If any day of the year provides an appropriate reminder about disaster preparedness, it’s probably today.

Two years ago, our ideas about what a disaster can really be were altered forever. The response on that was quick and some lives were saved, but the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 also exposed weaknesses in the nation’s security and crisis-response functions. The country has been working to improve its preparedness ever since.

Of course, those terrorist attacks happened far away from Freeborn County, but this area, like every other in the nation, doesn’t have the luxury of assuming it will be safe.

A disaster drill held Wednesday brought together emergency response crews from area fire departments, law-enforcement agencies and medical facilities for a dry run of a scenario in which an anhydrous ammonia leak poisoned a bus load of children. It was all an act, but participants played out the scenario as if it was really happening.

A disaster can strike at any time &045; another lesson we can remember from the events of two years ago today. Whether that disaster is a terrorist attack, a tornado, an ammonia leak or something else, having emergency crews and a population who are mentally prepared to respond can mean the difference between life and death.

Freeborn County has held disaster drills in the past, but none in recent memory on the scale of Wednesday’s exercise. With more of a focus on being ready for the unexpected in today’s America, the timing was right for a larger drill.

Credit should go to the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office and all the other agencies and volunteers who spent hours preparing for and carrying out the exercise.