Disaster preparedness courtesy of Madoff

“I’m just another example.”

So says Director of Operations for Black Umbrella, Andrew Madoff. Yes, that Madoff, of the jailed Bernard L lineage. According to Andrew's fiance Catherine Hooper (bet she'll be keeping her maiden name), founder of Black Umbrella, Andrew mostly deals with "payroll" (sounds suspicious) around the office for the new disaster preparedness company.

From the NYTimes profile of her company:

For $750, families can hire Ms. Hooper’s new company, Black Umbrella, to help them prepare for whatever kind of disaster might ensue. That basic package includes a sit-down session with a specialist to develop a family communication and reunification plan and four “go cards” — sleek aluminum wallet cards custom engraved with 22 contact numbers in the order in which they should be called. For $1,450, the advanced family-preparedness plan also provides someone to scan critical documents like passports and birth certificates and both store them on an encrypted flash drive and print them out for safekeeping someplace away from the client’s home. Also: one family-disaster practice run overseen by Black Umbrella, and even more go cards.

For the people who are either really worried about a disaster or really wealthy (or both), there is the $1,950 plan, with a specialist on call to “run family practices, refresh emergency supplies or replace any family plans to account for evolving circumstances,” according to the company’s Web site. And starting next year, the company will sell its Go Bag, a $250 backpack that turns into a sleeping bag and was designed by the artist Mary Mattingly.

This thing is so New York City, which is probably while it will work. As the NYT article points out, wealthy city-ites are willing to pay just about any personal service they can get: chefs, personal trainers, you name it. But in my opinion, screw the designer "Go Bag" and go with 1800prepare.com, which sells survival kits ranging from a $6.95 bare-bones version to the $342.95 “Ready to Roll,” which includes waterproof matches, safety goggles and 100 latex gloves. Imagine what you can do with all that latex.