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Are you ready for the "Big
One"???
With all the little quakes we've
had in the desert and surrounding areas lately, it got us thinking about
being prepared for one that really shakes us up. We did some research and
came up with this list of things you can do to protect you and your family.
The best way for any of us to survive an
earthquake is to have a plan, be prepared, and make sure that everyone close
to you is on the proverbial same page.
Create an emergency phone list and keep
it in your wallet. You may not be able to charge your cell phone to have
access to those numbers and you might not be at the same place as your
personal phone book or day runner when the emergency strikes. Make sure your
family has a copy of this list. People on this list should include at least
one (if not more) out of the area contacts. If phone lines are down in the
desert, having someone out of the area to call can keep you and yours in
touch until you can all get together. If you have small children, laminate
your list and put it in one of your child's shoes...make copies and put them
in every pair if you can.
Also, when everyone else is trying to use their cell phone to call for help
or to check on family and friends, they may choke the frequency. Oftentimes
a text message will get through when a call can't.
Decide on a place to meet if a
devastating earthquake strikes while everyone is at work and/or school.
Sometimes "home" is not the best place.
We all learned in school to "duck & cover"
in an emergency, right? As an FYI, we've read a controversial article called
the
Triangle of Life on how to survive an earthquake that totally junks that
theory. The author has been slammed on Snopes.com for it, but some of the
theories make sense to us. We aren't going to tell you what to do, we're
just sharing information we've gotten - you can and must make your own
decision about what to do.
Link to
FEMA's Earthquake Advice
Link to American Red Cross Earthquake Advice
Link
to American Red Cross rebuttal to the Triangle of Life
Link to
Earthquake Country (lots of earthquake safety links)
Although gas is outrageously expensive,
don't let your car get less than half full. If you have to leave the desert,
you want to make sure you have enough gas to get where you're going. Gas
pumps won't work if there's no power. If you are storing gas at home, put a
fuel stabilizer in the can and fill it as full as possible - you want to
avoid condensation.
Create a spot in your garage, next to
an exterior wall, where you can stockpile emergency supplies. Use tubs with
lids and stack it/them on the sturdiest metal rack you can afford. If walls
collapse, you won't have as much rubble to sift through to get to your
things & the rack should protect the tubs from being crushed.
Best idea we've heard of is to dig a very large/deep hole in your back yard.
Place a large trash can (with lid) in the hole. Place your supplies in the
trash can, cover the top of it with plastic, put the lid on, then fill the
hole back up. Your supplies will keep fresher longer because they'll stay
cooler and away from air. But, once every 16 months we suggest you dig it up
and replace some of the perishables...just to be on the safe side!
Much of our emergency stuff is packed in a truck box...it's solid metal (it's OLD)
and we're guessing it will withstand pretty much anything that falls on it!
Boxes
that cat litter comes in make great outdoor storage bins for emergency
tools & protective gear. Consider putting some garbage bags, old shoes (one
pair for each person), pry bar, gas shut off tool, wrench or pliers &
hammer, N95 dust masks, long life water packets, and work gloves in it and
store it somewhere outside, away from your house. If everything falls down
and you need to get to something that may be inside your house, you'll have
the bare minimum to help you get to it.
Don't forget that you might be in your vehicle
when the big one hits. Make room for a small emergency kit and keep it in
your vehicle at all times. Basics in a car kit: Emergency Food Bars (have a
5 year shelf life), Long Term Water Packets (bags or boxed), BandAids/Gauze
and something to use as a sling or compression dressing (old clean t-shirt
works...use your knife to cut it up), neosporin type ointment, small sewing
kit, flashlight w/ extra batteries, N95 Dust Masks, large trash bags, water
purification bottle, envelope filled with small bills - as much as you can
afford to put aside), Swiss Army Knife, lighter, and a small amount of OTC
meds (allergy, ibuprofen, etc) and an Instant Cold Pack. And don't forget
any animals that may travel in your vehicle with you - have a small supply
of food & water for them too. Pack all of this in a small cooler.
Because Halle was a Girl Scout leader for
so many years, we got into being prepared for pretty much anything that a
bunch of young girls could do. We looked at all our
packing lists and found that most everything we needed while camping was
basically the best stuff to keep in our survival box. Of course there's a
few extras that would be overkill on a camping trip...
Here's our list of "must haves" in our
survival box:
Cash - in small denominations and as much as you can afford to put aside.
When electricity goes
kaputsky, so do ATM's, cash registers, etc.
Flashlight(s) - one per person
AM/FM radio - battery with a backup handcrank is best
Batteries - for flashlight(s) and radio (do NOT store batteries in the
flashlight or radio)
First Aid Kit - include a supply of prescription RX's
Dust masks (Rated N95)
Safety Goggles
Water bottles - sealed from the store - 1 gallon per person per day for 3
days minimum suggested
Water purification tablets and/or self contained water purifier bottles
Hand Sanitizer - one bottle per person
Toilet paper - it's the little things that count!
Paper Towel roll
Baby Wipes - large dispenser box (for wiping your hands, face, and other
parts)
Blankets - one per family member
Washcloths (can be used as a cooling compress, to clean, or to use as part of a
compression dressing)
Fire starter kit (best one has magnesium as a fire starter)
Canned food - especially meat (protein), Freeze Dried food,
Powdered milk
Can opener
Sewing kit (include at least one spool of nylon thread - like fishing line
but thinner - very handy stuff...a curved needle too)
Clothes pins (very handy for privacy curtains)
Swiss army knife - one with lots of tools - one per person is best.
Tools: Wrench or pliers, hammer, prybar or large screwdriver, gas shut off
tool
Garbage bags (small & extra large), Ziplock bags (quart & gallon size)
Large tarp or a couple small ones
Pre-wrapped moist towelettes
Whistles
Socks & flipflops (in case you don't grab shoes on the way out of the
house). Instead of throwing out your
old tennis shoes, put them in with your survival kit.
If you have suggestions to add to this
list...email them to us and we'll post them here (giving you credit of
course!).
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