It was probably the best disaster preparedness effort (Marin County's) ever seen. We're all better prepared for the next earthquake because of it.

I'm not a survivalist; I'm a mom, I'm a researcher, and you know, anybody who's a parent knows you have to have things ready for your kids.

I've been storing up food for a little while, trying to build up my pantry.

The president has such mastery of all of the tools of disaster relief. It's a military effort, Congress appropriates whatever you want, he controls the executive branch, and this is something where Bush can just go ahead and do his thing and all the Democrats can do is sigh.

Today is just the beginning of this effort. It (the disaster) isn't something we should tuck away and hide from our history. It's who we are.

I put more effort into doing it. I know I can do it now. I'm a lot stronger than I was when I got here. I have more energy and the motivation to do it now.