Category Archives: ** WHAT TO PREPARE 4? **

There are so many different types of emergencies, what do you wish to prepare 4?

Hurricane

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Hurricanes are awesome forces of nature that strike limited areas of the population. But it you live in one of these areas you better prepare. Hurricane Katrina provided many lessons about hurricanes and their aftermath. The good thing about hurricanes (vs Tornados or Earthquakes) is that you will have advanced warning. You can track the progression of the hurricane and know exactly when and where it will hit. Even with this advanced warning though you had better prepare ahead of time. There are steps you can do to minimize the emotional trauma surrounding a hurricane with its potential evacuation and loss of property. These are the steps to follow in order to prepare you and your family for this eventuality.

Step 1: Develop a plan

Your plan should be customized to your family and situation. You should share your plan with family and friends who might be part of your plan. If you live in coastal or low-lying area, an area that floods frequently, on in manufacture housing you will probably be asked to evacuate, otherwise staying in your home is an option.

Step 2: Create Disaster Kit

There is stuff you are going to need regardless of whether you have to evacuate or not. Most of this will not be available if you do not plan ahead of time.

 

Required items include: Water, Water filters, Food, and First aid supplies.

Important items include: Power supply , source of Light , and a stove or some way to heat food.

Optional items include: Sleeping bag, tent, and fire starter

 

 

News and Information:

National Hurricane Center

Current Hurricanes or Tropical storms

Current Weather Warnings

FEMA Hurricane page

Earthquake

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The most frightening thing about earthquakes is they happen with no warning.  One minute the world is normal, and the next you are in an unstable world where everything is falling on your head.  If you live in a wood frame house the odds are your house will not collapse.  Modern apartments and other building are typically reinforced to withstand an earthquake without collapsing.  More details about the effects of earthquakes on specific building materials are found at the Berkeley University site.

The best thing you can do to protect your family from the effects of an earthquake is to prepare.  The more prepared you are the less anxiety your family will have before it happens – and the easier recovery will be.  It is so much easier to prepare than to worry endlessly about what you would do if it happened, so just do it.  Set specific tasks and the dates they will be accomplished .  This page will walk you through what you need to do to prepare your family and loved ones for a earthquake.   Following these steps will prepare you both physically and emotionally for this eventuality.   Steps 1-3 deal with preparing, step 4 with surviving, and step 5 with the aftermath.

 

Step 1: Secure it

The first thing to do is to walk around your house looking for things that will attack you during an earthquake.  Bookshelves, entertainment centers, TVs, bookcases, dressers,  etc.  These should all be secured to the wall to prevent  them from jumping on top of you and squishing your brains out.  Here is a secure it now worksheet from Emergency Survival Program to help out.  You can secure these items with an L bracket screwed into the wall (make sure you hit a stud and not just the sheet rock) or nylon straps which will allow the object to sway without falling on your face.  It is important to understand that during an earthquake the forces of gravity are adjusted so that your face becomes the center – and all loose items are drawn to it.  If you like your face the way it is you need to secure any loose items.

Another appliance to check is the water heater and gas pipes leading to it.  If the gas lines to the water heater break during an earthquake your house could go KABOOM!!.  This is bad.  Now you have an earthquake, explosion, and fire to cope with.  First make sure the water heater is strapped to the wall.  Second, make sure the gas lines coming in are flexible (if not find a contractor to fix this ASAP).  Third, make sure the gas pipe coming into the flex line is secured.  For example, my gas line comes down from the ceiling in a metal pipe, then connects to a flexible hose before connecting to the water heater.  If the metal pipe is allowed to swing too widely it could tear loose from the flexible hose.  You can secure this with bungee cords.

Cupboards containing items that could fall and break should be secured.  Those who have had inquisitive young children have learned that child proofing their cupboards prevents child induced mishaps, this same technology can prevent earthquakes from spilling all your plates and glasses all over your kitchen floor.  Cupboards can be secured by attaching a childproof clip on the inside of the cupboard.  Look for childproofing supplies and follow the directions.

One of the major problems wood frame homes have during an earthquake is shifting off the foundation.  It is hard if not impossible to fix this, condemning the home.  Modern building codes address this by strapping the house to the foundation.  Check the building codes in your area and see if your house has the frame strapped to the foundation.  If not you may be at risk.  Consult a reputable builder in your area to see if it is worth having this done.

