10 Ways To Be Prepared
October 26, 2011
While living your day-to-day life, in the event of an emergency or disaster, you should be prepared to stop… and adapt…
1. Identify Your Risk
What are the hazards where you live and work? Find out what natural or human caused disasters pose a risk for you. Do you live or work in a flood plain, near a major earthquake fault or in a high fire danger area? Are you prepared for an unexpected human-made disaster that can strike at any time? Does your neighborhood or community have a disaster plan?
2. Create A Family Disaster Plan
Know where to meet if you have to evacuate. Designate a meeting place outside your home where family members can go. Know who you’ve identified as the out-of-state friend to be your “family contact” for everyone to check-in with. Keep a touch-tone phone (and phone cord) that does not require plugging into an electric outlet (after a disaster, cell phones and wireless phones may not be working). Take care of your family pets too. Store food and water for them in your disaster supply kit.
3. Practice Your Disaster Plan
Start by having family members meet at a designated spot outside your home – like you would after a fire or after the shaking stops. Know how to respond in the event of any disaster — whether to stay put indoors, or whether to evacuate your neighborhood by car. If your family needs to evacuate, know the proper evacuation procedures and routes.
4. Build A Disaster Survival Kit For Home And Car
If you are stranded in your car or have to be self sufficient at home until help arrives, you need to have a disaster kit with you. Your home disaster supply kit should have at least the following items and be kept in containers that can be easily carried or moved such as backpacks, plastic totes or wheeled trash cans.
Carry a smaller kit in your car:
• Have at least a 3-day supply of non-perishable and canned food, and water for all family members. Replace water every six months. Don’t forget to restock food items.
• First Aid Kit.
• Battery-powered flashlight and portable radio with extra batteries. Replace batteries on a regular basis.
• Change of clothing and footwear, and one blanket or sleeping bag for each family member.
• Extra set of car keys, and a credit card and cash.
• Extra medications.
• Sanitation supplies (such as soap, cleaning supplies, shampoo, toilet tissue, etc.)
• An extra set of prescription glasses.
• Keep important family documents in a waterproof container.
5. Prepare Your Children
Talk to your kids about what the risks are and what your family will do if disaster strikes. Practice your family disaster plan every six months. Empower your children to help write the family plan, build the disaster supply, and lead the drills. The more informed and involved children are in disaster planning, the more prepared they will be.
6. Don’t Forget Those With Special Needs
Infants, seniors and those with special needs must not be forgotten. Make sure that supplies for your infant are in your kit and that you have items such as medications, or other medical supplies that seniors or persons with disabilities may need.
7. Learn CPR And First Aid
Contact your local chapter of the American Red Cross today and get trained on basic first aid and CPR.
8. Eliminate Hazards In Your Home And Workplace
You must secure the contents of your home or office to reduce hazards, especially during shaking from an earth-quake. Strap down large objects, secure cabinet doors, anchor tall furniture, and secure overhead objects such as ceiling fans and pictures. If you live in a high fire danger area, also take the necessary steps to protect your home against wildfires. Find out how you can make your home fire safe.
9. Stay Aware, And Understand The Risks
Stay abreast of the dangers and risks as they pertain to current events and the goings on in your local (and wider) area. Don’t be caught off-guard.
10. Get Involved, Volunteer, Bear Responsibility
Donate blood, join a local Community Emergency Response Team. Educate your neighbor(s). Volunteer. Perhaps join your local American Red Cross. Get involved and bear responsibility.
(Some information sourced from the California Emergency Management Agency)
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The Four Stages of Disaster
September 25, 2011
preparation
One of the biggest challenges for disaster preparedness (survival preparedness) includes the general public acknowledging that there is the possibility of disaster, and then actually forming contingency plans and preparations for a disaster. You yourself may be tuned in to ‘risk awareness’, but how many of your neighbors are?
The more who are prepared in a disaster, the less the danger during the aftermath. Rather than focusing solely on one’s own personal preparation, converting others to the notion of risk awareness and preparedness ‘insurance’ (prepping) is the bigger goal, leading to a higher percentage of survival (even yours).
Preparations vary widely in scope and resources, but at a minimum should be based upon the risks of the local region. In all cases though, the basic and essential principles should be the foundation of your preparedness (food, water, shelter, security).
warning
Disaster sometimes comes with plenty of warning, provided the public has been listening. Other times however disaster will come in an instant, with no warning at all.
When it comes to weather related disasters for example, there is usually lots of warning. In fact, one could argue that there is so much warning and hype over weather related disasters that the public has largely become numb to it all. This is an unfortunate result of the main-stream-media outlets need to make more money – more hype – more ratings.
