Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Topic started by: Dio on October 01, 2015, 11:28:11 PM

Title: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Dio on October 01, 2015, 11:28:11 PM

What have you done recently to prepare for emergencies in your area? The major natural concerns in our area include Earthquakes, Flash Flooding, Fires, and excessive Heat. The government suggests at the bare minimum that people should have three extra days of food and water for each member in the household. In addition to the food and water, people should have a plan that explains the role and materials needed in case of an evacuation. The plan should include the location of multiple routes out of your area that lead to your agreed upon evacuation points. Each individual or group should have a long distance contact that they can head towards if an evacuation is ordered. The family or individual should also keep all supplies readily accessible and maintained to the current time. Additional supplies that should have a place in your kit include copies of important documents, spare medication (if needed), food for any pets, spare clothing to meet the needs of expected weather throughout the year, first aid materials, and maps that provide detailed information of your area. The plans should receive tailoring to the hazards that will most likely occur in your specific area and to the needs of the individual or group. As an example, the plan to weather an earthquake would look different from the plan to weather a tornado. This further appears as the plan to meet the needs of a family with five members would look different than the plan that addresses the needs of an individual living by themselves. What portions of the above list have you completed? How much, if any, have you expanded on the above? What additional suggestions about supplies might you recommend? What suggestions about particular brands might you include? What creative ideas have you come across to address the above or additional needs? How does your plan generally operate? How does your family store supplies? The above questions only provide suggestions to start this discussion and obviously do not include all possible discussion points.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Dio on October 01, 2015, 11:37:42 PM

The major additional concerns that result from earthquakes in my area include Tsunamis (seismic sea waves), mass wasting (land slides, debris flows), and fires from damaged infrastructure. The human related issues include looting and other crimes. A few more possible discussion points follow this sentence. What types of additional hazards present themselves in your area? What procedures does your city or area plan to implement in the event of an emergency?

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Dio on October 01, 2015, 11:41:39 PM

A potential natural disaster could occur on the east coast this week due to the presence of Hurricane Joaquin. It obviously is almost too late for people that have not prepared for it at this point, but this hurrican serves as decent reminder about the need to recongize and to prepare for natural hazards that frequently impact the area you live.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 01, 2015, 11:47:14 PM

Incidentally, if I'm not around Sunday, we probably lost power and I'm having a bad day, but probably nothing to get worked up about.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 01, 2015, 11:52:46 PM

- I'm talking about Hurricane Joaquin, of course.  It's almost surely not coming this far west by a couple hundred miles, and the only major concern for us is already had over 5" of rain in a week - people in flood zones could have a REALLY bad weekend, but we're on a hillside far from any flood zone.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Dio on October 01, 2015, 11:54:28 PM

Another important aspect of preparing yourself for emergencies is to include frequent practice of skills associated with the natural disasters in your area. This might include becoming familiar with the location of areas near your house or workplace that might provide safety in the case of flash flooding. Another example of this particular safety knowledge includes knowing the location of houses and neighbors in yor area that have cellars or basements you can use to ride out a tornado. A third example might include knowing safe locations to protect yourself from lighting strikes during a storm.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 02, 2015, 12:15:36 AM

A resourceful can-do Uno attitude is a big plus, of course, and worth more than a lot of supplies would be...

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Dio on October 02, 2015, 12:15:45 AM

The most signficant issues presented by signficant rainfall in our region is the tendency towards mass wasting after fires remove vegetation from hillsides. This particular issue presents itself in mountainous or hilly communities in our region because of the man-made drainage required in those neighborhoods.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 02, 2015, 12:19:43 AM

Our yard was shaped far more by God than bulldozers, and isn't all that steep.  Nothing's impossible, but I'm not very worried about that one.

-Our power comes from southeast of here in territory in much more danger, though, so that is a concern.  We'd be in no danger, but it's very annoying to have to make do without our electronics for longer than a few minutes...

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Dio on October 02, 2015, 12:23:05 AM

Quote from: BUncle on October 02, 2015, 12:19:43 AM

Our yard was shaped far more by God than bulldozers, and isn't all that steep.  Nothing's impossible, but I'm not very worried about that one.

-Our power comes from southeast of here in territory in much more danger, though, so that is a concern.  We'd be in no danger, but it's very annoying to have to make do without our electronics for longer than a few minutes...