 

Step 2: Make a plan

When an earthquake happens you will either be awake or asleep.  At home, or somewhere else.  Same with your spouse and children.  Where will everyone be when the earthquakes hits?  What should they do?  Where should they go?  What parent will pick up what child?  We have four kids and at one point they went to four different schools.  Your earthquake plan should address these different options.  More details about making a plan are found at the USGS site.

Included is this step is insurance.  Do you have earthquake insurance?  If you want it you need to check your insurance carrier to see what is covered and what the deductible is.  A 20% deductible is not uncommon.  With a $200,000 house that is $40,000 worth of  initial damage that the insurance will not cover.  What about brick on the outside or replacement of possessions inside the house?  Check with your carrier so you understand what is covered and what is not.

Important notes for your plan:

  • The phone system will be swamped and unusable. In past earthquakes it was 8-10 hours before people could use the phone and call another.
  • Traffic could be deadlocked because of fallen debris, road damage, etc. Have alternative routes to get to where you are going and alternative modes of travel.

 

Step 3: Get your Earthquake bag

Everyone should have disaster supplies stored at home, with a smaller travel size kit in the car and at school.  Besides your Earthquake bag your kit should include: cash, medications, extra clothing, spare glasses or contacts.  Here is a worksheet on putting together your disaster kit.  Here is a detailed discussion about cash.

Part of preparation is making sure that major thoroughfares in the house are safe.  When an earthquake happens children will run to their parents bedroom.  Is this path safe?  Are there pictures on the wall that could fall and break glass on the floor?  Are the furnishing secured so there will be a clear path for the children?  Related to this is making sure that everyone has shoes under their bed and a flashlight in an accessible location.  Everyone should be trained to put on shoes and find their flashlight before moving around the house.  Stepping on broken glass and other obstacles is very bad for bare feet.

Required preparation items include:

  • Water: Water storage and filtering is critical for your health and survival and a more complete description of it is here.
  • Food: Food is important because without it you get hungry and very irritable.  In an earthquake roads and electricity could be damaged, delaying the transportation of food supplies. You should have at least 2 weeks of food on hand.  More details on food are found here.
  • First aid supplies: In any disaster the medical establishment will be overwhelmed with the injured.  You might need to treat non-life threatening injuries yourself for the first few days.

Important items include:

  • Power supply: in any disaster the power could go out and be off for several days.  How will you recharge your cell phone?  What about batteries for your flashlights? More detailed information about power is here.
  • Light:  Everyone will want their own light.  Expect your loved ones to have flashbacks and panic attacks after for days after the earthquake.  Light is very comforting and will help the children find you when they are having a bad night.
  • Stove: You have stored food – how will you cook it?  If you need to boil water how will you do so?  Having a stove could be really handy because even canned food tastes better warm then cold from the can.

Optional items include: Sleeping bag, tent, and fire starter.

 

Step 4: Drop, cover, and hold on

Remember that where ever you are your environment will be trying to kill you.  Try to stay calm and be safe. If inside a building stay indoors. Learn to drop under cover and hold on.  Cover could be a desk or table.  I have heard you should take shelter in doorways, but friends who have done this during an earthquake tell me the door then beats them to pieces.  So be forewarned about doorways that include a door. If nothing else is available duck and cover your head by a hallway wall. Hallways are safer than rooms. Do not leave the building because it is possible for building parts to come off and fall during an earthquake or an aftershock.

If outdoors move to an open area away from buildings, trees, power lines, and moving traffic. If driving pull over if you can do so safely. Avoid driving on overpasses and avoid power lines. If a power line comes down on your car stay put. If you touch the ground and car at the same time (by getting out) you will ground yourself and get shocked. You should never touch a metal object that has power lines touching it.

