Stewart Brand (of Whole Earth Catalog fame) had some http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/004327.html after the California earthquake of 1989. They don't all apply to flooding or wind events but he lists these lessons learned: What Rescuers Learned - Right after an earthquake, nobody?s in charge. You self-start, or nothing happens. - Collect tools! - If you can smell gas, turn it off. - After an earthquake, further building collapse is not the main danger. Fire is. - When you see a fire starting, do ANYTHING to stop it, right now. - In any collapsed building, assume there are people trapped alive. Locate them, let them know everything will be done to get them out. - Searching a building, call out, "Anybody in here? Anybody need help? Shout or bang on something if you can hear me." - Give people who are trapped all the information you've got, and enlist their help. Treat them not as helpless victims but as an exceptionally motivated part of the rescue team. - Join a team or start a team. Divide up the tasks. Encourage leadership to emerge. - Most action in a disaster is imitative. Most effective leadership is by example. - Bystanders make the convenient assumption that everything is being taken care of by the people already helping. That's seldom accurate. - If you want to help, ask! If you want to be helped, ask! - Volunteers are always uncertain whether they're doing the right thing. They need encouragement - from professionals, from other volunteers, from passers-by. He also suggested strongly that first responders should see "civilians" as members of the team and assume a leadership, but not a substitute role. "Everything's ok, the police are here" doesn't work in a widespread true emergency.
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