Amid the chaos that follows a natural disaster, a natural tendency is to seek assurance that loved ones are unharmed.
But how many families - or communities, for that matter - formulate and practice a disaster plan? Family members may agree to meet at a certain spot, but how many physically rehearse the scenario?
A mock disaster drill to test the community's ability to reunite families and loved ones was held Tuesday during the third annual Children and Youth in Disaster Summit.
The summit was coordinated by representatives of the State Emergency Management Agency and Missouri's departments of Mental Health, Social Services, and Health and Senior Services.
The exercise included about 180 people, both parents and students, attempting to reunite after being separated during a mock tornado.
The drill helped officials assess coordination, communication among agency, responding to anxious parents and other issues.
"With this exercise," said Deb Hendricks, SEMA's statewide volunteer coordinator, "we made the assumption that people would likely start at the last place their loved one was. But it made sense to me and to our group that we have a broadcast location where people can start the reunification process."
Jay Jastal, school resource officer from the Monett Police Department, said: "Sometimes policies are made without taking other agencies into consideration. An exercise like this helps us to communicate, be more cohesive and get on the same sheet of music as our community stakeholders."
Bary Kramer, an American Red Cross volunteer, added: "This exercise helps so that if you are working at a site like this, you know how to respond to people when they come in looking for their loved ones."
A wrinkle that became apparent centered on child custody issues, including privacy, access to records and releasing a child to legally authorized parent or guardian.
Organizers learned from the drill, but continue to emphasize the need for families to create and practice a disaster plan.
"Know where you're supposed to go," Hendricks said,"make sure your loved ones know who their supposed to call. The more we can do ahead of time the better off we are."
Preparation is a practical antidote to chaos.