I teach in an international school in Tokyo. At 2:45 p.m. on Mar. 10, 2011 we had an earthquake and evacuation drill. At 2:46 p.m. on Mar. 11, we had the 8.9 earthquake. Because we had just "rehearsed" the same thing the day before, all 470 students and all staff knew exactly what to do and there was no panic. Most of the time we feel "ho hum, not another drill interrupting my class," but yesterday proved to us that they are very important.
We evacuated to the playground where we waited for parents to pick up their students. Many students live on train lines which were not running. Cell phones and land lines were not working, but we discovered we could use the Internet and Skype. Make sure your children know how to contact you in an emergency! Think through what you would do if you were at work and they were at school. Designate a neighbor or friend to take care of your child if you are unable to get there, and let the school know who it is.
Those who could not return home because of the trains, stayed in the houses of those of us who live near enough to walk. I was scrambling to find an extra toothbrush, but otherwise we had no trouble housing people. Simple living aside, it might be a good idea to keep a few extra toothbrushes around.
Kindness was seen in all directions, from the moment we evacuated to the playground: Children comforted each other; High school students prayed together in huddles; The librarian sat on the ground and read a book to a group of kindergartners and first graders; Staff members and visiting parents who just happened to be there sat near enough to the building to get Wi-Fi on their computers and helped children contact parents.
I think the clincher for me was when the parents of a first grader, who stayed at our neighbor's, picked him up. The mother said, "I had two strangers in my home last night, because we nearly got stuck on the subway together. We were just going to get on the train when the earthquake happened. I couldn't help but invite them to sleep at our house."
This is not a thrifty tip, but it is on my heart today - practice for disaster, be prepared, and most of all, practice kindness every day and it will stay with you in a disaster.
Source: my experience during and after the earthquake
By Denise from Tokyo, Japan
Editor's Note: This is a stock photo, not from the recent damage in Japan.
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With the storm bearing down on the Eastern seaboard, I thought I'd share some things I learned while living on the Gulf Coast.
Growing up, even though our family was low income, my mother always made sure she had extra food for storms, power outage, etc. When we would hear the bread and milk rush, when snow was mentioned, she would always say, "Do people wait until their cupboards are bare before going to the grocery store?"
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