A potential solution to that problem presents itself in the form of generators to supply essential electronics during power outages. The negative affects of extended power outages include loss of food stored in refrigerators and freezers. This loss of food can actually cost a family or an individual a signficant sum of money.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Dio on October 02, 2015, 12:26:23 AM

Quote from: BUncle on October 02, 2015, 12:15:36 AM

A resourceful can-do Uno attitude is a big plus, of course, and worth more than a lot of supplies would be...

Improvisation requires materials to allow an individual to employ this attitude in a meaningful manner.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 02, 2015, 12:29:22 AM

We do have a generator - and I even figured out how Mom can run it on the carport and run a line inside without it being a major production.

Tools and supplies/materials all over the place, I assure you.

I'm a little paranoid, and making paranoid just-in-case plans is almost fun...

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Dio on October 02, 2015, 12:34:10 AM

Quote from: BUncle on October 02, 2015, 12:29:22 AM

We do have a generator - and I even figured out how Mom can run it on the carport and run a line inside without it being a major production.

Tools and supplies/materials all over the place, I assure you.

I'm a little paranoid, and making paranoid just-in-case plans is almost fun...

That particular issue remains pertinent in this situation because generators must always have a ventilated location outside the dwelling. If the generator remains inside, than the generator can potentially cause CO or CO2 poisoning to the inhabitants of said dwelling.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 02, 2015, 12:38:30 AM

Yes, of course - thus the plan to run it outside under shelter; it's not a closed garage.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Dio on October 02, 2015, 12:46:43 AM

I also cannot stress enough the importance of having an NOAA battery or crank powered radio on hand to access information about weather forecasts and updates on hazards.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: ColdWizard on October 02, 2015, 04:19:26 AM

Complacency. We don't get major natural disasters here. The last earthquake was the 5.8 in 2011 which did almost nothing. Hurricane Isabel knocked out power to parts of the county in 2003. The last tornado in the county did less damage than the downbursts caused by the same thunderstorm. Pavement and concrete don't burn well. It's not summer so no heat. It's not winter so no rare blizzards. The last major power outage was overnight and probably lasted less than 6 hours, however many years ago that was.

We do have food and water for at least 3 days though.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Lorizael on October 02, 2015, 04:41:29 AM

Okay, so I've just been assuming that Monday will be a little wet. Am I supposed to be worried about this hurricane thing?

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 02, 2015, 04:51:53 AM

I think it's too early to tell.  Probably ought to be watching the weather Saturday, though.

It was up to a Cat.4 this afternoon, but they don't even know within several hundred miles what track it'll take yet.  I guess a lot depends on how far inland you are.  They don't amount to much that far north, usually...

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Lorizael on October 02, 2015, 05:20:00 AM

I'm 30 miles west of the Chesapeake and 100 miles west of the Atlantic, so that should be inland enough for anything less than an asteroid impact megatsunami.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 02, 2015, 05:24:59 AM

Yeah.  Watch the weather Saturday. ;nod  One probable course is heading up the coast.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 02, 2015, 06:36:55 PM

Quote from: Lorizael on October 02, 2015, 05:20:00 AM

I'm 30 miles west of the Chesapeake and 100 miles west of the Atlantic, so that should be inland enough for anything less than an asteroid impact megatsunami.

I disagree.

  I grew up in Central Pennsylvania. Hurricane Agnes in '72. Big problem. Some areas got 15 inches of rain. That can make a creek materialize on a hilltop. Along the rivers, where they like to build power plants for easy cooling, or rail or barge access to coal, because railroads followed the rivers rather than cut their own paths through the mountains, and population centers were built there when rivers were transportation- they had extreme flooding. Power plant immersion flooding. Some areas had no power for three weeks. NOT GOOD. People die. Stuff gets destroyed. Water and sewer plants go offline.

  Luckily, it happened in June when the weather was warm, instead of October at the end of the hurricane season. Most heating systems have electrical controls, or fans or pumps, and can't work without it. Most petro fuel tanks need electricity to pump out. So it's not as simple as saying- I have a generator. Does the gas station? Does the oil distributor? Solar to electric wasn't a thing then, but I can tell you even if you had it, when a Hurricane/tropical storm is parked off the coast- Ain't no sunshine. The people that lived along those sections of the river sort of adopted a camping lifestyle for a while.

You think of the intensity of the winds in a hurricane- because that's the defining characteristic. You think of the coastal storm surge- because it's so dramatically destructive. Or maybe the spin-off tornadoes. But the death and destruction can add up with the inland flooding, flash and conventional. Iirc, when I looked it up at the time Katrina, I think Agnes was still #4 in terms of adjusted dollars of damage.

