If you want to disaster proof yourself, consider putting your critical (but non-private) files on a server. Unless you are the trusting type, use this as a backup – or keep a backup on a hard drive that you control. I’ve used www.DropBox.com, but here is a listing of many more options:
www.webdesignbooth.com/file-hosting-websites-for-you-to-upload-and-share-files-with-your-friends
Personal weather stations (PWS) supplement public weather stations, such as those at airports. Given the right equipment, citizens with a PWS can share their weather data with a number of services who will aggregate the data and help collectively provide better weather forecasts for the region.
King County OEM’s Pascal Schuback had a neat 138 character tweet today that took me well over an hour to digest:
Tom Miner, head of the Northwest's sole FEMA Urban Search & Rescue Incident Support Team, riveted an overflow audience with a clear message that after a major regional disaster, federal help is very unlikely to arrive on Vashon for well over 3 days and likely 10 – or more – days. With massive needs, emergency managers must assign their limited resources to the locations where they can do the most good for the most people. The government will clearly strive to save the most lives: to cities, to large buildings and schools where there are large numbers of people – not to rural homes. Having been at most major disasters in recent decades, he was blunt that the government does not have the resources to quickly rescue small localities like Vashon.