Alaska Governor Unveils Portion of Emergency Preparedness Plan

The program includes setting up large-scale food caches across the state, and working with local churches and schools to set up mass emergency shelters.

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By Kirsten Swann

Story Created: Aug 24, 2011 at 7:18 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Aug 25, 2011 at 9:17 AM AKDT

Around the world, this year has seen everything from tsunamis and floods, to earthquakes and fires.

Today, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said it’s time for Alaska to take a lesson from the rest of the globe and prepare for a natural disaster

"The challenge is, that us as Alaskans, individual Alaskans, we are not prepared,” Parnell said. “Yesterday in Washington D.C, the earthquake itself, with our D.C office there, we learned once again that it's not really a matter of if something's going to happen, it's a matter of when."

But Alaska is no stranger to disasters.

More than 40 years ago, the Good Friday Earthquake split open downtown Anchorage and showed Alaskans exactly what to expect from a major natural catastrophe.

"I was inside and it started shaking. I looked out and there were animals running all over, and it just kept shaking and shaking,” said Janet O’Neill, who lived in Anchorage during the quake. "The earthquake didn't seem to me like it was going to ever quit shaking."

At the Anchorage Pioneer Home, some residents remember exactly what the quake was like and what it did to the city.

"I had to hang on to stand up and I thought, ‘If this doesn't stop pretty soon, I'm going to crawl home,’” said Beth Henderson.

So as Alaska moves toward a disaster response plan of its own, some of its residents remember what it was like without one.

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