Author: Volunteer

As a part of National Preparedness Month, we’re going to be staffing a table at a neighborhood preparedness faire. So I pulled out of my car the emergency kit I had first put together after my Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training.

Don’t use these!

Look at the photo and you’ll see some of the yucky things I found!

* Corroded batteries in my flashlight! (Upper right arrow) The kit actually has two flashlights in it. One was the high-tech model (from Sharper Image, no less) that holds AA batteries. Look closely and you’ll see the totally blown-out end of one of them! We find that batteries need to be replaced every 6 months if they are in a light or radio.

* Dried up and useless first aid items! On the left in the photo you can see the shriveled up antiseptic wipes and the stained band aid packages. Although they had been stored in a plastic bag, not one of them was usable.

* Melted and leaking pens! CERT training reminds you to have a way to write on a door when you’ve searched the room, write on a piece of tape to label someone, or write right on their skin. We assembled a variety of writing implements for these purposes, including crayons and permanent markers. Again, stored in a plastic bag, they melted and leaked. I could hardly get that one crayon out to be able to photograph it!

What’s the state of your Survival Kit? How about your CERT bag? (These are two different things, of course. Survival Kit is to help you; CERT bag is to help others.) Consider setting up a schedule to update and refresh your kits.

Use the twice-a-year time Daylight Savings Time change as an update reminder.

In addition to replacing old items, here are a couple of other suggestions for keeping your kit ready for use:

1. Best battery solution. Store batteries in a bag taped to the flashlight or radio. Whereas they seem to deteriorate quickly when stored INSIDE the device, they keep much longer when stored separately.

2. Rubber gloves. Your CERT kit will have disposable nitrile gloves — the thin rubber kind that your doctor wears – for use in an accident. These gloves are very fragile; replace every six months.

3. Environment. Think about where the kit is kept. I keep my kits in the trunk of my car – where temperatures reach over 100 degrees. Obviously, crayons aren’t going to be happy in this environment.

4. Backpack. If your kit lies in direct sunlight (in your car, for example), the duffle bag or backpack material will deteriorate over time. The first to go on my CERT kit were the carrying straps.

5. Clothing. I have a long-sleeved shirt, a sweatshirt, and hat in my kits. While they don’t deteriorate, a wash and fluff keeps them more usable.

Reviewing and updating your kit takes only a few minutes – less time than it has taken me to write this article! You’ve made the investment – be sure to keep it tuned up.

What have YOU found in unattended survival kits that we should be warned about?  Let us know in the comment box below!

Virginia Nicols
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

You made it through alive, but . . .

It’s bad enough to weather a storm or ride out an earthquake that leaves you with many thousands of dollars in damage. But, if local power is out, roads are obstructed and you can’t get to your money in the bank, chances are you have bills that are going to go unpaid for some period of time . . . long enough to incur late charges and even serious damage to your credit rating.

That’s compounding the damage! So what’s the remedy?

One solution – and a simple one — is to pay your bills as early and as automatically as possible.

The benefits:

• First, if payments are transferred automatically, even if YOUR power is out and you can’t access your computer, the transfer will be made timely.
• Even if you haven’t set your accounts up for automatic transfer, having a history of prompt and up-to-date payment gives you more options in contacting creditors and asking for relief. If your history includes being behind, and perhaps having black marks on your credit, even when you get through in a panic to your creditors (“Just went through the storm, couldn’t get to you until now!”) you are not likely to receive a hearty welcome.

Of course, if your paycheck stops because of the disaster, ultimately your bank account will empty. That’s another problem to be addressed another time.

An Interesting Parallel?

We don’t really have scientific evidence that people who take preventive measures to prepare for emergencies are more likely to pay their bills earlier than others, but anecdotal evidence would seem to indicate a parallel approach.

People who act responsibly on matters of self-protection are more certainly more likely to survive an emergency. Those that take a step further, looking out for their neighbors’ welfare as well as their own, can mean the difference between preservation of our society and its social values and allowing it to regress into chaos!

The question is, “Are you willing to help persuade your neighbors to take responsible preventive measures to protect themselves and their neighbors . . . or are you resigned to meet them at your front door with a shotgun when they are thirsty?”

