As our nation marks five years since the Hurricane Katrina disaster, it is important that we look to see if our city and our nation are more prepared.

If a similar storm were to hit in the Pacific Northwest or even hit the Gulf Coast again, would we fare any better? Are we prepared?

We do have massive wind and rainstorms in the Northwest. In 2007, the storm that dumped nearly 15 inches of rain along with 70-mph winds in Western Washington has been called a cold weather hurricane. In that storm, we saw dramatic flooding in Centralia and along Highway 12. We saw wind damage and power out along much of our coast. This damage might have been similar in some ways but still paled in comparison on sheer size.

But the name or type of disaster really makes little difference if your family is impacted. Our city has been hit with four storms over the past five years that have reached the level of a presidential disaster declaration. Although these disasters were much smaller in scale than Katrina, preparedness does make a difference.

Mistakes were made by political leaders at all levels in the Katrina disaster. However, the lack of personal and community preparedness are what turned this incident into a disaster.

Nationally, many changes have been made since the Katrina disaster. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) has been put into place with standardized requirements for training, resource management and the use of incident command. In compliance with federal laws, the City of Pacific, along with many other jurisdictions around this country, adopted NIMS and has worked to become compliant with its mandates.

As part of our Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, our city has adopted standards for NIMS compliance that meet and, in some cases, exceed the national standards. Our city takes the policy role seriously. But even with that, we have a long way to go.

September is Disaster Preparedness Month. This is a month to focus on community preparedness and to focus on what individuals can do to be prepared.

Start thinking about it now. As you look back on Hurricane Katrina, imagine yourselves in a similar situation. What would you do for food, water and shelter? Would your family be safe?

Government only can go so far to protect your interest in times of disaster. Ultimately, it is up to each of us as individuals to prepare ourselves and our families. That individual preparedness in itself will make our nation better prepared.

Richard Hildreth can be reached at PacificMayor@aol.com