Customer Reviews

Survival: How a Culture of Preparedness Can Save You and Your Family from Disasters

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Through the Amazon Vine program, I received a copy of the book Survival: How a Culture of Preparedness Can Save You and Your Family from Disasters by Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honore and Ron Martz for reviewing. I'll admit that the title had me expecting something far different than what was delivered. As such, I found it only marginally applicable to what the general premise seemed to indicate. Someone going into the book with a proper understanding of what it was actually about might fare better than I did.

Honore was the main person placed in charge of the government response to Hurricane Katrina. Hailing from that area himself, he was immediately seen as "one of us" by the people who were affected by the aftermath of the storm and the cleanup efforts afterwards. In Survival, he presents a first person account of how he came up through the military, the preparation that placed him in the position to lead the storm response, and a blow-by-blow description of what happened behind closed doors as turf wars and personalities warred to get attention and exposure from the crisis. Rather sad that so many in charge had so many ulterior motives beyond the service to those they were sworn to serve and protect. At the end of each chapter, there is a list of "lessons learned" in terms of what came out of the Katrina disaster, as well as things that need to change in order for America to better prepare and handle these events in the future.

Now, had this been titled something like Katrina, or Surviving Katrina, I would have been in a much different mindset when I placed the order. What I expected was a book that talked about how you can prepare your family and yourself for local disasters, and how you can be ready for a disruption in your normal routine. And to be fair, one of the appendixes does cover preparedness kits you should have on hand. But the rest of the book read like an autobiography of Honore, a defense of his decisions, and a storytelling of what it was like to be on the ground after the storm passed. All fine if that's what you were expecting, but far from satisfactory if you were looking to improve your chances of getting through a local crisis.

The best I can do here is give this a three star review, knowing that others might like it better based on their interest in Katrina. Personally, I probably would have been reading something else had I known then what I know now.

Russel Honore (b. 1947) is a recently retired 3-star US Army General who was in command of the Federal military relief operations for Katrina. He is of Creole descent and became something of a popular hero in the press for his straight shooting non-nonsense tough guy attitude. While Brown of FEMA and other state and local leaders lost control on TV pointing fingers, yelling mad and even crying - Honore was always there tough as nails getting things done. In this memoir he recounts what happened and along the way dispels popular myths about who was at fault and why, in particular related to the Superdome debacle. In the end he concludes it's a systemic failure of a culture quick to blame and slow to take up a can-do attitude of being prepared for a disaster. To that end he has found it his "life's mission" to teach and educate on being prepared, this book is just part of a larger lecture tour and other programs he has undertaken to help educate America about preparedness.

`Survival` can be approached in a number of ways: 1) as an autobiography of Honore, 2) as a first-person history of Katrina, 3) a practical and specific "after-action" report on what went wrong and what could be done to improve it in the future and 4) a guide for the average citizen on ways to be more prepared, physically and psychologically.

Honore admits early on he is not a great writer and the book is co-authored by Ron Martz who no doubt technically wrote much of the book. However the voice of Honore is clear and pronounced - Honore is a great speaker and most likely much of it was dictated and cleaned up for the page by Martz. Honore's personality and character come across clearly, he communicates well and gets the ideas across with occasional humor and grace. It reads quickly and I often had trouble putting it down.

Overall, even if your not interested in the "preparedness" angle, it's well worth reading just as an easy accessible first-person account of Katrina. It's not authoritative - that may come later by an archival based professional historian cranking out a 880 page tomb - but it is easy to read and clears up a lot of misunderstandings. And in the end you may even find yourself agreeing with Honore about being prepared. Today as I write this review, the news is full of stories about a Mexican swine-flu, it may be nothing or it may be the next disaster.

I remember watching interviews with Lt. Gen. Honore in the aftermath of Katrina. He came across as someone refreshingly honest and in charge at a time in which there did not seem to be much competence or honesty coming from the federal government. It was with great interest I began reading "Survival."

