As published in the North County Suburban Journal .

When it comes to emergency preparedness following last July's severe thunderstorms - and the sweeping power outages that followed them - it's a good-news, bad-news situation for the St. Louis region.

The good news is that according to a recent poll, more St. Louis-area residents than last year say they're prepared for a disaster. The bad news is they represent fewer than half the respondents polled.

Forty-seven percent of the respondents to the poll, conducted for the St. Louis Area Chapter of the American Red Cross, said they're prepared for a disaster. Only 25 percent recognized the need to have an emergency supply kit on hand, and 20 percent or less have food or water on hand. Granted, these numbers are higher than last year, representing increases of 7 to 12 percent. But if this poll is an accurate gauge of our region's preparedness, it's troubling that 75 percent or more of us don't have the basics on hand to be self-sufficient in an emergency. We may be compromising our ability to endure a crisis, as well as the ability of emergency responders to handle life-threatening situations.

The reasons why so few of us are ready for the next crisis to come are unclear. Perhaps we believe storms as destructive as those of last July are unlikely to occur again. But we need only remember that in the St. Louis area, "once-in-a-lifetime" storms are never that. Last year alone, we witnessed two: July's thunderstorms and a December ice storm.

Those of us who live and work in North County should be particularly motivated to avoid a replay of last summer. Here we suffered some of the most widespread and longest-lasting power outages in St. Louis County. Thousands endured as many as nine days without air conditioning in St. Louis' withering summer heat. Residents lacked adequate food supplies and, in some cases, water service. Some lost income when their employers lost power and closed their doors.

Some public entities are heeding the lessons learned last year. A number of North County city governments and police and fire departments are investing in generators for key facilities, stocking nonperishable food and storing cots.

Ameren UE also is stepping up its efforts, following the public pillorying the company took when 650,000 of its customers lost power last July. Ameren announced last week that it plans to spend $1 billion on its "Project Power On" initiative. The effort calls for investing in underground wiring in neighborhoods at high risk of power outages, as well as tree trimming, inspections and pole repairs.

But other parties' efforts to prepare for emergencies don't excuse us as individuals from our own responsibility to prepare. The next "storm of the century" could be just around the corner, and we would do well to be ready for it.