Something to think about . . .

Joe Krueger
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

Which half do you fall into?

A poll conducted first in 2012 by the Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation — and repeated since then with the same results —  revealed the following:

◊  48% of Americans don’t have a survival kit or emergency supplies.
◊  Americans believe they can survive an average of 16 days in their homes . . .but over half don’t have even a 3-day supply of non-perishable food and water.
◊ 55% of Americans believe that “authorities” will come to their rescue when disaster strikes.

If you had been a part of this poll, which half of the group would you have fallen into – the half with a survival kit and emergency supplies, or the half counting on someone else to take care of them?

Are you a “taker?”

There has always been political talk about our American Society being “a society of takers.” Most of the rhetoric has been distasteful, some has been ridiculous.

But when it comes to disaster preparedness, there does seem to be a “taker” group — a group that somehow expects others to take care of them. In my estimation, that “taker” half of the population seems to be either lazy, in denial or just plain . . . well, you add in your own best word there!

September is National Preparedness Month. People around the country are planning events to get neighbors and neighborhoods involved. Joe and I will be part of the activity: we typically have three different activities on our calendar this month!

When it comes right down to it, though, there’s only so much we can do. Ultimately, it is up to individuals.

It’s up to individuals . . . meaning you.

Remember that great advertising line, “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.”? Here’s another version aimed at disaster preparedness: “It’s not hard, it’s just common sense.”  The first three steps are particularly easy:

1. Build or buy a survival kit for yourself and for each person you care about. Here’s a link to our updated Top 10 List Of Emergency Items for your kits. Or, if you just don’t have time to put them together, buy pre-made kits. Check out our emergency supply kit reviews to be sure you’re getting the most for your money.

2. Buy some extra food and water every time you shop, and stick it in the back of the cupboard. Eat from the front.

3. Get to know your neighbors. They are the ones who will already be there in an emergency. They are the ones who will come to your rescue, not the authorities.

Three simple steps will put you in the other half of the equation – where you belong!

Please share this article with the people around you. The more prepared they are, the safer YOU will be. And the better you’ll sleep at night.

Virginia Nicols

Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

Are you in charge of Emergency Preparedness meetings?

Do you have a regularly-scheduled Emergency Preparedness meeting for neighbors or co-workers? If so, you can be thankful this topic is “on the radar.” At the same time, if you are responsible for planning and managing the meeting, then you know it takes thought, each month!

I’ve been running or attending neighborhood CERT meetings every single month for about 15 years. During that time our group has had different group leaders, and they are always on the lookout for suggestions to “make the meetings interesting.”

Recently we had a training meeting that seemed to work well. Here’s a description of how we planned for it. I think you’ll find you could put on a meeting like this with very little effort!

A.  Meeting Timing

We hold our meetings the same day and time every month – makes it easy to remember! We limit each meeting to one hour to keep speakers on their toes and attendees from checking their watches.

B.  Meeting Template

I recommend putting together a meeting template so a new volunteer has a track to run on when stepping up to be that month’s meeting planner. An abbreviated version of our template:

1. One month before the meeting – arrange for speaker or select training activity. Announce upcoming meeting at any HOA meetings, in the newsletter, online, etc.
2. One week before the meeting – Distribute invitations via email and/or flyers, arrange for room set-up and audio visual
3. Day before the meeting – Confirm speaker,  confirm arrangements for room and audio-visual, organize handouts and refreshments, send out last meeting reminder
4. At the meeting – Assign first to arrive as “hosts” and/or name tag writers, assign a couple of others as clean-up crew
5. Agenda – Welcome, introduce new members or visitors, present program, acknowledge guest speaker and that meeting’s planning crew, close on time
6. Day after the meeting — Send out thanks, follow up on action items

New to this Advisory — Be sure to add a “Housekeeping” announcement at the beginning of your meeting. Tell people where to find the restrooms, and share “In case of emergency” information: point out at least two exits from the room (doors, windows, behind the stage!) and the location of the nearest fire extinguisher and/or AED.