The entire title of the book, "Survival: How a Culture of Preparedness Can Save You and Your Family From Disasters," may mislead some folks. Most of the talk of preparing from disasters on an individual or family level is contained in the appendices. The bulk of the book is a biography of the author and an examination of the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina. Does that mean this book is not worth reading? Absolutely not.

Honore gives essentially a personal narrative of what happened after the Hurricane struck. He also is very critical of some of the areas of government, and goes on to outline what he believes needs to be done for future events. The appendices are interesting as well. Not only does Honore give detailed lists of what people should have at home and other places in the event of a major disaster, but he also includes lists of things such as nineteen rules for leadership during a disaster, as well as a list on how to deal with media contact. Rule number one on the latter list, appropriately enough, is "Don't Lie. Tell the truth."

All in all "Survival" is a good read. The information is straightforward, although the book does seem to veer into uninteresting details at points. People who, like me, were impressed with Lt. Gen. Honore and want to get his assessment of Katrina in detail will enjoy reading "Survival."

TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT. I've read over a dozen survival books and I've studied disaster preparedness for years. I bought this book expecting to grasp several nuggets of wisdom from the author about being prepared before a disaster strikes (as the title suggest).

Instead, what this book is all about is Hurricane Katrina.This book is NOTHING MORE than his (author) attempt to explain the decisions he made as a leader in the effort to help people during hurricane Katrina. There were no solid suggestions and ideas about preparedness. There were very few examples of how being prepared would have made a difference for the average family during this crisis.

I believe the title is very misleading and this book is clearly only for those who may want to understand why this particular person made the decisions he made in the response to hurricane Katrina. I am very, very disappointed that I bought this book. It was not worth what I paid.
Dan

I'm mixed on how to properly review this book. I read this book expecting to learn how to be better prepared for major natural disasters. However, after reading this book, I feel that the title SURVIVAL is a misnomer. It would have been better if they retitled it "Katrina - What really happened and how could learn from it." But, that aside, the book was an interesting read.

SURVIVAL is a first of all a fascinating first hand look at what happened with Katrina and the aftermath in New Orleans from an army lieutenant general who was one of many working hard to help the victims in the hurricane aftermath. Secondly, it's an autobiography of who Lt. Gen Honore is. Lastly, it contains advice of how we can be better prepared for the next big natural disaster both at home and in government levels.

What I appreciate most about this book is that the author cuts through the political crap and media garbage that has boondoggled the Katrina disaster in New Orleans. You may think you know what happened, but unless you were really there - think again. Lt. Gen Honore makes it point to let the readers know what the situation was, what went wrong, what went right, which rescue efforts worked, and why other kinds of seeming great ideas for rescue wouldn't work at all.

Then he offers advice to what he thinks would work to prepare everyone for the next big one. Some I thought were good ideas, others I thought were not practical - but it sounds good. Lastly, he goes over what families can do to prepare themselves for natural disasters. (Survival kits, etc.)

As I mentioned before, the title "Survival" is a misnomer for this book. Just so future readers are aware before they buy, Survival is first of all about Katrina and the reality of the New Orleans aftermath. Next, it's a sort-of autobiography of Lt. Gen Honore. Then its about how to promote a culture of preparedness for survival in the government and private sectors. Lastly, it's about what you can do to be prepare you and your family for a natural disaster. Once you understand that, you'll likely enjoy this book a whole lot better.

If you are a student of survival you will find this book too basic for your needs. But if you are a neophyte there are some useful points here and there. But keep in mind that this book is very broad on subject matter just not very deep. If you do not know what 72 hr kit is then this is a good place to start. If you do then look to other books.

The cover of this book promises to talk about Survival and how "A culture of Preparedness can save you and your family from disasters." It depicts fire, tornados and what appears to be Katrina Relief.

But when you crack the book, you quickly realize this isn't a survival manual, or instruction book.. But is instead a biography of Mr. Honore and the Katrina disaster.

I was disappointed. I really have no interest in Katrina or biographies and feel a bit mislead. I tried to read it, but I found the writing style dry and uninteresting. I could not finish.

