I have commented before on the tendency in the United States to pay relatively little attention to disasters that don't happen within the United States. I have noted that a catastrophic earthquake in Pakistan or in some "remote" area of the world causes very little emergency preparedness activity in the United States. In contrast, Katrina, caused tens of thousands for families to perk up, pay attention, and get prepared.
Because of its severity and the close ties that the U.S. has with Japan, many in the U.S. have taken note of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami disaster and are getting an emergency preparedness kit for the first time, replenishing expired items, or taking other steps to improve their preparedness. So there are those who are learning lessons from overseas in this latest round of natural destruction.
But we may find that this particular disaster will have an even more direct impact on the United States than most overseas catastrophes even though it is still an ocean away. Because of the important place that Japan holds in the world economy and its very direct role in the United States economy, our own economic recovery may be threatened by the economic aftershocks of this tragedy in Japan itself. Stock markets are already responding to the threats to global supply chains.
Disruptions to supply chains in manufacturing sector such as automotive, electronics, and aviation could begin to be felt very quickly. In a manufacturing environment that has gotten use to JIT (Just In Time) production, reserve stocks are generally very low. We will begin to feel the impact of the Japanese disaster on our factory floors and showrooms very quickly.
Every disaster we witness brings an opportunity for us to learn and prepare. One of the key learnings is that in this global economy, the disaster of our neighbor can become our own disaster in a very real way. This can be true even is that neighbor lives "across town".
Every Life Secure