 

Step 5: Check it out

First make sure that you survived the beating.  An earthquake is all about the world around you trying to beat and smash you.  Did you survive it intact?  Next check the other people in your house or location.  Any serious injuries?  After the people (I count my dog in the people category) check all gas outlets.  Do you smell gas?  If you smell gas be sure to turn off the gas to the house.  If you do not smell gas (and check again after a couple hours) you should not turn your gas off.  My friends who lived through earthquakes warned me that turning the gas off requires the gas company to come out and turn it back on.  This could be weeks after the earthquake.  They also said that some people did not wait and turned the gas on themselves.  Those that missed lighting a pilot light were greeted with an explosion once the gas from the unlit pilot light built up and exploded.

After the earthquake you may evacuate the building. Move far enough away so that if it collapses you will not be affected.

The last point about surviving through an earthquake is self-protection.  This is optional and is left up to the individual.

More detailed information in the blog:

News and information:

Flood

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The scariest thing about a flood, whether it be from a river, storm surge, or hurricane, is that you might be asked to evacuate and the potential loss of your home and possessions.  Hopefully you will have a day warning, but even that is not enough time to get ready if you have procrastinated.  There are steps you can do to minimize the emotional trauma surrounding an evacuation and potential loss of property.  These are the steps to follow in order to prepare you and your family for this eventuality.

Step 1: Be Informed.

Pay attention to weather conditions in your area. If you live next to a river the flood stage typically starts upstream and flows down, allowing you to track the progression of the flood waters. If you live in a flood plain you should be aware of this and pay attention to weather warnings as appropriate.

Step 2: Prepare a Disaster Kit.

There is stuff you are going to need regardless of whether you have to evacuate or not. Most of this will not be available if you do not plan ahead of time. Full description of the disaster kit is here. This should be packed in a suitcase, backpack, or other easy to lift and carry container. Storing your disaster kit in bags or having it together in a pile in the garage in inadequate because you may have to leave in a hurry, or in a worse case scenario you may have to walk out with only what you can carry. Study the potential for a flood in your area and prepare accordingly.

 

Required items include: Water, Water filters, Food, and First aid supplies.

Important items include: Power supply , source of Light , and a stove or some way to heat food.

Optional items include: Sleeping bag, tent, and fire starter

 

 

Step 3: Prepare a plan.

Your plan should be customized to your family and situation.  You should share your plan with family and friends who might be part of your plan.  If you live in coastal or low-lying area, an area that floods frequently, on in manufacture housing you will probably be asked to evacuate, otherwise staying in your home is an option.

News and Information:

Flood kit worksheet

Current Hurricanes or Tropical storms

Current Weather Warnings

FEMA Flood page

FEMA Hurricane page

Tornado

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How to prepare and survive a tornado.

Required preparation items include:

  • Water: Water storage and filtering is critical for your health and survival and a more complete description of it is here.
  • Food: Food is important because without it you get hungry and very irritable. In an tornado roads and electricity could be damaged, delaying the transportation of food supplies. You should have at least 2 weeks of food on hand. More details on food are found here.
  • First aid supplies: In any disaster the medical establishment will be overwhelmed with the injured. You might need to treat non-life threatening injuries yourself for the first few days.

Important items include:

  • Power supply: in any disaster the power could go out and be off for several days. How will you recharge your cell phone? What about batteries for your flashlights? More detailed information about power is here.
  • Light: Everyone will want their own light. Expect your loved ones to have flashbacks and panic attacks after for days after the earthquake. Light is very comforting and will help the children find you when they are having a bad night.
  • Stove: You have stored food – how will you cook it? If you need to boil water how will you do so? Having a stove could be really handy because even canned food tastes better warm then cold from the can.

Optional items include: Sleeping bag, tent, and fire starter.

 

 

News and Information:

Current Weather Warnings – see if there are any tornado watches in your area.

Prepare for tornadoes – Information from CDC on being prepared for tornadoes.

56 years of tornados Is a map containing the tornados in the US over the last 56 years. Quite interesting.

Pandemic

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In todays globalized world the chance of a severe pandemic striking are high. Any form of pandemic is survivable – if you and your family are prepared. Preparing for a pandemic involves following a few not so simple steps ;) .