C.  Meeting Activities

Coming up with something interesting each month takes effort! Naturally, one good source of programs is guest speakers and guest trainers. We have also found that an occasional training video from YouTube can be a great program.

We have also discovered there are some secrets to successful meetings beyond the formal program, however. They include: having name tags and refreshments, having something for everyone to do (for example, change batteries in radios, give a report on their neighborhood), mixing up whole group and small group activities, and adding an element of competition.

Build a collection of Successful Meeting Ideas

So far, I haven’t found any single great source of meeting ideas, and have been forced to develop my own collection. So far, we have published two volumes of meeting ideas!

Have you put on or attended any particularly good CERT meetings lately? Can you share the topic and the activity with everyone? Just drop a description in the comment box!

Thanks for your input.
Virginia Nicols
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

Looking for regular meeting ideas?  Be sure to get our Advisories, and check out our Book of CERT Meeting Ideas.

Family safely reunited, but . . .!

We easily imagine what it’s like for the people who survive a massive storm. We picture family members coming together again, clinging thankfully to each other. We imagine them picking up debris, patching roofs or broken windows, cooking around a makeshift campfire.

But then the news coverage – and our imagination – switches to something else. And we forget that for many of these people the real emergency is just beginning, because they are out of work!

I was struck by this quote from the Alabama study that followed its disastrous April 29, 2011 storm, when 62 separate tornados touched down. The quote reads:

“Instantly, 7,000 people in Tuscaloosa were out of work. . .”

Now out of work.

Take a minute to reflect on the threats faced by your business. You may not be the business owner, but if your livelihood depends on this business, here are some things worth thinking about:

1. What are the most likely threats? Power outage, chemical or material spill, train or truck wreck, computer system sabotage, fire, flooding, earthquake?
2. If the building and business were shut down completely, how long could the business survive before customers would be forced to go somewhere else for service?
3. What business processes could be carried on elsewhere – for example, could some work be done from a temporary office? Could some employees work effectively from home (if they had power)?

How to protect the business?

1. Have you discussed an emergency preparedness plan for the business? This would help you make changes now, before the emergency, that would help get the business back on its legs. A typical emergency preparedness plan includes:
   • Identifying and fixing vulnerabilities in the physical structure of the building or in daily business routines.
   • Identifying the essential business processes that could keep customers satisfied until you could get fully back to work. Often, this is as simple as having a way to let customers know what is going on!
   • Training specific employees to understand and be ready to shoulder special responsibilities in case of an emergency. This could range from grabbing and using fire extinguishers to grabbing and protecting company records.
2. Have you considered recovery actions that will be required after the disaster hits?
   • Where could the business be run from if not from its current site?
   • Which employees would be expected to come back to work, and under what conditions? Do they know and agree to this?
   • Do you have the supplies and tools these employees would need to carry on during the emergency? This might include customer and account lists, computers, office supplies, and cash.

Unfortunately, the statistics on small businesses surviving after a complete shut-down are not good. Even companies with a disaster recovery plan will face a huge challenge. Still, with a plan, they may have a much better chance.

Surely your business deserves that chance.

If you need more information on how to protect your business, check out:

A simple one-page tool:  Seven Steps

And watch for our 2017 Version of the Simple Business Continuation Plan, coming soon!

Today as I write this, the news is amazingly full of bad weather reports!

• Wet weather for parts of the Eastern U.S.
• Showers, along with chances of thunderstorms from the Carolinas through areas of the Southeast
• Heavy rain and thunderstorms from areas of Nebraska through Oklahoma and into the Mid-Mississippi Valley
• Risk for severe thunderstorm development in the South-Central Plains through the evening with chances of damaging wind gusts and severe hail
• A cold front ejecting form the Northern Rockies kicked up showers and thunderstorms in North Dakota
• Out West, monsoonal moisture will maintain chances of showers and thunderstorms across the Four Corners, including the Southern and Central Rockies

And Hawaii is shaking off the arrival and passing through of Tropical Storm Flossie!

Do you know what to expect in your town tomorrow?

In your community, what’s the likelihood of damaging winds? Overflowing creeks and rivers? Flooded streets and intersections? Traffic lights out? Widespread power outages including your home or business?

