Interviews

In the coming months, this section and others on this website will feature interviews and advice messages from people who have experienced life before, during, and after severe storms and hurricanes. This aspect of our new website and organization will be the crux of the information offered here, and a guiding focus for PLAN!T NOW. A lot has been learned about procedure and the best and most expedient solutions for situations that result after severe storms and hurricanes. The people who experienced them first-hand need a forum. And we've learned that information - knowledge - is the central and essential component needed for communities in need to change and to prepare.

Vulnerable communities in the US, as well as along the coasts of Mexico, South America and throughout the Caribbean - vulnerable to poverty, health problems and poor education, as well as severe storms, hurricanes and other emergencies - are made more vulnerable when information is limited and doesn't include first-hand accounts in their words and from their perspective. This is not to say that information - post severe storm damage - is not plentiful from agencies, both large and small. But the necessity of planning is reinforced when ordinary people relay their concerns and solutions; when those at a grassroots level have the power to help others prepare for their kinds of hardship - when the people have a network. Let the people have the power.

• I was on Autopilot: An Interview with Warren Wilkerson, topics include pets, health, and toxin removal after a hurricane.