I have thought about naming my porch "inspiration point", (not the one in Minnesota which is the center of the North American continent.) I sit here with a cup of coffee, looking around. It's a rare day when I don't see something new happen, either wildlife, smoke, or like the other day an old sailing ship being towed past. I posted a short video of it, then the next day I wrote the blog on the June 7, 1592, earthquake disaster, on Isle Royale, the Caribean Pirates Lair.
I watched a documentary on it and it sure looked like the same ship that was in the video, a number of them (reproductions) are actively sailing today. Several of those are strictly movie props, some like this one are "liveaboards", it's now departed but was berthed at the marina that is one of my neighbors.
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| This ship is no match for a Hurricane. |
Although the incident (tragedy) occurred 520 years or so ago there is at least one lesson to be learned from it. The residents of Port Royal had no idea of the dangers that lurked on their island which so closely resembled a tropical paradise on Earth.
(Follow this Link to read my blog on the Port Royal disaster)
During this day and age, we are much more fortunate, our understanding of the world is much better now than even 100 years ago, 500 years ago tsunami's were known as "Tidal Waves", the causes were unknown. There was no means to determine the contour of the ground under a proposed construction site, there were no barometers, thermostats, or wind gauges, the people of those times were greatly handicapped by their lack of basic technology. Of course, the research did not exist as well, 1500 Europe had not emerged from the "Dark Ages" but a mere 200 years earlier. Colombus had sailed to these islands just 100 years prior. Our "modern" society is much better equipped, both technically, and knowledge-wise to predict, plan and prepare for many natural disasters.
We can begin by listing the natural disaster threatening in our individual localities, that is the regions with the highest potential of suffering from a predicted disaster. Some Counties or States have numerous catastrophic events that have the potential of rendering our Cities temporarily uninhabitable. Build an extensive list, the more you write down in your disaster plan the better prepared you will be. Most of the world's Countries have unique threats, but prudence dictates to learn what residual effects Natural Disasters may have in the Country or State where you reside. A case in point is the recent Hurricane that struck North and South Carolina. North Carolina is a mountainous state, when the intense rain from the disaster moved into it and dumped feet of rain it ran downhill to South Carolina, arriving a week later. That flood water added to the storm surge flooding most of the State since Florence had made landfall. Causing the most damage and human casualties.
As an example I would list the following:
* Earthquakes
* Dam or Levee Breaches
* Wildfire
* High winds, up to 50 mph
* Extreme Winds, exceeding 50 mph
* Flooding
* Civil unrest
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| First the storm surge, then the wind. |
We live on an island in the middle of the California Delta, it is mostly composed of "Peat Moss", a literal floating island, it does have bedrock and solid ground about 30 feet below the surface where pylons for construction are driven into. The Peat Moss presents a problem of its own, if it catches on fire the possibility of an underground fire is real, there is very little that can be done to put them out, flooding works.
After compiling the list of potential hazards we need to document them somewhere, I use the FEMA templates for family disaster planning, this is a Link to the FEMA site explaining how to plan. The website has a choice of several languages, chose the best one for you, if it's English merely choose the "Print Version". It's a two-page document, starting with the heading "Neighborhood Meeting Place", ours is on the levee at the nearby Marina. The next two headings are interesting, "Out of Neighborhood" and "Out of Town" meeting places, along with a place for a phone number. The phone numbers are what interest me, what number would you place in that spot, who would you talk to in an emergency?
The disasters I have listed would involve the entire area, an ideal out of neighborhood number is actually the cell phone number of a relative, 250 miles or further away. Our out of town number is actually an out of state number, one of my brothers in Minnesota, 2200 miles away. The reason I chose that number is due to "reception" issues on the Cell Phone end, mine. During a Catastrophic event, everyone and their cousin will be on their cell phones, causing what I believe will be a massive jam-up of the lines. What's the one thing most people have in common when a busy signal is received? We hang up and immediately re-dial, adding to the congestion in the lines, in other words during those first 5-8 hours, communications will be tough. I recommend establishing an out of state message number, everyone in the household needs to have it and call it as soon as possible. A short report is all that is needed, where we are, if we are in a safe spot, and who is with us. Text messaging does not require as much bandwidth as a telephone call, try it first instead of a local call, it may just get through.
