Natural disasters are inevitable, and in the United States, its vast geography gives rise to a variety of them - from hurricanes and tornadoes to earthquakes, floods and wildfires. The American Red Cross works year-round not only to respond to these crises, but also to help individuals, families and communities prepare and reduce the risks associated with disasters.

A new element of this focus on preparedness is the Red Cross Ready Rating program, launched in September to help schools and businesses in 16 U.S. cities with their emergency planning and preparedness efforts.

The Ready Rating program offers free memberships to businesses and schools, which can use an online checklist to assess their current preparedness. Ready Rating members score themselves annually with the checklist and maintain their membership by developing and implementing an emergency response plan and improving their overall score each year.

Ready Rating also encourages businesses and schools to promote personal preparedness efforts among employees, students and families. A recent Red Cross survey* showed that 51 percent of Americans have experienced at least one emergency situation where they lost utilities for at least three days, had to evacuate, could not return home or communicate with family members or had to provide first aid to others. Although 89 percent of those surveyed believe it is important to be prepared for emergencies, far fewer are actually taking the steps necessary to prepare.

Ready Rating first began as a project of the American Red Cross of Greater St. Louis, where it now has nearly 150 members, including major businesses, schools and organizations of all sizes. Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., was the founding sponsor of the program and the first company to implement it.

The Red Cross is now rolling out Ready Rating to 16 other cities as a result of a $2.1 million grant from Anheuser-Busch. The program is starting in New Orleans, Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Raleigh, N.C., and Chicago. Eight additional cities will be added early next year — Hartford, Portland, Denver, Houston, Columbus, Bismarck, Boston and San Jose.

More information about the program can be found at www.ReadyRating.org.

*This research was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of the American Red Cross between July 24 and August 7, 2009 among 1306 U.S. residents aged 18 or older, including an over-sample of 487 mothers of children under 18 weighted appropriately into the general population sample. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated; a full methodology is available.