When a big storm or tornado devastates a community, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) usually steps in to help state and local officials. But in recent years, FEMA has been getting some help of its own from an unexpected source – one you see on almost every highway throughout the Southeast: Waffle House.

During a busy lunch hour at a Waffle House in Norcross, Ga., manager William Palmer grills up a Texas Lover’s BLT for one of his customers on the high counter.

But there were a couple of days last January where this Waffle House was packed to the brim. It was during the ice storm that paralyzed the metro Atlanta area, and Palmer says people took refuge here.

Further proof that being prepared for disaster and post-disaster recovery isn’t something that only Big Gov can do. If you think about it, the best disaster plans and preps are going to be in the private sector….people who *really* have skin in the game.

While large organizations like FEMA, Red Cross, etc, are sort of a one-size-fits-all response, private responses tend to be can be much more focused. My business, for example, only needs to provide for my business’ needs…it doesn’t have to factor in the dozen other businesses in the area. As a result, I can dedicate more and better resources to disaster prep and mitigation than I wold if I were trying to cover everyone on the block.

Businesses have a very real goal in preparedness…being able to continue the business. If a hurricane or blizzard knocks them out of business for too long, they never recover. Once in a while you’ll see articles, similar to this, about businesses that have tenacious plans to ‘survive’ these sorts of events. One of my favorites was this gem about a regional power company during Hurricane Katrina that had its act together in a major way.

I’m a fan of private-sector answers rather than public-sector answers. I find very few necessary (and that is a subjective term) programs/services that cannot, to me, be met more efficiently with private sector solutions. Disaster preparedness is one of those things .gov should be doing, but it should be doing it hand-in-hand with private business and perhaps even taking some lessons from it.

The wife bundled up against the cold to take Nuke for some much-needed ball throwing so he will stop being a Gigantic Furry Cabin-Fever Annoying Dog.