Really, the best method of warning is the intuition of the individual who instinctively has a suspicion that something isn’t quite right. This requires the discipline of being informed enough to ‘know’ when something is out kilter.
Increasing the odds to surviving a disaster includes recognizing the warning signs as early as possible, or recognizing the risks as early as possible, so as to have a head start in front of the unprepared mass. Don’t wait for the siren to wail before you take action…
impact
This is the stage at which the contingency plans take effect. Emergency services and rescue teams will work to help who they can, but the ultimate disaster response insurance is your own preparation and the actions you have taken prior to impact.
The sad truth is that the vast majority of the public assume and depend upon the government or others to save them, which may lead to a jolt-to-reality when the rescue team isn’t at their door immediately after a large scale disaster.
During disaster impact, a prepared person will be sheltered in place, provided there were warning signs. If there were not warning signs, a prepared person will be better able to act quickly with purpose – having planned ahead.
For the unprepared, the impact stage will be frightful and shocking, often leading to very bad decisions.
During ‘impact’ it is important to remain level-headed, recognize what has happened, estimate the follow-on consequences, and gauge your response and actions to beat the odds. Think quickly, clearly, calmly, and adapt to the impact.
aftermath
This is the period of time which hopefully will be short, but may become long and may challenge even the best of prepared. A goal of the disaster-response is to reestablish normalcy including providing supplies and aid to those in need.
This is the stage where preppers win, and may take comfort in their own preparedness. Hopefully there is enough left to help your neighbor.
The aftermath itself will consist of several stages, from surviving the immediate disaster (getting to short-term safety, medical attention), getting to home-base and securing the family – hunkering down, to perhaps a longer term survival scenario where your way-of-life will need to change to adapt to the new ‘normal’.
The aftermath, in a worst case scenario, will require skills that our ancestors had and used in their every day lives. Knowing how to live and survive without the direct support of technological assistance, could be the difference between life and death.
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Flood? Flooding, the Most Likely Natural Disaster
September 5, 2011
Flash Flooding is a natural disaster that is not limited by geography. Flooding will strike in deserts, rain forests, it hits populated areas, it hits out in the sticks, the mountains, and the valleys.
A particular danger of Flash floods is that they can develop very rapidly, often in just a few minutes and without any warning. Flash floods can be especially dangerous walls of roaring water carrying debris – even boulders, and can sweep away most things in their paths.
If you live near the water, in a low lying area, you need to be keenly aware of flash-flood danger. Very small streams, creeks, culverts, or even dry stream-beds that appear harmless in dry weather can flood, and it can happen fast.
Flood Prevention
Don’t live near low-lying waters (pretty obvious, but it’s amazing how much of populated areas are near or within flood zones of rivers, for example… that’s where the river commerce was, and still is for the most part).
If you already live in a flood zone, in an established neighborhood, there’s not much you can do in the way of major property prevention. Know the flooding history of your area. Be conscious of 1st floor and basement items becoming damaged or entirely ruined. If you have adequate warning you may be able to save some things, but the house and property itself will remain vulnerable.
For those well within flood zones, and with adequate land around the home, build (bull-doze) a sort of protective levee berm around the residence at some perimeter distance away. It could be designed or landscaped so as not to be objectionable.
Design the building on stilts, or at least at some height above ground level to minimize the risk of water damage.
Seal the foundation, or building, and use construction materials less susceptible to water damage.
Sump pumps for the basement.
What about flood insurance?
You can get flood insurance through private insurance agents, who get it underwritten through the National Flood Insurance Program
Even people living in high-risk areas have access to flood insurance. To get a mortgage to buy a home in certain FEMA designated flood zones will require you to purchase flood insurance.
Apparently, about one-quarter of flood damage claims come from areas that were not considered at high risk for floods. So, you may want to think seriously about flood insurance if you are at risk, because regular homeowners insurance policies don’t cover it.
Flood insurance works a little differently from your other insurance policies. I have read that if you have flood insurance, you are still required to make a claim against your homeowner’s policy (even though it doesn’t cover flooding). Then, once you get your denial letter, you can file your claim to your private flood insurance company or to the National Flood Insurance Program.
In summary, regarding natural disasters, FLOODING is the most likely overall. It can be completely devastating when it hits. Consider your vulnerability where you live, consider flood insurance protection. If you’re out hiking or camping, particularly in areas that are not very familiar to you, be sure you understand the risks in your area. A torrential thunderstorm 20 miles away could result in a torrential flash flood where you are, on a nice sunny warm day…
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Freak UK mini-Tsunami a Reminder of Puerto-Rico Trench Hazard
June 29, 2011An entirely unexpected, but fortunately small tsunami swept down the Yealm estuary near Plymouth, the southwest coast of the United Kingdom, yesterday.
