Agrilife Extension Disaster Recovery Guide Available in e-Book Format
December 27, 2011 By Paul Schattenberg
paschattenberg@ag.tamu.edu
The Texas AgriLife Extension Service disaster recovery guide on how individuals, families and businesses can recover from a disaster such as a hurricane, fire or flood, is now available free in e-book format.
“Now you can download this guide to your mobile device or tablet before a disaster happens, so you’ll have it available in the event you’re ever affected by one,” said Dr. Andy Vestal, AgriLife Extension director of homeland security and emergency management in College Station.
The “After a Disaster: Information to Help You and Your Family Recover” e-book contains details on various recovery-related topics, including keeping safe, assessing structural damage, debris removal, basic first aid, obtaining assistance, removing odors, controlling mold and insects, salvaging important documents and helping family members cope.
Vestal said the guide was developed by experts from AgriLife Extension and other entities of the Texas A&M University System in conjunction with input from state and national disaster mitigation and recovery organizations.
“This guide is a comprehensive but easy-to-understand publication with lists, worksheets, contacts and other useful material covering a preponderance of those issues and challenges people face in recovering from a disaster,” he said.
Treye Rice, AgriLife Extension web usability and design specialist, said the guide was made available in e-book format in large part due to Internet search data from people affected by the many wildfires experienced throughout the state this year.
“The Texas EDEN website statistic and usage data collected during and after the Bastrop wildfires indicated that a large number of people were searching for disaster recovery information.” Rice said. “They were doing this using a mobile device, such as an Apple iPhone or Google Android Phone.”
Rice said the guide may be downloaded in its entirety using almost any generally available mobile device. He added the new e-book is currently only available in English, but a Spanish-language version will be available soon. A PDF version is already available for download in English and Spanish.
“While the guide has been converted to e-book format to be downloaded and read on iPhone, Android, Kindle and similar devices, the mobile device being used will determine the format and any additional app that may be needed to allow reading it,” he added.
Rice said in addition to downloading the entire guide in the e-book format, users may also download the complete guide or specific sections in PDF format. Download options can be found at http://texashelp.tamu.edu/disaster-recovery-guide-and-ebook.php.
Additional information on disaster preparation, mitigation and recovery may be downloaded free from the Texas Extension Disaster Education Network website, http://texashelp.tamu.edu. Free disaster- and emergency-related publications may also be found online at the Texas AgriLife Bookstore, http://agrilifebookstore.org.
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