On Vashon, as fall gives way to winter, it is always a good idea to tend to household preparedness, making sure you are set for the season and its power outages — and potentially more serious situations as well. As the folks at VashonBePrepared say, if you are prepared for a winter storm, you are well on your way to being prepared for almost anything.

We all know that “anything” might be a substantial earthquake, but it is easy to put that out of our minds. However, the recent earthquake in Anchorage followed just days later by a report that Seattle could be without water for months after a quake should be all the impetus we need to focus our attention and action on getting and staying prepared.

Current VashonBePrepared President Vicky de Monterey Richoux offered some advice for those among us who have procrastinated. The most important thing to do, she said, is for each household to have a plan. Families should be able to answer the question: How are we going to get in touch and how will we get back together? Each person should be sure to have a paper copy of important phone numbers — as cell phones, which hold much of that information — might not be working.

Water is essential, and the recommendation is to have a gallon per day for each person for two weeks. Even more important that the quantity of water, de Monterey Richoux said, is a way to purify it: chlorine tablets, bleach or camping filters.

Make sure to have extra warm clothes as part of preparedness kit. Stock up on food. When it is cold, people will need more calories.

For people who are behind in their planning, de Monterey Richoux suggests aiming for three days’ worth of food and water. When shopping, pick up a couple cans of whatever is on sale and some water.

“A few meals, a few gallons of water, and pretty soon you are on your way,” she said.

On Vashon and Maury Islands, we are going to be taking care of one another in a large emergency or disaster, and it is good to be ready for that too.

VashonBePrepared has a program to help that process along called the Neighborhood Emergency Response Organization. So-called NEROs are groups of neighbors, from five to 15 homes, who organize to be ready to help each other after anything from a minor storm to a major earthquake.

NERO group members meet at least once a year, with the intent of getting to know one another better and creating or improving their plans. After a storm or other incident, members of NEROs will check in with each household, survey the neighborhood, and report any problems to Vashon Island Fire & Rescue.

Many islanders, no doubt, have heeded all the warnings and are well prepared for whatever might come this winter — and beyond. But many of us have fallen short, and it is time to catch up.

Let’s start together, making our plans and stocking up on food and water. Soon we will be on our way and we, and the island as a whole, will be better off for it.