How to talk to your kids about disaster

I came across this post and thought I would guest post it for your reading.  Preparing and not explaining to your kids what could happen could cause more problems, consequently explaining above their comprehension level could cause a problem.  

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disaster_dave

Make a Plan Redux

What did you do this weekend while watching the folks in NJ? My wife turned to me and said "Its been awhile since we looked at our plan and stuff, I would feel better if we took some time this weekend and refreshed."  And she was right. So what did we do:

1. Pulled out our food go bag and dusted it off (it was pretty dusty too) checked the dates on the food, went through the bag to refresh in our minds what was in it. Got her go-kit from the car and checked it.  
2. Then we went in the kitchen and took food out of the cabinet and looked at the food in the freezer and figured out how many days of food we have. My wife pointed out a few things she wishes we had in the cabinet.  I told her then we need to make that a permanent food stuff we buy.  I don't want to store food, it goes bad, better to work it through your meal planning.  We talked about keeping the freezer closed, but cooking the meat first and saving the cans for later.  Luckily we have a gas stove, while its not a for sure that there will be gas, depending on the disaster but its better than electricity.  (Note: just as an added note we talked about not heating the air with the burners- my wife is not an emergency manager)
3. Then we talked about our evacuation plan, our out of state contacts, how to get to the airport without the freeways in play. Our in Seattle locations to meet and/or leave messages.
4. Looked at our red packages where we keep cash and important documents we can pull and run with.
5. The last thing we did was check our document on the web.  We both have important documents (DD214, Insurance forms, Copies of passports, mortgage numbers, etc) scanned and placed in a couple of secure online locations.  One is Drop box, the other is a email account with a tough password (not my pet or place I was born) 

So now its your turn, lets learn from what we are watching in NJ and make sure we are ready.  Lead by Example.  Then forward to your non - emergency manegement friends and family.

Disasterdave

Falling into Fall

Well if you live in the Northwest like I do, we have fallen into fall, Monday was sunny and 70, by Weds it was grey and raining.  Don't get me wrong, I like the rain in the Northwest; but falling into fall is followed by slipping through winter.  So lets take a couple of minutes this Sunday to prepare.

Car- Make sure you have a blanket in the trunk, along with a change of warm clothes (Think walking in the snow or pouring rain wearing a dress or suit pants- brrr) Shoes you can walk in the snow or ice in; if you are a bus rider, put those items at work.  A couple bottles of water and maybe a snack.  Something we have in our car is a charger for our phones, Ipad and computer.  Not only if stranded but also if power goes out.

House/Condo/Apt - Deck furniture put away if it might blow into a window or the street. Plants, winterized.
Check your downspout for blockage, then follow the run off pattern to the street and make sure your local drain is uncovered.  If it has a lot of stuff in it, call the city and tell them it might be stopped up.

Indoors- Prepare for power outages. What is your plan for extended power outages if they happen. Do you have a fire place? Generators? (you know to not run them indoors or near air intakes - right)
Friends who might have power?  A list of hotels that take pets nearby?

So even though its not too bad out now, think about the last snow storm (Jan last year for the Northwest) and prepare while it is nice out.

Happy Fall
DisasterDave

WHY DO WE WAIT?

Why do we wait? The question all of us in Emergency management think about. Your turn; what can we do to get you to prepare Before disaster strikes?  Tell me what you want to know? What guidance do you need?

st-bernard-disaster-ready-model-after-06-earthquake

This will be a backwards Blog, your turn, email me at dave@disasterdave.com

Disaster_dave

Do you have an evacuation plan? Written Down

About two years ago I wrote an emergency plan for the residents of the building we live in; I wanted to make sure they had something to start from since in a big disaster I will be busy.  After reading this article, I think I need to see if anyone has moved forward.
 Evacuation Plan

Have you written a simple evacuation plan for your family?  Of course you will be there to lead the evacuation you have in your mind, but what if you aren't home?Things to think about?

• When to evacuate? And When not to?
• Where should you go? What if its raining? Or snowing?
• What to take? Do you have a go bag by the door?
• Contact list? - Someone to take you in? Hotel? Insurance agent? Other Family?

Don't get bogged down, look out your front & backdoor. Pick a place to meet that is close, but out of danger from the hazard (Fire, flood)
Try not to cross busy roads.
Don't make it immediately in front, you'll be in the Fire Departments way.

Do this today. One page should do it.
PS: if you are in a condo or duplex or Apartment, share with neighbors

 Disaster_Dave

Solar Storm

Imagine something so powerful it can knock out communications and the power grid… and you can’t see it!   I know that is why I have been holding off writing this blog post, it sounds like science fiction.  But in fact it has happened.  In 1989 a Quebec power grid went down causing millions of dollars damage.  A Solar Storm on the sun caused this financial disaster.

On the plus side these solar storms (Sunspots) cause beautiful auroras in the Northern skies.

Even FEMA is thinking about what to do about this hazard.  Why is this important?  A large event could damage our electrical infrastructure badly; and we aren’t talking about replacing fuses.  These are large electrical parts that are not kept around for replacement because they are so costly. 

So what do we as folks on the ground do? Unfortunately I am not sure there is much we can do; the world we live in runs on solid-state electronics; our cars, I-phones, Radio, pretty much everything.  While its true you could protect your I-phone from EMP by taking steps you can find on the Internet.  But if no one else does and the Power grid is down…

You can read and become informed, start with the links in this article.

You can make sure your elected officials know this is important.

Sometimes being aware is the best thing you can do.

disaster-dave

Disasters are never easy

By now you must have figured out that I am not a prepper who focuses on “TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt” (EOTWAWKI), there are plenty of people blogging about that out there.  I try to think practically about the everyday disaster.

 

A very important event happened recently that calls into question how our country can handle a disaster of infrastructure.  The East coast suffered a debilitating storm that brought high winds that uprooted trees, smashed houses and damaged our electrical infrastructure.  In our nations capitol region 90% of the folks who lost power won’t get it back for 7 days says Pepco (the local electric Company). But even worse, Verizon who handles 911 calls was down with no fall back, and no real explanation.  

So now you are thinking, but we pay lots of money in taxes, how could our nations capitol area be so impacted? What if this was really bad; like a terror attack or a bigger quake than they had last year, or a hurricane? 

So, what should you do to not be affected by this type event?

You can plan! Do you have a generator? Do you know how to use it safely?  Do you have a plan for refueling it? (no electricity generally means no gas stations) Do you have water? Do you have an evacuation plan to leave the area ?   

Yes leave!  If you don’t have power for a week, that means no fans, air-conditioning (or heat), you probably can’t cook , your refrigerator will not keep food cold, and a whole host of other problems. Now is a good time to take a vacation, visit the family.  
If you can't leave, look for cooling/warming (seasonal) on the Red Cross website, or local emergency management website. 

But no matter what, seriously, have a plan.  Disasters are hard, but they much less difficult if you have a plan.

disaster_dave