Y.O.Y.O.

(You’re On Your Own)

I know I keep mentioning this, but in the event of a major disaster, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!  It’s been two weeks since Superstorm Sandy came ashore on the other coast, and as of this writing, people are still without power.  Essential services are slow to be restored and government resources are insufficient to “fix it” for everyone.   
In spite of all this, I still have people tell me that in lieu of preparing for a disaster, their “plan” is to rely on government services or local charities.   This may seem harsh, but in the words of John Wayne, “Life is tough, but it’s tougher when you’re stupid!”  It doesn’t take a genius to see that local services are dangerously overwhelmed during any emergency, let alone a storm like Sandy or similar event.  
I will concede that F.E.M.A. and other disaster responders have come a long way in the seven years since Katrina.  Supplies are pre-positioned quickly and resources are in place far more rapidly than in times past.  Still, nothing trumps personal preparedness.  To have your own stores and plans in place means you have to rely on no one. If you have done your homework, you know what you have at your disposal and are familiar not only with your local geography but with the  local weather habits.  
Knowing what you have on hand is essential.  After the power goes out and blown-down trees are blocking your route to the grocery store is no time to find out what you’re lacking. Secondly, knowing your way around is essential.  Familiarize yourself with alternate routes.  Now would be a good time to purchase a good quality local map showing all the side roads or back roads in your neighborhood.  Then after you buy the map, go for a drive some nice afternoon and prove out the accuracy of your map.  (Experience talking here!)  If you’re new to the area, find out which roads flood first.  Also learn which roads stay frosty and slick all day after the temperatures dip below freezing at night.

Locally speaking, we are very fortunate, weather-wise.  Our region gets neither severe winter blizzards, nor the hurricanes of the eastern and gulf states.  Our temperatures are moderate and for the most part, the occasional wind storm is manageable.  Primarily we have to contend with the odd high-wind and rain storm during the winter months.  A major earthquake has been predicted for our coast and when that occurs, it will be a life-changing event.  Make no mistake about it.  Those folks on the east coast have certainly had their lives changed!  Get prepared because Y.O.Y.O!

As always send your comments and questions to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.  

Listening to Sandy

The entire nation watched recently as Hurricane Sandy took aim on our East Coast.  One life truth I have observed is that scared people behave badly.  As I write this it has only been four days since the downgraded superstorm came ashore and already people are misbehaving.  Pre-storm reports of people grabbing items from others’ shopping carts coupled with reports of empty store shelves served to convey the message that when people wait too long to stock up, they just may be out of luck. Reports of long lines at the gas stations, looting and shortages of essential items abound.  Other reports show homes simply being washed away.
So what are the lessons we can learn from Sandy and how should we prepare for such an event?  Our situation is a bit different here on the West Coast.  Our weather patterns don’t ordinarily lend themselves to the intensity the East Coast receives (Columbus Day 1962 notwithstanding).  So our preps and plans will look differently than theirs.  In most cases in our
region it is just best to dig in, ride out the event and deal with the power outages, wind damage and possible shortages.  An emergency evacuation may be necessary for some in the event of a tsunami or flooding, but for the most part an adequate plan would be to simply hunker down, ride out the storm or earthquake, keep an eye out for your neighbors’ well-being and stay put.  Then roll out your generator, and start using the supplies you have so wisely stored up.
The situation with Sandy gave the folks on the East Coast ample warning of an impending problem.  Upon receiving evacuation orders, the right thing to do would have been to put your plan in motion, load up your stores and get out of town.  A pre-determined destination might be a family member’s home or some other safe location. Conflicting evacuation orders from governing officials served to cause confusion and delay for some.  The lesson here is if someone, anyone suggests evacuation, do it.  Immediately!  
One interesting, potentially tragic story involved the back-up generators at a major hospital in New York City.  One generator located in a lower level was flooded and failed right away.  The second generator situated on the roof was fed by a fuel source located in a lower level.  The fuel pump failed and the unit on the roof was rendered inoperable because of a lack of fuel.  Some 260 patients had to be evacuated without the benefit of elevators and relocated in the mid-storm darkness.  All because of faulty planning.
Disasters do happen, and they don’t always happen to someone else!  As always you may send your questions and comments to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.  

