What’s Your THIRA?
Find out now — because preparing for avalanches in Houston instead of hurricanes will bury you.
If we don’t know what we’re facing, we won’t know how — and most importantly why — to prepare. Establishing a baseline of our threats and hazards is the first step toward developing a unique disaster profile and preparedness plan.
What Is a THIRA?
The United States has a stunning and diverse landscape. However, the spectacular beauty of Yellowstone in Wyoming sits atop a supervolcano, while the breathtaking Everglades in Florida are an off-ramp on the hurricane superhighway. Each area will have its own unique needs when it comes to preparing for disasters.
One of the tools emergency managers use is called a Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA). It’s a process that helps them determine which natural, technological, and human-caused events may affect their communities. The outcome is a unique list of the threats and hazards most likely to challenge the communities’ capabilities. Emergency managers then develop plans to prepare for, respond to, and recover from those events.
Similarly, we — and by “we” I mean you and me — need to also use these identified threats and hazards unique to our communities to educate and develop our personal disaster profiles and preparedness plans.
