How proactive are we really in being prepared for the inevitable emergency's? What do trees have to do with it anyway....

  I have found that most people are like I am in their appreciation of trees, yes trees. I don't believe I have ever met someone that did not like them a lot or absolutely love them. I am in the love group, I find it so enjoyable to sit and look at a tree very closely. I spend a few hours every day sitting on my river side porch or in my garden, normally I have my binoculars around my neck and my bird book real close. Mostly I study the trees, the crows, squirrels, and song birds, there is a lot life in just one tree. Each species has a different color leaves, I worked on the ranches for a while which taught me the different shapes of trees. I am able to tell almonds from walnut from fruit trees, they all have a certain shape and color. I like trees a lot. What kind of tree do you have? Check it out click here.

This is not my Bay tree, I copied this picture from google
images, it's an Oak. 

  Trees are extremely strong, my attention has been drawn to writing about them today due to the wind and my two Bay trees on the levee. These two trees are huge, about 30 feet high with a matching diameter. I don't know who planted them or when, I suspect they have grown from volunteers because they are so close together. The main trunks are about 8 feet apart at the ground, the tops of both trees have combined so they appear to be one tree. The trees are about 15 feet from my deck and when the wind blows I wonder if they will ever topple over and destroy part of the house. They need to be trimmed for sure, for their survival in a wind storm and mine for destruction or worse. So I see this as a "survival" issue. This is what being prepared for an emergency is, being proactive in discovering problems before they become one. The wind is blowing 11-17 mph today, I watch the big crown of leaves move with the wind (they generate quite a bit of noise as well), I marvel at how very few limbs bend. It looks like a sail on a boat maybe that was the inspiration for the ancients to use sails on their boats. We have had winds up to 80 mph, in fact the planning commission requires patio covers on our island to be rated for 80 mph winds. Wind prep advice can be read here.

I'm not sure the word "odd" is the feeling the driver had in
his stomach, whoa is more like it. 

  If the trees are blown over there is a possibility due to them being on the levee that it could be a catastrophic breach. That's a worry, although the levees on our island are in very good shape regardless of what the politicians say, we pay to maintain our own. There are however numerous things we keep an eye on, our municipal district maintains them, we need to inspect them. We look for animal burrow holes, beavers, ground squirrels, otters and other water inhabitants. One concern is tree roots, if a tree dies on a levee the roots will rot. When they deteriorate a void is left underground, it may fill with water or worse fill and empty with the tide causing internal levee erosion. It may cause a breach, beaver dens are capable of causing the same result. A beaver den was found in the levee that was as big as a 3/4 ton pickup truck, although rather rare it does happen. There is a lot to a levee, there is a lot to living on the bank of a river, erosion is a huge concern.
  So back to the Bay trees, I need to have them trimmed professionally, I am unable to do that kind of stuff any longer. I'm getting up in the years and I cannot walk, so I'm out of the question. I cut a tree down once, it was a huge Elm (I don't like to think about it) I was 25 years old and did not see the future all that clearly. I regret to this day doing that. I will write a blog on how the trimming goes. In my opinion proactive efforts to eliminate the threat of issues that have the ability to intensify our reactions to an emergency have a real spot in emergency preparation.
  Pro-active efforts include:
1) Developing and putting in writing a detailed plan. FEMA has a planning site it's here.
2) Stocking enough water and food items to sustain each person for a minimum of 3 days.
3) Charging electronic devices every evening
4) Making sure our vehicles are in good working order, with gasoline in the tank.
5) Knowing our neighbors and including them in our planning
6) Keep our outdoor areas capable of with standing storms, fires and other threats we noted in our plans which are our main threats.

It's important to know your neighbors, these people live in
Louisiana, a place with a lot of disaster potential, they are
very self reliant. 

  Every once in a while I re-state my idea's and practices dealing with disaster preparation. I believe in preparing for the short term, government entities suggest be prepared for the first 3 days, I agree with that. Preparing for a longer time period begins the start of a change of lifestyle, it can get involved. My desire is everyone has for each person a three day or 72 hour emergency kit, pre-packaged or packed individually, something is better than nothing.
  Thanks for reading my blog I enjoy writing it, leave a comment, question or suggestion I like to hear from you all. Thanks.

jimandkate   emergencykitsplus.com