An item I am a strong believer of is taking care of our pets, my little skunk-puppy would be a goner in an emergency, she is scared of everything during normal activities. Although being a fairly large breed, Border Collie, and extremely smart, she is also extremely afraid of everything, she would run off and I would never find her. I advocate a good quality photo of your pet with all of your family members, I am sure people will recognize her in a photo with me or my wife.
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| This is a good example of a family and pet photo. |
On the form are spaces for Work information, places we frequent, and school numbers, FEMA also has a separate form for planning communications at this link for a family. The second page of the form is the same information as the first page with the exception of individual cards for the people residing in your home. They are wallet sized and should be carried by all members of the household affected by these events. Planning will help eliminate most questions we all may have, What if an event occurs and I'm not home? How can I get in contact with my family? As well as many others that the plan will solve, be certain to include all members of the household. Establishing everyone's buy-in is key to survival success, take their concerns seriously and include those that fit into the master plan.
Three important steps in planning for an emergency are:
* Collect, all contact information from all family members.
* Share the information in the form of a wallet-sized information card to be carried at all times by all family members.
* Practice what you have planned, make certain to include the children, if they have "buy-in" things will go a lot smoother.
Do we need a separate plan for each disaster that may be lurking in our future, the basic information cards and plan most likely not, unless if the plan is for a super volcano beneath your house that promises to destroy everything East of it, then Yes I believe I would make my plans to the Westward.
One of the things most disasters have in common is "Elimination of Utilities", the lack of water and electrical service, including planning for that in each incident is prudent. Flooding, Wildfire, Hurricanes, and Earthquakes each have separate and unique challenges, but one kit can suffice to make survival easier. One way is to create a survival kit for each member of the family, set up each having unique supplies. In the wildfire, a bag would be a 72-hour survival kit, with extra goggles, smoke masks, gloves, and other fire-related articles. Another plan would be in the case of a 4 member family, a single 4 person 72-hour kit carried by one person, with each of the other three kits set up with personal survival gear and one each for every projected possible emergency.
We will not be able to supply ourselves with all of the comforts of home, a good goal is for 80% achieving that level of preparedness, places us in a good position for survival. Setting up a universal kit is not difficult, the basics, water, lighting, and communication capabilities are universal in most commercially available survival packages. (Link to a typical commercially available kit) Build our own kits is an option, most of the gear is available at the dollar store, and big box brick and mortar shopping facilities. Water is our major concern, gear up with plenty, one 24 case of pint bottles supply one person for a period of 7 days, that does not include cooking or hygiene purposes.
The object is to plan for as much as possible, we cannot predict the future completely. yet, in the future, with scientific discoveries and technology, we may get a considerable degree better at it. Unlike the Pirates of Port Royal we do not have to be completely "blindsided" when catastrophic events occur, one minute calm, then 3 minutes later 2,000 people lost their lives and the entire city was destroyed, washed into the sea by a tsunami.
The common sentiment of that day was it's "Gods Punishment", due to it's being such an unholy place. Actually, it was caused by a lack of knowledge of what was below the sandbar for construction support, (nothing). The city was built on a sand wedge in the ocean. The warning signs earlier in the morning were not paid attention to, and being unaware of any potential disasters in the area added to the human deaths.
2,000 more souls were lost during the first two weeks after the disaster from diseases due to the rotting corpses laying all around town, they did not know enough to bury or burn them immediately, another survival skill no one is eager to execute.
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| Get a kit and be prepared. |
Sixty percent of our neighbors and friends will make no preparations at all, possibly proving to be a tragic mistake, that is why one of the basics of our business is to advocate not only preparing enough for your own families needs, but store enough to share, I would be unable to refuse water to someone. An ultimate goal is to be a "responder" versus a "victim" as much as possible, it will give us self-confidence and the ability to react in a different way than an unsuspecting victim may.
Thanks for reading and sharing, it's shaping up to be an unbelievable Hurricane season, the intensity of the storms are increasing, causing ever larger storm surges and residual flooding. No matter the Disastrous event we may be faced with in light of the strength of the Catastrophe's when an evacuation order is released, evacuate immediately. Ignoring the order places the first responders in life-threatening situations rescuing those that stayed behind.
jacquesandkate emergencykitsplus.com
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