Individuals and households are at the core of our Nation’s preparedness. A community’s ability to respond to or recover from a disaster depends on the level of preparedness of every member.

However, a 2009 Citizen Corps national survey found that 29 percent of Americans have not prepared because they think that emergency responders will help them, and that over 60 percent expect to rely on emergency responders in the first 72 hours following a disaster.

The reality is that in a disaster, first responders and emergency workers may not be able to reach everyone right away. In addition, providers may not be able to restore critical services, such as power, immediately.