Home Fire Safety

Often when we think of disaster preparedness, we think in terms of earthquake, massive storm or major power outages. The concept of disaster gets more personal when there is a home fire.  Everyone knows someone who has lost everything in a house fire.  I have spoken to two people within the last several weeks who have had their own private disaster when fire destroyed their homes and all their belongings.  Happily, both parties were quick to add that, “At least no one was hurt.”

Last year fire departments in the U.S. responded to 370,000 home fires resulting in nearly 14,000 injuries and 2,520 civilian deaths. Damages in the amount of $6.9 billion occured as a result.  Here are some other facts regarding fires in the home:  
Most fires start in the kitchen from cooking accidents.  (42%)  Home structure fires peak around the dinner hour, between 5:00 and 8:00 PM.  
Seven percent of home fires start in the bedroom, most often from smoking.  These fires caused 25% of home fire deaths.
Nearly two-thirds (62%) of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
The good news is that for the past 35 years, the trend is improving.  In 1977 there were 723,500 home fires resulting in 5,865 deaths.  Every year there have been fewer fires and fewer fatalities.  Today those number are less than half what they were.
Safety tips are always available from your local fire department, but some things to keep in mind include, keep fresh batteries in your smoke alarms, usually once a year will do it.  Some folks use their birthdays as reminders, and some use January 1, but whichever method you prefer, just do it!  If you need smoke alarms, buy them.  They are simple to test, simple to use and simple to install.
For those who burn wood for heat, now would be a good time to get your chimney inspected and cleaned.  Soot and creosote can build up in your flue and ignite, rapidly involving your entire house.

For kitchen safety, stay in the room if frying, grilling or broiling food.  If you leave the kitchen, even for a short time, turn off the stove.  A leading contributor of fires in the kitchen is unattended cooking.  Keep a lid nearby when you’re cooking to smother small grease fires.

As the holiday season approaches, avoid overloading electrical circuits, and although no one uses candles on their Christmas trees anymore, many people still use candles throughout the home.  Never leave a small child and a lit candle alone in the same room.  If your tree is real, keep it watered daily, make sure you use strings of lights that are in good repair, because one third of Christmas tree fires are caused by electrical problems.

Fire prevention can be practiced by everyone and in most cases it’s not a case of disaster preparedness, but rather disaster prevention!  I’ll take that any day.

As always send your comments and questions to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.  

Hospital Readiness

Every medical facility in the state (possibly in the nation) is required to have a disaster plan.  A collection of “what to do if...” scenarios.  In the event of a major disaster or pandemic, each facility is required to have a design for treating many people quickly.  Although only ten disasters in U.S. history have resulted in more than 1000 fatalities, still it would be irresponsible to fail to plan for the absolute worst. It would also be non-compliant with the state medical standards people.
Each facility’s plan must be custom-tailored for potential disasters in their particular locale.  For example, the community located next to a nuclear power plant would plan differently than the community located next to a major earthquake fault.  New Orleans plans differently than Denver who plans differently than Seattle who plans differently than Fairbanks.  You get the picture.  Each community has their own specific needs.

One very good example of this style of planning is Southern Coos Hospital in Bandon.  Each year about this time, they conduct a free flu shot clinic as a part of their disaster planning.  If you wish to participate, you simply drive to the designated location, stay in your car and move through the process.  A clipboard is handed to you, you fill out a form, move to the next station, turn in the paperwork and roll up your sleeve.  Never get out of the car.  The location away from the hospital was chosen because the traffic flow is much better than at the hospital itself.  If the public has taken advantage of the free drive-through clinic, then they would already know where to go in a real disaster.   The hospital staff, the police and the public are familiar with the drill because they practice it every year.  Suppose there was a widespread pandemic and massive inoculations were necessary. Then a mechanism has already been designed and rehearsed to accomplish the task.  If injuries were involved as the result of an event, then the location would be used for triage purposes.  Patients’ injuries would be prioritized as to whether one would require a band-aid or major surgery.  There is no need to clog up the hospital’s hallways with the band-aid patients, while the more serious injuries have to wait for the traffic to clear.

At 5:30 AM, on the designated day of the flu-shot clinic, the coordinator makes a phone call, activating the hospital’s telephone tree.  Every relevant person is contacted and given instructions.  Of course for the annual clinic, everyone knows their phone is going to ring, but in an actual emergency that is not the case.  Still with a plan in place, the confusion is minimized and the entire staff can be mobilized with little fuss.  
It is a model of efficiency and positive disaster planning of which Bandon can be very proud, while at the same time rendering a valuable public service. This year approximately 700 inoculations were prepared though the exact number of participants hasn’t yet been determined.
As always send your questions and comments to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.

