T-R PHOTO BY SARA JORDAN-HEINTZ Eddy Weiss, a native of Chicago, now residing in Eldora, outlined the history of various disasters in U.S. history and how everyday people can help reduce the devastating effects at an event held Monday evening at the Marshalltown Public Library.

A disaster has the ability to blindside in the blink of an eye.

Eddy Weiss, a native of Chicago, now residing in Eldora, outlined the history of various disasters in U.S. history and how everyday people can help reduce the devastating effects at an event held Monday evening at the Marshalltown Public Library.

Weiss said many disasters, such as tornados and hurricanes, get labeled as “unprecedented” when in reality, similar events have occurred in the past.

“These storms have happened before. Hurricane Harvey had happened before. It happened in the year 1900 in Galveston,” he said. “I wrote my book ‘The Definition of Unprecedented’ so people could draw the connection between what happened during the 2017 hurricane season and what could happen here. We look at Vegas as a massive shooting, but from a response point of view, what would it take for us here to have a major event that would overwhelm law enforcement, fire and EMS?”

He has experience in crisis counseling, emergency management and response work, firefighting, professional storm chasing and national threat assessment advising to hospitals, civic organizations, governmental agencies and cities.

Weiss was on the ground offering emergency response services during hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, dealing with the chaos of flooded roads, communications towers down, looters and emergency responders stretched thinly. He and his son have lingering health problems because of their work in these places.

He said everyone has to take on the responsibility of being prepared in the event of an emergency.

“Disaster events overwhelm a community, and your biggest responsibility right now as the emergency manager of your own life is to make sure you don’t need to be rescued as long as possible,” he said.

Weiss discussed the famed New Madrid earthquake and aftershocks of 1811-1812. Because the New Madrid Seismic Zone spans 150 miles from Cairo, Ill., to Marked Tree, Ark., an earthquake similar to the one of 1811-1812 would severely impact millions of people.

“Eighty-nine percent of all of our fuel lines in the United States run through the New Madrid Zone and supply us,” he said. “What if all of a sudden we had nothing here? Wal-Mart headquarters sits on the fault. Most of the major highways that supply our stores, including our grocery stores, run through that zone … Should we study more of our history to find out what happened last time?”

He said some events have motivated people to keep disaster preparedness kits in their homes, but they must be updated and customized for individual needs.

“A study showed that the year before Katrina hit (in 2005), 14 percent of people had home disaster kits, and then the next year it went up to 26 percent,” he said. “But then it dropped again, to 16 percent.”

Weiss said FEMA needs to learn from the mistakes made in the past in addressing future disasters.

FEMA reported in its 2017 Hurricane Season FEMA After-Action Report: “Hurricane Katrina revealed national shortcomings in preparing for and responding to a major disaster, including inadequate coordination with state and local partners.”

FEMA has since proposed various measures and partnerships to improve response time and how to minimize damages.

Weiss said he encourages people to understand that disasters can have life-long negative impacts, and law enforcement and hospitals are not always able to assist everyone immediately — when seconds count.

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Contact Sara Jordan-Heintz at

641-753-6611 or

sjordan@timesrepublican.com