The BBC reports of rivers changing direction, fish leaping out of the water, and even hair standing on end due to static. A boatman reported, “The funniest thing was on the causeway all the ladies’ hair was standing on end with the static.” Another person launching his dinghy said, “The tide was coming in from left to right, all of a sudden it stopped coming in from the sea and went back the other way…at four times the speed was unbelievable. It came back at quite a force.”
Dr Davidson, an associate professor in coastal processes, told BBC regarding the probable cause, “It’s probably more likely to be a sub-marine landslide.”
Plymouth-UK-mini-Tsunami-Video credit: BBC
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/video/plymouth-uk-tsunami.mp4
This occurrence reminded me of something that I’ve been observing off of the north coast of Puerto Rico for some time… lots of earthquakes in the Puerto Rico Trench. The thing about it is that this particular trench is very deep and very steep. “IF” a part of that trench were to let go and slump down the canyon as a ‘sub-marine landslide’, there would be an enormous resulting tsunami that could potentially cause very wide devastation around the Atlantic ocean in that region.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) states that the Puerto Rico Trench is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, with water depths exceeding 5.2 miles! The Puerto Rico Trench is also associated with the most negative gravity anomaly on earth, -380 milliGal, which indicates the presence of an active downward force.
The region is located on an active plate boundary zone between the North American plate and the northeast corner of the Caribbean plate. The North American tectonic plate is descending under Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, south of the trench.
The results of studies involving mapping and seismic profiling of the sea floor off Puerto Rico’s northern shore, have uncovered evidence of an enormous submarine landslide. The the suspect slide extends across roughly 35 square miles, and evidence indicates that a slide of this size would have involved approximately 620 cubic miles of material!
Assuming that the slide occurred as a single event, an underwater slide of this magnitude would have generated a tsunami of frightening proportions. The effects of such a tsunami on present day Puerto Rico would be disastrous, and considering that the region is still tectonically active, an event like this could likely occur again at some point in the future.
In addition to the sure disaster that would unfold in Puerto-Rico, the British Virgin Islands, and other regional islands, I wonder how such a tsunami would effect the state of Florida, although 1,000 miles away, it’s only barely above sea level.
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Chain Reaction Dam Burst to Split Heartland USA?
June 24, 2011
Is the Missouri River, the longest in the United States at 2,321 miles long, about to suffer a chain reaction failure beginning at the monolithic Fort Peck Dam in Montana, which itself is 21,026 feet long, 250 feet tall, and the largest earth-filled dam in the world?
The massive reservoir behind the world’s largest earth dam, Fort Peck Lake, is 134 miles long with 1,520 miles of shoreline, and reportedly holds enough water to equal the totality of the annual river run off – or one full year’s worth of the Missouri River’s flow.
According to Jody Farhat, chief of water management for the corps’ northwestern division, the six major Missouri River dams in the states of Montana (Fort Peck – the highest dam), North and South Dakota and Nebraska all will release record flows to make room for the incoming mountain runoff.
“We had a very heavy plains snowpack, and as that melted it used a fair amount of the storage that we had in our reservoirs.”
Farhat said this spring’s flood will be the most severe the region has seen since the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System was completed in the 1960s. (In other words, the dams have never been tested to this degree before.)
“We’re not going to get to peak releases until early July,” Farhat said. “This flood event is going to go on from now until early August.”
The safety of the Fort Peck Dam recently was called into question by a columnist for a St. Louis website. Bernard Shanks, who is writing a book on the hazards of Missouri River dams, posted a column June 7 claiming that there is a possibility of failure at the Fort Peck Dam that could lead to a domino-like collapse of all five downstream dams in the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System.
“It probably would wreck every bridge, highway, pipeline and power line, and split the heartland of the nation, leaving a gap 1,500-miles wide,” Shanks wrote. “Countless sewage treatment plants, toxic waste sites and even Superfund sites would be flushed downstream. The death toll and blow to our economy would be ghastly.”
Shanks based his doomsday scenario on the fact that Fort Peck Dam is North America’s largest hydraulic-fill earthen dam. Such dams are prone to “liquefaction,” meaning they can become water-logged and disintegrate if exposed to extreme pressure or seismic activity. For that reason, California replaced most of that state’s hydraulic-fill dams.
Map of the 6 major dams of the Missouri River built by the Corps of Engineers for flood control
For those that live along the Missouri River, it may be a good time to run the evacuation scenario through your mind once or twice…
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12,000 – Evacuation – Where Would You Go?
