my father currently works for a very populated county in the desert southwest region of the US in the disaster preparedness/response "department". among other things,  his job includes planning this kind of stuff, coming up with campaigns like you see on ready.gov, and being part of the infrastructure that makes the call when something is a disaster area or not, etc.  

i emailed him shortly after this thread started, including some ideas and points brought up so far, and mentioned "where should we go with something like this?"

his response:

"Bicycles are a great idea to meet some people’s emergency transportation and recovery needs and you are right – almost never do you see bicycles used in the TV shows. 
Basic  survival needs are water-shelter-food in that order. If you don’t have the top three - being able to travel out to obtain them is critical.   http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=197552
 
 
I am a member of this FEMA group,  a sub-set of Ready.gov on preparedness. People in positions similar to mine or simply citizens who are into  emergency preparedness and survival belong and post ideas/suggestions and thoughts.  Many are lame but also some good ideas.
 
 
It would be a good starting place (and it gets wide distribution) for someone wanting to advocate bikes:     http://community.fema.gov/connect.ti/readynpm/grouphome


On Mon, Nov 5, 2012 at 1:47 PM, Jameel Alsalam <jalsalam@gmail.com> wrote:
Jonathan, 

The idea to add bicycles to preparedness literature is a very interesting idea. I think you're right that in the leadup to a storm it would be helpful for people think about expanding transportation options in the case that some options are disrupted by the storm, including buying a bike or fixing up what they have around. Since I am located in DC, I can probably rustle up a FEMA connection to start talking about this idea.

Jameel

The Bike House - Washington, D.C.


On Sun, Nov 4, 2012 at 8:25 PM, Jonathan Morrison <jonathan.morrison@gmail.com> wrote:
Again, I am really surprised that that FEMA's site, www.Ready.gov doesn't include bicycles in their "kit" recommendations.  I am not sure who to lobby on this front, but it makes complete sense to me.  Imagine if instead of everyone buying generators in a panic, they were buying bicycles too?

Another article:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-02/how-bike-sharing-would-have-helped-new-york-city-after-sandy

Sincerely,

Jonathan Morrison
c: 801-688-0183


On Sun, Nov 4, 2012 at 3:50 PM, <veganboyjosh@gmail.com> wrote:
there is a facebook group i found via friends for folks in NYC who can help or who need help. i was just added this afternoon, but the group is very active calling for food/blankets/hands who are available. i haven't seen a call for bikes, but i posted to see if they had any interest. 
 someone posted earlier today a call for people with bikes and/or cargo bikes who can carry hot meals and other donated goods like blankets, etc. if anyone's interested/able to help, hit me up off the list and i can add you to the group.

josh.

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(510) 717-9637
jalsalam@gmail.com

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