A million people in Pakistan have been affected by the floods. You want to help. Go to a website and choose to donate, say, 10 dollars for a) MREs (vegetarian or at least pork-free) for 40 people or b) 5 kits for water sterilization. You can read a report from someone at or near the scene explaining that these are what they need as soon as possible. You can follow the progress of your donated load of goods (a thermometer to show when a container is filled, perhaps) from its origin to its destination. Any delay or pilferage will be immediately noticed. Within a (hopefully) short time, you read an update requesting more of the same or something else that is now necessary. You're likely to donate more since you see that you've actually helped. The people in need actually can use what's been sent. Corruption and theft can be minimized (this is the hardest part, I know). As things progress, there are more reports from neighboring areas or even competing care-givers. They give various immediate assessments of the work in progress. They talk (and argue) with each other on a forum such as this one - online, at a distance, and without guns. They are the thousand lights that can focus a laser on the problem at hand. I know this is idealistic and far-fetched at the moment, but the world is rapidly coming online and it will be possible soon.
So, in thinking about preparedness, who in your area has access to a satellite phone? They would be the communication hub in a real emergency. Should police have access or the authority to seize access in a true emergency?