Action Item: Check the weather report now, and every day! Download a severe weather app onto your phone. Simple, sensible, free!

 What emergency plans have you made for tomorrow?

Do you start off each day as always, trusting that you, your family, your neighbors and your car will get through OK? Or, do you consider alternatives, based on the weather report?

Action Item: Alert family members to the weather report. As appropriate, remind them of your family communications plan, change travel plans, check to be sure family members have their Survival Kits with them or nearby before they set off.

What’s the worst that can happen?

In most weather-related emergencies, a 72-hour period is all you’ll have to deal with. After three days, ground water will have dried up, streams will be back within their banks, the utility company will have restored power, and stores will reopen with full shelves.

If the worst happens, though, take a leaf from the book of Hurricane Sandy survivors. Even those whose homes were undamaged waited days and weeks for normal services to be restored!

A Survival Kit will keep you going for 3 days. Planning for a long-term emergency requires a lot more thought and the stockpiling of a few more items.

Sorry to nag, but . . . Do that emergency planning now. Better to have prepared or even over-prepared BEFORE the emergency hits than to not have prepared at all!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

You may want to take another look at the Shelter-in-Place section of

Our Best Long-Term Emergency Supplies Checklist

You know by now: you can live without food, but not without water.

2 gallons, carryable, collapsible

The recommended amount of water to sustain a person during an emergency is a gallon a day.

Basic 3-day emergency preparedness thus takes 3 gallons per person.

How big is your family? Storing enough water for all family members for at least three days means having space for a lot of bottles!

Emergency water storage options

Realizing that water storage is the biggest challenge, we’ve recommended a number of options.

If you can, buy a 55 gallon drum. Fill, store at home. Full, the drum weighs around 460 lbs. so you need to consider where to keep it and how to get the water out. (Typically, you get a hand pump that fits the hole of the drum.)

The next best option for you may be to store individual bottles that can be spread around the house and rotated regularly. This is usually the choice of apartment dwellers, given their limited storage space and their need to haul supplies up and down stairs.

A third option is to store as much water as you can, but supplement with a water filtering device and collapsible containers that you fill as the storm approaches!

Don’t overlook a LifeStraw water filter.

As we were putting together our recommendations for our custom survival kit, water was clearly the toughest item to store. We looked for a way to improve on the water supply stored in the kit. The first choice was to add a LifeStraw – the one-person water filter that can make found outdoor sources of water drinkable. It costs around $20, and you’ll want one for each member of the family.

LifeStraw Personal Water Filter for Hiking, Camping, Travel, and Emergency Preparedness

Add collapsible water bags or bottles to supplement your supply.

The second choice is to supplement your stored water with collapsible water bottles that you fill immediately with whatever clean sources of water are still available. Our research led us to consider:

* Carrying handle. Frankly, carrying water is very difficult. You know this if you’ve ever filled a five-gallon pail and tried to carry it any distance at all! So, we looked for some sort of closed container that is easy to fill and that has a carrying handle.

* Weight of the container when full. A full five-gallon plastic jug weighs nearly 50 lbs. Too much for me! (and most people) to carry for any distance, or up and down stairs. So, we looked for a smaller container, holding 2 or 2 1/2 gallons.

* Sturdiness of the container. Of course, reusable rigid plastic jugs are very sturdy, almost unbreakable. However, our goal was to find a collapsible bag that would be filled only when needed. Remember, the very thing that makes the collapsible bag convenient means it’s not as sturdy as you might want.  We reviewed a number of manufacturers and selected the one with the best reports for durability.  Don’t expect perfection — so buy more than one bag.

The best collapsible water bag? StanSport’s 2-gallon Water Bag.

Our search led us to the 2 gallon Water Bag manufactured by StanSport. The photo above shows Joe with a full bag.  A collapsed bag is in his other hand.

Stansport 2-Gallon Water Storage Bag

We have several of the bags. We tuck a couple into the Survival Kit, and have another in the glove compartment of the car.