I bet Buncle respects hurricanes, simply because his North Carolina kind of sticks out and gets hit by most of the north bound ones.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 02, 2015, 07:00:07 PM

It took several years to completely clean up after Hugo...

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: ColdWizard on October 02, 2015, 07:08:32 PM

Too much money/power/influence in the DC area for things to be messed up for very long for anything short of a catastrophe. Assuming Lorizael lives close enough to the beltway and not out in the boonies.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 02, 2015, 08:42:39 PM

I agree with Cold Wizard about Baltimore/DC. They'd summon the aircraft carriers to provide power and water. I'm not trying to make anyone worry, I just want them to think a little more seriously about emergency preparedness. I'm not talking survivalist stuff. What would you do for 2 or 3 days if you couldn't leave your home or if you lost utilities?

Hurricanes are serious business. Don't blow them off.

Another problem we had in PA sometimes was blizzards. Too much precipitation, only in the winter. It would be normal to get a couple of big snows, about 18 inches, one during the winter, and one around the 1st of March when the air was warm enough to  hold a lot of moisture. Places get used to dealing with normal weather. The governor might temporarily close roads for a blizzard like that or larger, just to make it easier for the DoT to do it's job without traffic and tow trucks in the way.

Further south in DC, they become incapacitated with a lot less snow, because they don't have the equipment to deal with it, and drivers don't have any experience.   What would happen if one of those 18 inch snows hit 100 or 150 miles further south than normal?

Other stuff could happen that isn't a natural disaster. Disease outbreaks or prison breakouts could force people to stay home for a time.

When I get time, I'll tell you about my present situation , challenges, and preparations.



Do you think people would riot when their cell phones stopped working?

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Lorizael on October 03, 2015, 02:01:08 AM

I have a lot of ramen for some reason. If I become trapped in my house, I can probably make a raft out of the noodles.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 03, 2015, 02:01:39 AM

One bit of emergency prep I just did fer realz in case of hurricane - I made a cigarette run a day or two early.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Dio on October 03, 2015, 02:09:35 AM

Quote from: BUncle on October 03, 2015, 02:01:39 AM

One bit of emergency prep I just did fer realz in case of hurricane - I made a cigarette run a day or two early.

Smoking is a nasty, expensive habit with negative long-term side effects. You should consider kicking it to the curb quickly.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 03, 2015, 02:13:22 AM

;wince

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Dio on October 03, 2015, 02:17:11 AM

Quote from: BUncle on October 03, 2015, 02:13:22 AM

;wince

Why do you fear the truth? In order to see something, you have to open your eyes even if it is painful. I only mention this out of concern about the health of the individual. The above individual can ignore my advice if they choose since it is not my life.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 03, 2015, 02:22:53 AM

The assumption that you're not the 9,000th person to tell me something I've known all my life is both boring and insultingly boorish.  You will receive no further acknowledgement on this subject from me.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 04, 2015, 12:02:58 AM

I just checked the CNN website, and it looks like the hurricane isn't even going to skim the coast.  Bad news for Bermuda, though.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 04, 2015, 12:24:59 AM

I just looked at The Weather Channel. In short, the dire forecasts haven't materialized. On the other hand, in my travels today, there were sudden losses of visibility in the rain and clouds crossing the Appalachian tops. But mostly, it's been merely a pain in the joints so far.

http://www.weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/hurricane-joaquin-bahamas-atlantic-east-coast-bermuda-2015 (http://www.weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/hurricane-joaquin-bahamas-atlantic-east-coast-bermuda-2015)
"Regardless of the ultimate outcome of Joaquin's path, portions of the East Coast states will still see multiple impacts from the evolving large-scale weather pattern, including flooding rainfall, coastal flooding, high surf, beach erosion, and gusty winds. These threats will extend well inland from the Atlantic coast."

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 04, 2015, 12:30:53 AM

We could definitely use a dry week in this region.  Over 5" here in the last week of September and north of 2.3 already since Wednesday.  They're getting a lot of falling trees down in Charlotte the last several days.

Sunshine is good for the soul, too...

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Valka on October 04, 2015, 03:08:16 PM

The only natural disasters I ever worry about are blizzards and tornadoes. I'm well above the river, so no worries here about flooding.

I try to keep 3 months' worth of necessities on hand during the winter months for the cats and myself, because even though most winters are wimpy things compared to what I'm used to from back in the '60s and '70s, we do still get extended cold snaps.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: vonbach on October 04, 2015, 03:16:04 PM

If you're preparing in a city you're wasting your time.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 04, 2015, 03:20:07 PM

Living in a city is the disaster. ;nod

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Valka on October 04, 2015, 03:32:26 PM

Quote from: vonbach on October 04, 2015, 03:16:04 PM

If you're preparing in a city you're wasting your time.