June 22, 2011
(Reuters) Authorities in the North Dakota city of Minot told up to 12,000 residents on Wednesday to evacuate immediately because the rising Souris River is about to overflow flood levees.
A chain reaction which began further up north in Canada, is now cascading its way south through the US while waters overflow levees which are desperately being patched to add precious time for evacuees to escape.
(Rueters) Heavy rains over the past six weeks have swelled Canadian reservoirs in the Souris River basin, forcing unprecedented water releases. In turn, U.S. officials must release water from the Lake Darling Dam above Minot at a rate more than double what the recently fortified protections can bear.
To put a positive spin on the disaster that is unfolding in North Dakota, we can all learn a lesson from what is happening. That is, ask yourself, ‘Where would I go if I were told to evacuate?’ ‘What would I take with me in the time that I have, and what is my plan?’
I’ll bet that the people of Minot, North Dakota didn’t think that this would happen to them. Now I wonder how many of the 12,000 had a plan of action.
Here’s an exercise, and let’s make it easy. Let’s say that you knew that you had 24 hours to ‘get out of Dodge’ because of an unfolding local or regional disaster. What would you do, and in what order?
Here are a few ideas off the top of my head…
1. Determine where you will go. Knowing the approximate radius of the disaster and how far away may be ‘safe’, call a friend or family in the safe-zone if this is your preference, and if you believe that it will be OK with them. Otherwise, as quick as you can, reserve a hotel room somewhere – before everyone else books everything solid. If you wait too long, you will have to travel further for lodging.
2. Contact and gather all household members to coordinate the evacuation.
3. Immediately go out and fill your vehicles with gasoline (spare gas cans won’t hurt either) and return home to plan and pack.
4. Depending on how many vehicles will participate in your caravan, determine the space you will have to bring items with you.
5. Determine a priority plan for the items that you will take. This will depend on whether or not you expect your home to be damaged or destroyed (flood, hurricane, etc…). What you take with you will be personal decisions based on available space, survival, and monetary/sentimental value. Even though you expect to have access to food and water outside the danger zone, you should always pack some with you. Enough for a 72-hour excursion is a good rule-of-thumb for a vehicle kit. Having a roof carrier is a valuable preparedness item to have on hand ahead-of-time.
6. Pack efficiently. Put things inside of things if there are air gaps or spaces in the ‘thing’.
7. Shut off your electricity and gas to the house.
8. Beat the crowds and get out early if you can (If you have already ran this scenario and documented a plan, you will certainly be ahead of the pack).
Covering more detail about an evacuation plan could easily consume thousands of words, or even a small book! However the key here is to use this news story to inspire you to think about these types of things ahead of time.
Have a ready-made plan. If you already know where you would likely go during a given disaster scenario or evacuation, you will beat everyone else to the reservation, and to the streets!
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10 Global Disasters
June 21, 2011
Guest Note: by P.T.
If you factor all the probable events that would cause global effects, you may end up with a list as follows.
10. A star 3.5 light years away going supernova (gamma ray burst)
9. Massive CME from Sun
8. Methane deposits causing rapid warming
7. Middle East war (non nuke)
6.North Korea invading the South
5.Cascadia fault 9.8 earthquake
4. Asteroid or comet impact 1 mile plus in diameter
3. Nuke war
2. Worldwide pandemic
1. Yep you guessed it a VEI 8+ Eruption
For the record it is estimated that 80% of the worlds population could not survive a “super eruption” longer than 6 months ( off the recorded stats from WHO). In the west we do not make our food, we buy it. I know you are aware of the social unrest it would cause, and wars over resources.
Probabilities 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 all have happened before and will happen again.
Ken adds: The simple ability to grow some of your own food, if implemented by enough people, would go a long way towards increasing the odds during some types of disasters, at least in urban and rural areas. A huge problem of course, is the city – and city dwellers who for the most part are unable to do this. It’s just the way it is…
From this list, I often consider a Worldwide Pandemic to be in the realm of possibilities as one of the highest and probable casualty risks during our lifetime, given our worldwide travel and the rapid increase of drug resistance. A Middle East war and perhaps a limited nuclear war I also believe to be a higher possibility, the effects of which would be economically immense worldwide, while the casualties would obviously be regional to their locations.
Who is to say though… a massive solar flare and CME could rip at any moment, rendering our electrical gird useless for months to years – enough time to inflict massive casualties. Or the Yellowstone super volcano could explode and cover most of the US with ash and drastically lower world temperatures for years – causing extreme reduction to world food resources.
…all food for thought
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