Step 1: Prepare Supplies

All pandemics will end, the key is to be able to survive in a quarantine environment until it does.  This could be up to 3 months!  So you need to store enough supplies to avoid going shopping for this time.  There may be a quarantine in place, or because of supply disruptions the stores may be empty.  Because of this a key part of your preparation includes storing at least 3 months of food and water.  This includes a water filter so you can purify water as required.  Other things to consider are storing enough drugs (prescription, nonprescription) and other health supplies on hand, including pain relievers, stomach remedies, cough and cold medicines, fluids with electrolytes, and vitamins.  Plan on dealing with infected people and stock up on rubber gloves, N-95 masks, plastic sheeting, duct tape, and clorox.

Planning for a pandemic is just common sense. Scientist warn that in the event of any pandemic it could be six months or more before a vaccine can be manufactured. What will you do in this time lag?

Something critical that some people do not want to think about is the importance of self protection. Depending on where you live this could be the difference between life and death. How many people do you know that have stored adequate supplies for a pandemic? What will these people do when their meager supplies run out? If home invasions are increasing now because of the economy, what will happen during a pandemic? Better to prepare for events that don’t happen then to not prepare and have them occur.

Step 2: Prepare a Plan

  • Talk with family members and loved ones about how they would be cared for if they got sick, or what will be needed to care for them in your home.
  • Volunteer with local groups to prepare and assist with emergency response.
  • Get involved in your community as it works to prepare for an influenza pandemic.

Step 3: Education

 
Step 4: Prepare your kit

Required preparation items include:

  • Water: Water storage and filtering is critical for your health and survival and a more complete description of it is here.
  • Food: Food is important because without it you get hungry and very irritable. In an pandemic electricity may go out because of lack of service personal, transportation of food supplies could also be affected for the same reason. You should have at least 3 months of food on hand in order to avoid human contact until the pandemic burns itself out. More details on food are found here.
  • First aid supplies: In any disaster the medical establishment will be overwhelmed with the injured. This will be worse in a pandemic. Hospitals are not a safe place to go if you can avoid it. There tends to be lots of sick people in hospitals (duh). You might need to treat non-life threatening injuries yourself or risk going to the hospital and catching whatever virus is causing the pandemic.

Important items include:

  • Power supply: in any disaster the power could go out and be off for several days. How will you recharge your cell phone? What about batteries for your flashlights? More detailed information about power is here.
  • Light: Everyone will want their own light. Expect your loved ones to have flashbacks and panic attacks after for days after the earthquake. Light is very comforting and will help the children find you when they are having a bad night.
  • Stove: You have stored food – how will you cook it? If you need to boil water how will you do so? Having a stove could be really handy because even canned food tastes better warm then cold from the can.

Optional items include: Sleeping bag, tent, and fire starter.

 

Step 5: Prevent Infection
Limit the spread of germs and prevent infection by following these guidelines:

  • Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.
  • If possible, stay home from work, school, and errands when you are sick. You will help prevent others from catching your illness. Yes I know, your mother always taught you to share, but a pandemic is one of those things you really should not share with others, unless it is with someone you don’t like ;) .
  • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick.
  • Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.
  • Practice other good health habits. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food (sorry, but twinkies are NOT nutritious food).

 

 

News and Information:

Recent Outbreaks (from CDC)

FEMA Pandemic page
Pandemic preparedness information and training from PandemicPreparedness.org.

EMP – Electromagnetic Pulse

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What is it?

Briefly, a single nuclear weapon exploded at high altitude above the United States will interact with the Earth’s atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetic field to produce an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) radiating down to the Earth and additionally create electrical currents in the Earth. EMP effects are both direct and indirect. The former are due to electromagnetic “shocking” of electronics and stressing of electrical systems, and the latter arise from the damage that “shocked”—upset, damaged, and destroyed—electronics controls then inflict on the systems in which they are embedded. The indirect effects can be even more severe than the direct effects.

How likely is it?

Several potential adversaries have or can acquire the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse (EMP). A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication.
EMP is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences. EMP will cover the wide geographic region within line of sight to the nuclear weapon. It has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures and thus to the very fabric of US society, as well as to the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power.
The common element that can produce such an impact from EMP is primarily electronics, so pervasive in all aspects of our society and military, coupled through critical infrastructures. Our vulnerability is increasing daily as our use of and dependence on electronics continues to grow. The impact of EMP is asymmetric in relation to potential protagonists who are not as dependent on modern electronics.

What are the impacts?

