Janice McCann

Janice’s wakeup call came in the early morning hours of March 25, 1993, when the (5.6 magnitude) “Spring Break Quake” struck Portland, Oregon and shook her out of a sound sleep. The sudden event propelled her into action to protect her home, family and friends.

After researching earthquake insurance coverage and emergency preparedness, she collaborated with her business partner, Betsy Shand, to produce a workbook called Shaking the Quake for their business clients. In response to popular demand for a book with broader coverage, the authors wrote their second book, Surviving Natural Disasters in 1994. It was released nationally and sold out in its first printing. As a surge of catastrophic events hit worldwide from 2008 to 2011, the news spread everywhere via the internet and social media communication sites like Twitter, Facebook, Skype and Google. Janice recognized a need to cover these breaking developments in a third book, Surviving Natural Disasters and Manmade Disasters, was released in 2011. Chapters include the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown, Iceland’s volcanic eruptions, the flooding in Queensland, Australia, and the power outages that blackened Brazil and Pakistan. The authors also explore the newest communications technology that contributed to important new advances in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery in their Resource Guide. Broad coverage of current cell phone and mobile device applications and their navigation is featured, from I.C.E. to medical self- help, language translation, disaster warnings and advisories, and evacuation maps to explanations of social media, cloud computing and crowd sourcing.

Janice remains focused on making a difference through community service and her business Natural Disasters Services which consults on preparedness training, workshops, seminars and business continuity planning.