You've got to hand it to the folks in the North Shore community: They sure know how to take matters into their own hands. And when it comes to emergency preparedness, that's a vital part of survival.

As Advertiser writer Eloise Aguiar reported, the community, now armed with a $100,000 grant from the state, is working on putting together an emergency plan for the remote area. Currently, if an emergency or disaster were to strike, state and county officials would implement a Honolulu-based system.

That was enough to raise some eyebrows for community members, who rightly feared such a plan may not be enough to protect them, given their location. In fact, as Antya Miller, executive director for the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, points out, business owners were pretty much left to their own devices when a 2003 fire threatened the North Shore Market Place.

"We tried to get civil defense and the fire department to come up with an evacuation plan, but we were told each business had to come up with its own," she said.

That's when community leaders, with local churches and Leon Watson at the helm, decided to take action by submitting a grant proposal.

Community leaders were wise to take a pro-active approach, especially given the area's vulnerability. In doing so, they highlighted the area's needs, as well as garnered a cross-section of support — including from the state Civil Defense and the Department of Emergency Management.

According to Miller, there is no other known community-based regional plan such as the one they're working on. Hopefully, that will change.

The need to be prepared isn't unique to the North Shore. The efforts there should inspire other communities to follow suit. As the saying goes: You can't help those who don't help themselves.