I was an Eagle scout as a kid, so the whole "Be Prepared" thing always stuck with me.

With that said, I didn't really get into true emergency preparedness until Y2K and then 9/11. 9/11 hit especially hard, as I was living basically right across the Hudson river from NYC at the time. Had a pretty good view of the smoke from the burning rubble of the trade center every time I looked out my window. Made me realize how I was basically living right next to a major target and should probably prepare accordingly.