Cars (all current cars are computer operated), computers, electronics, etc are all susceptible.  If these go out our infrastructure breaks down.  Transportation of food and other supplies stop.  Electricity stops.  One report stated that while a nuclear war was expected to have 10-20 million deaths (from the explosions and fallout), there could be 60-100 million more deaths within the following 6 months due to food and medicine shortages.

The Congressional EMP Commission estimated that, given current U.S. unpreparedness, one year after an EMP attack, about two-thirds of the U.S. population, 200 million people, would have perished from starvation, disease, or societal collapse.

An event like an EMP blast is a non trivial thing to prepare for. Large sections of the country will be affected and it could be many months before help can arrive. With this in mind required items to include are:

  • Food: unlike short term disasters you need to prepare enough food to survive for months. It could easily be 6 – 12 months before thing start to get back to normal. What will you eat during this time?
  • Water: access to clean water is crucial for your health. There is no way to store enough of it directly, how will you find water and make it drinkable?
  • First aid: you will need to handle first aid emergencies for an extended period of time. Do you have enough knowledge and supplies for this?
  • Protection: those around you are civilized at the moment, but what if they are dying? How will they act then?
  • Community: this is not something you can go through alone. You need to get your friends and neighbors on board. If you prepare a year of food and your neighbors do nothing, what will you do when they ask you for help?
  • Power: just because the world will be without power does not mean you have to. Prepare solar power fodr your needs and then protect your electronics in a faraday cage. A faraday cage protects the electronics inside from the effects of an EMP blast.

 

News and information:

 

Zombie Apocalypse

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Our world is a very interesting place.  Read the news and learn about earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear accidents, bird flu, war, nuclear threats, bio-attacks, economic depression.  These are all potential events that could break upon us.  What are we to do?  What do you prepare for?  Most if not all of these scenarios are scary and depressing to think about.  Yet you better not ignore them – everyone should do some minimum preparation.  We have decided to prepare for a zombie apocalypse because, being zombie fans, it is more interesting to plan for than any of the other options.  Besides, if you are prepared for a zombie apocalypse you are prepared for anything, so prepare for a zombie apocalypse.  It is actually entertaining to think about and there are tons of movies detailing what may happen.   This site is dedicated to helping people prepare for this zombie apocalypse.  Read the blogs, think about what you would do under these circumstances, and be sure to get ready.  No one knows what is coming, but someday something will hit you.  Will you be ready?

As any zombie fan knows, once the zombie apocalypse happens our world will be a very different place.  Over time large areas will become “danger zones”.  Zombies will infest these zones and anyone living there will be in great danger.  Most will either flee or become a zombie happy meal.  Conversely there will be “safe” areas defended by the human inhabitants.  These will be areas where the zombies have been eradicated and life will be fairly normal.  Outside of these safe areas Zombies will rule.   Humans finding themselves in danger zones will eventually need to escape to the safe areas.  This will be a dangerous and potentially long journey.

The safe areas will be sending out patrols with the goal of finding these people, protecting and escorting them to the safe area.  Everyone will be trying to avoid the zombies.  Think “I am Legend” or “The Book of Eli” to picture what it might be like.

When the Zombie Apocalypse hits do not lose hope.  We will survive and live to rebuild society.  There will be blogs about: preparing, specific roles to consider, safe areas, navigating through the danger areas, and other aspects of preparing for and surviving in the Zombie Apocalypse.  Bookmark the site and be sure to come back and get updated on how the zombie apocalypse may unfold and what you should do to prepare for it.

Enjoy, and may we still be humans after all this breaks out.

The zombie apocalypse will morph through four distinct phases.  Knowing the phases and how to prepare for them is important to your chances of survival.  Be prepared not food ;)

Phase 1: the initial outbreak.

Phase 2: consolidation of humans.

Phase 3: wait it out.

Phase 4: rebuild society.

 

News and information:

Map of the undead: a map with survival related stores mapped out.  Kinda cool so check it out.

Overview

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There is so much uncertainty in the world. So many natural disasters occurring. What could happen in your area? What should you prepare your family for? Will they be safe? The following pages contain information on preparing for specific emergencies that could happen to you. Select the ones that are applicable and get prepared.