So only people who don't live in cities should be prepared? That doesn't make sense at all. I'm not talking about the hypothetical apocalypse of your choice. I'm talking about getting through an extended period of temperatures of -25C and colder. I'm barely willing to go outside from -25C to -29C, but once it hits -30C it better be one hell of an emergency. to get me out the door. The building would have to be on fire, to do that.

Luckily I don't need to worry about things like hurricanes or tsunamis (landlocked province, many hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean), and so far the fracking hasn't caused any earthquakes around here.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: vonbach on October 04, 2015, 03:36:33 PM

Someone doesn't remember Katrina. If you're in a city and things fall apart where are you?

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 04, 2015, 10:07:15 PM

Quote from: vonbach on October 04, 2015, 03:36:33 PM

Someone doesn't remember Katrina. If you're in a city and things fall apart where are you?

Shoulder to shoulder with Brian Williams.

If I recall correctly, the original poster cited evacuation plans as well as stockpiled supplies.
I think the Katrina scenario called for an evacuation plan. The way I remember it, I was tracking Katrina ( an uncommonly strong storm system ) from the Eastern Atlantic, and they did in fact call for an evacuation. Perhaps if more people had that all worked out in advance ( arranging rides when they didn't own transportation, etc. ) it wouldn't have become an issue. 

I know that there was more to it than that, in the same way that there is more to a famine than a drought. You start with a natural disaster, and compound it with corruption, incompetence, and cruelty.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Green1 on October 05, 2015, 08:18:43 PM

Well, the thing about "preparedness" is you can go overboard, too. But, Katrina did teach me not to walk around with my head in a computer and work and not keep track of hurricanes.

But, I do follow this:

Baton Rouge is not coastal, but a hurricane if it hits New Orleans can mess stuff up here. I do have candles and a battery powered radio. I also know my neighbors and we can cope with short term power loss.

If my townhouse gets nuked, on fire, an eviction, or any number of tragedies dealing with loss of place, we have good standing with a lot of folks.

If we MUST leave Baton Rouge because Bobby Jindal unleashes a Zombie Apocalypse or other deal that makes staying here more issue than worth it, we can go to Jackson, MS or New Orleans or Oklahoma City.     

So, keep good network and stuff to survive a bit with no power is my solution. But, I rent and do not own so I am not particularly tied anywhere.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Valka on October 05, 2015, 09:03:54 PM

The worst thing I remember here was the Blizzard of '86. We got several blizzards' worth of snow dumped on us over a 3-day period, and the city basically shut down except for emergency services and essentials. My dad made it to a hardware store to buy propane for the gas stove (we had no electricity), and came back telling us that the clerks were wearing helmets with battery-operated lights on them to see by, and writing down all the purchases with pens and paper.

We had lots of candles and batteries, enough propane for the stove, lots of canned food, plenty of warm blankets, and just burrowed in for the duration. I put extra blankets on my bed, my cat crawled in with me, tucking all four feet under my chin to help keep warm (cats are good for sharing body heat; they're like little blankets all by themselves), and we slept away the next couple of days.

After it stopped snowing, it took time to dig ourselves out and the snow wasn't completely cleared away for a couple of weeks.

BTW, the day when all this started was May 29. That was the freakiest weather-related thing I've ever experienced, and it taught me to always be prepared. I was fine, but a lot of other people weren't, because they had no way to cope without electricity and no way to go anywhere due to all the snow.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: ColdWizard on October 05, 2015, 09:07:49 PM

I can't imagine what sort of hellish gridlock nightmare evacuation of the DC area would create. Unless it were properly planned and executed well in advance, but I may as well as theorize about being whisked away on a flying unicorn that defecates Reese's.

I probably should pack a bag of cold weather gear for my car in case of getting stranded on a rare, unanticipated one-off trip to some place that's out in the sticks. Like Chantilly.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Dio on October 06, 2015, 12:32:50 AM

It started to rain right before heavy rush hour traffic. I know this means that the number of accidents involving vehicles will increase  :(.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 06, 2015, 02:26:23 AM

I saw a TV news report that said they had 26 inches of rain in several locations in South Carolina.
That can't be good.

Title: Re: The Emergency Preparedness Topic
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 06, 2015, 02:39:54 AM

If I understood right, it's really floody in Columbia, which is in the middle of the state, way inland.