Sanitation

During a major disaster, water mains may break, the municipal water processing system may fail or plumbing may be disrupted.  Something we take for granted, a flushing toilet may not be available.  In the event of an earthquake, it’s not too much of a stretch to expect that your plumbing, both incoming and outgoing could be disrupted.

Human waste, if not disposed of properly, can not only cause a sanitation and hygiene mess but if not managed properly will spread disease.  

For those who live in rural areas and your water source is a spring, you may be in good shape, barring any damage to your plumbing.  Our disaster preparedness plan isn’t complete until we have considered some alternative way to dispose of waste.

Several solutions are available from a toilet seat that snaps to the top of a five-gallon bucket for $10, to a chemical porta-potty costing $200 plus.  If you opt for the five-gallon bucket solution, don’t forget to get some small trash bags to use as liners.  

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti taught responders several lessons.  In a region that was marginally sanitary in the best of times, it became painfully aware that in a post-event environment, the health climate deteriorated rapidly and drastically because of the lack of adequate sewage capability. Health officials are still battling a cholera epidemic in Haiti since their earthquake.  Any disruption of sanitary service poses significant health risks.  Every so often a major city experiences a shutdown of garbage services.  The mountains of accumulated trash are an attractive nuisance to all sorts of disease-bearing vermin, including rats, mice and dog packs.

On a different note, researchers are learning about compost piles and their drawbacks after a disaster.  Composting is basically managing the decomposition of certain biodegradable products.  In other words and in base terms:  it is simply a managed collection of garbage intended for a noble purpose, eventually.  (My apologies to all organic gardeners everywhere.)  The word of caution here is to insure that your compost pile is well-secured and does not get scattered nor become an attractant for disease-bearing rodents or other scavengers.  Communities will have their hands full with trying to restore basic services without worrying about the runaway rat population.

Send your comments and questions to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.  

Stuff About Generators

The best thing about generators is they give us the ability to function with some normalcy when the power company fails.  Generator owners exude a certain smugness knowing they can still function, to a degree, when all others have just been relegated to the stone age.  The generator owners I know don’t realize they’re being smug, nor do they purposely conduct themselves with an air of superiority, but it’s there. Trust me.  
If you have been considering joining this exclusive club of generator owners, first ask yourself some questions.  What do I plan to do with it?  Am I going to just power up my travel trailer when I’m camping or do I intend to provide electricity for my home when the power goes out?  
The power company does an amazing job of keeping the electricity flowing, especially during our winter wind and rain storms.  How those lines stay attached to their poles and keep the juice running is a marvel of engineering.  We all know there are times when things happen and service is interrupted.  Sometimes things get fixed right away and sometimes it’s days before the lights come back on.  It’s those times when it takes more than a day or so that you need a generator.  You’ve got to pump water out of your well, keep your refrigerator and freezer cold, or in some cases open your garage door.  
Here are some things to keep in mind.  Unless you’re in the position to spend upwards of $15,000 for a permanently mounted unit, don’t plan to energize your whole house.  A smaller, portable unit of 3500 watt capacity will handle your fridge, freezer, a few lights and your TV.  The going cost for a unit like that will be in the $500 range.  The bigger the wattage output, the more the unit will handle.  Like everything else, you get what you pay for.  Avoid the $99.00 2-cycle unit.  It will probably do more damage (like to your computer or to your $2000 flat-screen TV) than it does good.  A high quality surge suppressor is a really good bit of insurance for your delicate electronics.
The main drawback with generators; they require fuel.  Don’t plan on using your generator as a long-term solution.  Even running the unit only a few hours a day for more than a week, you’d need to store more stabilized fuel than most budgets allow.  Not to mention the inherent dangers of storing gasoline.  Some generators run on diesel, some on propane and some of the permanently-mounted units will run on natural gas.  Speaking of gasoline, today’s ethanol-infused product presents its own problem.  Ethanol naturally attracts water, thus dramatically shortening the storage life of gasoline.  A generator sitting idle for months on end will almost surely fail to start because of bad gasoline.  The solution is to purchase non-ethanol gas (at a much higher price) or using a product such as Sta-Bil to keep fuel fresh for 12 months or longer.
As always send your comments or questions to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.  

