Despite a municipality's best efforts, its citizens may not be adequately prepared for an emergency. For example, some citizens may not have the necessary supplies or be informed of the specific threats a developing disaster poses despite the best attempts of officials to make them aware of the potential risk they face.

In order to assist such individuals, a proactive woman named Erin Hinton – founder of the non-profit organization "The Preparedness Council of Tennessee" – is attempting to show local citizens that any degree of preparedness for the unexpected is better than nothing at all.

According to an article published by The Leaf Chronicle – a news source servicing the Clarksville, Tennessee, area – Hinton first developed an interest in disaster preperation more than 15 years ago, and created the organization to undertake two goals: education and acquiring tools for preparedness.

"Achieving these two goals help make people self-reliant," Hinton told the news source. "By becoming self-reliant, we develop a way of thinking and living that becomes second nature to us."

As such, Hinton councils individuals based on their life stage to show them how they can work with the resources they have to protect themselves and their families from a range of natural and man-made disasters.

Unfortunately though, not all municipalities have the kind of community outreach that Hinton's grassroots organization provides. Therefore, it would greatly behoove municipality officials without such valuable resources to deploy the services of a disaster preparedness consultant.

With experience handling a wide range of emergency conditions, this kind of professional can analyze an existing continuity of operations plan and help draft provisions for superior community education initiatives. Consequently, when organizations like Hinton's are unavailable, citizens can still enjoy the assistance of professionals when acquiring the information and tools to protect themselves from the dangers wrought by disaster conditions.