Survival: How Being Prepared Can Keep You and Your Family Safe

by Russel L. Honoré, Ron Martz

PREPAREDNESS TIPS

• Store survival kits in a convenient place known to all family members.

• Keep a smaller version of your supplies kit in the trunk of your car, at work, and at school.

• Keep them in airtight plastic bags, if possible.

• Change your stored water supply every six months so it stays fresh.

• Replace your stored food every six months.

• Ask your physician or pharmacist about storing prescription medications.

• Rethink your kit and family needs at least once a year.

Genres: Survival

249 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Joel Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honore recounts his mission and work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. His observations and advice are fantastic looks into emergency preparations to our cities (local, state, and federal government). It is loaded with great leadership, how to deal with media, how to priorities tasks. The book is all about building a culture of preparedness in our communities and homes. Great primer for someone interested in Emergency Preparedness and/or want the behind the scenes of Hurricane Katrina.

[Winfield Danielson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by saying that I wasn't a fan of Lt. Gen. Russel Honore before I read this book, but now I am.

I think any book that changes your preconceptions, or at least challenges them, is worth reading. As a National Guard officer, I was a little put-off by Honore's high profile in the media during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He was an active duty Army officer and I knew that the majority of the troops responding on the ground were National Guard. Why wasn't the Louisiana National Guard's commander the point man for the media? Call it professional jealousy, I guess.

The book explains the reasons for his high profile, however, and I found Honore's personal story to be highly compelling. This is definitely a man who pulled himself up by his bootstraps.

The overarching theme throughout the book is about maintaining preparedness; individual preparedness and government preparedness. Basically, Honore tells the reader that an ounce of preparedness could have saved tons of cure with regards to Katrina, and could save us next time.

The book provides a behind-the-scenes account of the response to Katrina and straight-forward suggestions about how to respond better next time. Some of Honore's suggestions are politically impractical - he's not a politician - but some of them are feasible and could be implemented relatively easily. I wish there were more men like him in public service.

Honore's perception of the media, government, race, and their impact on Katrina preparation and response is fascinating. He also provides useful advice to individuals on putting together their own emergency kits, but this information is readily available elsewhere.

Technically, the book is written in simple language and is easy to read. I wouldn't say it was eloquent or poetic -- you can tell as you read that Honore is not a professional writer -- rather it was straight forward, conversational and to the point, much like Honore himself. That said, the language was sometimes flat and failed to compel.

In summary, this is a great behind-the-scenes look into the Katrina response through the eyes of high-level military decision maker. In reading it, I gained respect and admiration for Gen. Honore, not as a writer, but as a man. Sometimes you will find the book to be a page-turner; other times you will find it quite easy to put down. Regardless, you will find it an easy read.

[John Weibull · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've ever read. I learned a lot from General Honore, including about his life and how he rose through the ranks through adversity. The book is little light on actual preparedness steps and how to prepare, but if does a great job talking about Hurricane Katrina and some of the steps that went on behind the scenes, particularly from a federal level.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to be a fool this day in age to read a title and then claim you were hoodwinked by the content. So sorry you were mislead by your own unpreparedness.. see what I did there... Go back to first grade where you learned not to judge a book by its cover. Blame the editor and the author in the face of vast information on the internet and the access to previews of books online which is totally unprecedented. I would give this five stars, but I reserve that for the best. Focus on the message and not the cover and if you didn't like the content then you chose poorly and your expectations are painfully fragile.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, the title of this book is misleading. It is 95% about government preparedess, and only about 5% personal preparedness. So I was a bit dissapointed about that. The personal info it does give is good, but probably the same as you'd find in any other book.

What this book really is, is the story of Gen. Russel Honore (one of the leading people- if not THE lead) on the ground durning the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. It is his version of what happened, what went right, what went wrong, and what we can do better.

At first his writing style is a little abrasive, and kind of me, me, me, me. But as you read along, you get to know the author (Honore) better and realize that he's just a matter of fact army guy, and that's just his style of speach. It's meant to be strait forward, not abrasive. And the self centeredness of it is simply a result of it being his story of what he saw

Over all this book is a great read for understanding what happened during Katrina, how disasters affect people, and how the government reacts. This would be a great read for those who may someday need to lead a comunity in the wake of a major disaster. unfortunately the things that Honore suggests are too practial that they aren't politically expedient for most politicians to get onboard with.

In a perfect world, elected leaders would put the needs of the people first, but too often they are worried about who gets the credit or the blame to worry about actually doing what's right.

Overall a good book that will probably never reach it's target audience.

[Nadir · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book is a little misleading - it implies that it's a treatise on how-to with regard to disaster preparedness. In fact, only a single chapter of the book deals with this. The vast majority of the book is a fascinating look into the events leading up to and surrounding the US military's efforts in preparing for and responding to Hurricane Katrina and to a lesser extent, Hurricane Rita which followed it. The basic gist of the message, however, is that the "table top" exercises used to create plans for hurricane response are either too benign in nature, or if not, the lessons learned from them aren't put into practice with sufficient commitment. In lesser hurricanes, the steps taken may be "enough," but for something on the order of Katrina, they were woefully inadequate.

If you live anywhere where significant natural disasters are a possibility, it would behoove you to take steps that would diminish the extent to which you might need to rely on local, state or federal support. The truth is it may not be there when you need it (and that's the message, between the lines, that Gen. Honoré is sending with this book).

[Norbert · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is explaining all the process related to the Katrina hurricane recovery.

So just to start with the title is misleading completely.
First person book where the General explains how he dealt with all the issues that the hurricane created, from saving people to moving those blocked in the city to shelter.
But it is so selfish!!
The only thing I found interesting, probably for a foreign person like me, was all the mess of agencies and responsibilities and ownership issues that he had to deal with and overcome to get some results.


Unlessyou were in New Orleans, no need to read it. I bought it as sale discount when Borders was closing for $3. Guess what I could expect...

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

From the title, front cover, and back cover, you'd think this is a book about disaster prep with advice and tips from an army officer with experience in responding to disasters. You'd be wrong. Instead, it's a rather self-congratulatory memoir about the author's time in New Orleans directing army operations after hurricane Katrina. What prepping advice it offers is directed at government (from federal down to city), not individuals.

[Nico]

If I were Honore's editor: I would have fought to the bloody end to have the word "How" removed from the title of this book.

Also, before you take the people of Korea to task for not always being thrilled at the US military presence, please remember that it was the Allied Forces who split Korea, not the Koreans.

[Ernest · Rating 4 out of 5]

e book review: An excellent memoir of the political challenges of the Katrina rescue effort from the author's perspective.

[Fresno Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

100% not what I was expecting, much more of a CYA Katrina retelling than anything about preparedness

[Ford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite so good as I hope but still interesting. He does not blame anyone but the whole system of disaster preparedness. Also the fact so many people are not prepared for a disaster.

[Joe V Gossman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative

I always say I am prepared for the next big event. Then, Covid 19 started and it was very difficult to keep an unseen enemy away.

[Grace Claracuzzio · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a good read