Simi Valley resident and 9/11 survivor Dan White learned that preparation is paramount for surviving during and after a disaster, and the keys for preparation are education and the availability of resources.

People should be enabled to help themselves, said White, who supports Scouting and all forms of educational activities that give the next generation the tools to better prevent and react to largescale disasters.

It’s essential to have a better tsunami warning system, stronger communication systems and strong local governments that can meet the needs of their citizens, “but these things won’t be available to everyone globally without a healthy middle class and the elimination of poverty,” he said.

A safer world can exist only when the global population becomes more educated and better prepared to design and pay for the necessary infrastructure.

Tomorrow’s solution for natural disasters will not be American helicopters and aircraft carriers bringing aid to the poor, but a healthier and more capable population that has the ability to protect itself before disaster strikes. “That capability will only come to us by educating our youth,” White said.

As president of the Simi Valley Education Foundation, White hopes to make a difference in his corner of the world. He intends to use his personal business experiences and skills to develop the organization, which supports educational endeavors in Simi.

But when calamities do occur, White believes the military should lead the response within the first hour of the disaster, whether it is natural one or manmade.

A family man who writes software for financial trading, White was on the 84th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center when the first plane hit the North Tower during the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York. As he and others watched the events unfold, they decided to exit the building using the stairs. White was on 34th floor when the second plane hit the South Tower.

“I can empathize with certain things that are going on in the Gulf Coast,” he said, recalling the confusion that followed the terrorist attacks.

People are given conflicting information about where to go for relief and supplies, and there’s confusion among the various levels of government, he said.

Although local officials are equipped to deal with day-to-day occurrences, the military is better suited to deal with large-scale disasters, White reiterated.

“There’s nothing more comforting in the street, during a disaster, than to see the military when an event is that serious,” he said. They have the logistical training and means to respond whereas a politician doesn’t, he said.

But the need for military response in a disaster doesn’t replace personal responsibility for readiness.

White acknowledged that preparedness can sometimes be extreme and approach paranoia, which isn’t the answer, he said. Following the 9/11 attacks, White said, he was hypervigilant about terrorist threats and he kept prescriptions at home to be ready for the next bio-terror attack.

As time went by, his perspective broadened and he began to feel safer, especially because he lives in this part of the country.

“I’m more concerned about an earthquake at this point,” he said.