to a local store and found a first-aid kit for about $10 and a kit for the car for about $25. If you’re looking to spend less, then you might be able to find a better deal on the internet or another store.
“Disaster can strike at any time and we need to be prepared and have those emergency kits, first-aid kits, not only in our homes, but in our cars,” Greeer said.
So we asked Bob if he thought he was overconfident and what he thought of people who think he might be?
“I think maybe they haven't been tested. Maybe you're prepared for the wrong thing, right? Does that happen? It does, to all of us,” he replied.
There are plenty of tips and reminders to make sure your family emergency kits are always ready to go. For more information, here’s a link to the CDC’s website with more of what you need to know: https://www.cdc.gov/childrenindisasters/checklists/kids-and-families.html