Hunting Season

Southwestern Oregon has its fair share of hunters.  We also have our fair share of deer and elk to help keep the hunters coming back.  Whether you cruise the back roads or hike the trails in search of your quarry, sooner or later you will run across someone who needs help.  Some slide off into the ditch, others have a dead battery or some simply need directions, the trick lies in making sure it’s the OTHER guy that gets in a pickle.
Just last week a hiker in Central Oregon got himself in trouble through a series of missteps.  Hiking across the sagebrush-covered flats he somehow lost his water bottle.  Seeing the river at the bottom of the canyon, he decided to hike down to get himself a drink.  About halfway down he found himself in the proverbial pickle.  He discovered he couldn’t go down any farther but couldn’t get back up either.  He was on a ledge described as two feet by three feet in size.  Conditions were such that rescuers were unable to reach him.  After spending a chilly night on the ledge wearing jeans and a tank top, an Army National  Guard Black Hawk helicopter plucked him from his predicament the next morning.
As it is with most ‘pickles’, the problem actually began hours before when he decided to take a hike.  His choice of what to take and what to wear, coupled with his lack of good judgement added up to a precarious, life-threatening experience that didn’t really have to happen. His choice of clothing offered little in the way of protection from the chilly night air.  Then he lost his water bottle.  He had used his cell phone to call for help, but accidently dropped it during the course of the evening.  A question I would ask is, “Was it all that important to get a drink?” Even if he made it to the river, that’s not exactly potable water.  
When hunters or hikers get in trouble, their situation can be greatly lessened with just a little planning.   Cell phones are great and most of us carry one these days, but there are still a few hundred square miles in our region that have no coverage.  Most of those square miles are where we like to play, hike, hunt, camp and otherwise recreate. Here are some suggestions.  Pack like you’re going to spend the night, even if you have no intent to do so.  The kit I always carry in my pickup includes a jar of peanut butter, a couple of MREs, and some other snack food.  Fire starting implements are a must and I also have a small tarp that could be fashioned into a shelter if the need arose. Then let someone know where you’re going and what time you plan to return.  These items, among others would go a long way toward keeping a person comfortable should you find yourself in that pickle.  As always direct your questions and comments to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.  

Group Prep

Until now my focus has been on family and home preparedness.  And while I still believe that should be the individual priority, I am equally convinced that whatever service club or church organization with which you are involved  should also be prepared to meet needs when necessary.  Historically when a disaster or traumatic event strikes, church attendance swells.  It seems to be a pattern anytime there is a crisis, people tend to look to a higher power for stability and comfort.  There’s not a church in the country that doesn’t want to be known as the place that met the needs of its community when disaster happened.  Don’t get me wrong, I still believe that families need to stock up.  Get a kit, make a plan, and be informed, are very viable and essential for home preparedness.

Seven years ago when two major hurricanes struck the Gulf Coast, more than 40,000 refugees fled to the city of Austin, Texas.  Several pastors showed up at shelters only to be turned away because they were neither trained nor had any qualifications to deal with the situation.  Since then the Red Cross (upon request) has provided training to thousands of pastors and church members in their city.  As a result, Austin is now one of the most ready cities in America.  To date members of the Austin Disaster Relief Network have been called upon to respond to floods and fires in the surrounding area.  Some were even sent to Joplin, Missouri, to assist following the devastating tornado in that area last year.

Many churches in our region already have some food supplies on hand,  some are operating their own mini food bank and most have a commercial-grade kitchen.  Moving ahead with an expanded disaster plan, including increasing supplies on hand, would be a small step toward making a big difference.  And while you’re at it, how about compiling a skills inventory of your group.  Who has medical experience?  Is there a nurse or doctor in your group?  Does anyone have skills in working with children?  How about counseling?  Maybe a team of musicians that don’t need electricity to make music.  You get the idea.  If this sounds familiar, it should.  Your church or service club is a microcosm of the community and it may be every bit as important to map your group, as it is to map your neighborhood.  

The next time your service club or church has a planning session, show them a copy of this column.  When all the lights in the neighborhood are out except for the Coleman lantern in your gathering place, people will naturally be drawn to you.  If there is a pot of soup on the propane stove and some coffee going, you might just make an impression on someone.  You could save lives.  Food for thought...

As always send your comments and question to me at disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.