I must qualify this review by saying I enlisted the help of my husband -- I CONFESS! While I am a Naval officer, he is an Army National Guardsman, and he had a lot to say about this book as he was reading it (he stole it from me!).

Here is what he had to say:
"Let me start by saying that I wasn't a fan of Lt. Gen. Russel Honore
before I read this book, but now I am.

I think any book that changes your preconceptions, or at least
challenges them, is worth reading. As a National Guard officer, I was
a little put-off by Honore's high profile in the media during the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He was an active duty Army officer and
I knew that the majority of the troops responding on the ground were
National Guard. Why wasn't the Louisiana National Guard's commander
the point man for the media? Call it professional jealousy, I guess.

The book explains the reasons for his high profile, however, and I
found Honore's personal story to be highly compelling. This is
definitely a man who pulled himself up by his bootstraps.

The overarching theme throughout the book is about maintaining
preparedness; individual preparedness and government preparedness.
Basically, Honore tells the reader that an ounce of preparedness could
have saved tons of cure with regards to Katrina, and could save us
next time.

The book provides a behind-the-scenes account of the response to
Katrina and straight-forward suggestions about how to respond better
next time. Some of Honore's suggestions are politically impractical -
he's not a politician - but some of them are feasible and could be
implemented relatively easily. I wish there were more men like him in
public service.

Honore's perception of the media, government, race, and their impact
on Katrina preparation and response is fascinating. He also provides
useful advice to individuals on putting together their own emergency
kits, but this information is readily available elsewhere.

Technically, the book is written in simple language and is easy to
read. I wouldn't say it was eloquent or poetic -- you can tell as you
read that Honore is not a professional writer -- rather it was
straight forward, conversational and to the point, much like Honore
himself. That said, the language was sometimes flat and failed to
compel.

In summary, this is a great behind-the-scenes look into the Katrina
response through the eyes of high-level military decision maker. In
reading it, I gained respect and admiration for Gen. Honore, not as a
writer, but as a man. Sometimes you will find the book to be a
page-turner; other times you will find it quite easy to put down.
Regardless, you will find it an easy read."

This was a great story about the rescue efforts after Katrina. Unfortunately, I was looking for an in depth family preparedness manual and this isn't it. I enjoyed reading it, but I don't recommend it as a survival tool.

The tragic images of people suffering during the aftermath of the devastating hurricane Katrina still linger in people's minds. Mass media portrayed the government at the local, state, and federal levels as completely unprepared and slow to respond to the needs of the disaster victims. In this book, Lt. Gen. Honoré provided readers with a first-hand account of his assignment as Commander of Joint Task Force-Katrina after the seemingly ineffectiveness of FEMA's initial recovery efforts.

The Lt. Gen. is a hands-on, cut to the chase type of leader who went to New Orleans and got the job done right; no bureaucratic b.s. and ineptitude. This is the USA and not some third world country; citizens shouldn't suffer needlessly. His emphasis is on the failures of the initial recovery efforts and lessons learned so that appropriate steps may be taken to PREPARE for such disasters BEFORE they occur. There are also many autobiographical stories of the principles learned when he was younger and how he applied them to become a successful leader.

The main substance of this book is on handling the overwhelming logistics at the local, state, and federal levels in dealing with the Katrina disaster aid and recovery. The Lt. Gen. provided clear recollections of actual events and interactions with people involved during the recovery. There is an appendix section on how individuals/families can prepare for disasters with photos of items such as batteries, flashlight, American Red Cross Family First Aid and Emergency Preparedness Kit, etc....but that's rather basic and straightforward. What would be even more helpful would be: what people should and shouldn't do when disaster strikes but ultimately it's still the governments' (local, state, federal) responsibilities to warn people, initiate early evacuations, and provide rapid recovery/aid response in the disasters' aftermath. Main lessons learned: Stay informed, be prepared, and have contingency plans of action to deal with unforeseen disasters.