If you click on the link or image, you’ll be taken to Amazon, where you can order. If you combine your order with another item – for example, the LifeStraw – you’ll get free shipping from Amazon. (You can also buy the water bag from other sites, including StanSport’s site – cheaper at first, but when you add shipping costs, they all come out about the same – without the convenience and speedy delivery.)

Do you have a favorite water storage container? Or a water storage story? We’d like to hear it! We are constantly on the lookout for better water storage options for surviving a disaster.

Virginia and Joe
Your Emergency Response Team
Other resources you may want to take a look at:

Emergency food and water supply

Power Outage

You’ve seen this again and again.  “The more prepared your neighbors are, the safer you will be!” If this makes sense to you, and you want to do something about it, consider putting on a Community Preparedness Fair.

The Home Depot – the place to start

As I’ve mentioned before, I have a Google Alert set for the words “Emergency Preparedness” and “Disaster Preparedness.” Every day I get notices of community programs – typically sponsored by city governments – aimed at raising awareness about emergency planning.

But every once in a while, I see something else tucked in the list. That is, an announcement of a “Community Fair” being supported by The Home Depot.

Sponsor or participant, or both

Sometimes the store takes the lead in putting on a sort of expo. Sometimes the store is one of several related organizations participating. For example, from today’s Google Alert:

“San Bernardino County (California) residents wanting to be better prepared for disasters may attend a community safety fair Saturday in Fontana. The fair, organized by Home Depot, San Bernardino County Disaster Corps and San Bernardino County Fire Department’s Office of Emergency Services, will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Home Depot store. “

“The East 1488 Community Association and East 1488 Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) (Houston, Texas) will hold its fourth annual Emergency Preparedness Fair on Saturday, May 4, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. in the Home Depot Parking lot. Booths will have information and displays by first responders and emergency related organizations.”

Earlier, I saw this reference to the Lake Arrowhead (Cherokee County, Georgia) Preparedness Fair: “Come see a huge collection of Emergency Responders, Law Enforcement, Emergency Management, Amateur Radio Communications, and community emergency response personnel and equipment (subject to availability) along with dozens of vendors specializing in emergency preparedness, disaster response, and household safety. Home Depot is sponsoring the Safe Kids Fun Zone.”

Could your neighborhood team plan and execute a community fair?

From a neighborhood safety standpoint, this is one of the most effective things you could do to raise awareness and stimulate preparedness in your community. If I were tasked with putting on another such fair, The Home Depot is where I’d start.

We put on such a fair about a year ago. And yes, The Home Depot was our major sponsor. They brought their own tables, set up samples of preparedness items, took orders for them, and a couple of weeks later actually made one big delivery to our clubhouse!  Our local CERT then sorted and distributed everything.

If you are part of a group, consider putting a preparedness expo on your calendar. It may take several months to plan, but the results will be far-reaching. Start by talking to the manager of your local Home Depot store. I can bet you’ll find good support there.

(If you are truly interested, I’d be happy to share some of the planning steps that we went through. Just drop me a line in the comment box below.)

Other resources for community organizing:

CERT training

Organize your Neighborhood

Building a CERT Group — Identifying Leaders

Over the past weekend we attended a Rotary International conference in Phoenix, Arizona. (Joe belongs to the “eclub” that’s centered there. It has members around the world who meet weekly online.) As always, Rotary impresses and inspires us with its programs, and ShelterBox was a highlight for us this time.

150 lbs. of supplies in the ShelterBox

ShelterBox has been on the news a fair amount over the past few years; I remember Anderson Cooper in Haiti telling the audience how ShelterBox tents were being delivered after that terrible earthquake. And I read in the news just last week that ShelterBox was sending a response team into Moore, Oklahoma, to assess needs there.

It’s all in the name: ShelterBox.

What does ShelterBox do? Since 2000, the organization has provided emergency supplies such as tents, stoves, blankets and water filtration systems to help families rebuild their lives after losing their homes and possessions following a natural disaster or political conflict. Haiti was just one of their deployments; according to their website, they are currently at work in Jordan, Myanmar, and the Solomon Islands.

What’s in the box?

After all our recent focus on survival kits, it was interesting to see just what goes into a ShelterBox. The Box is meant to provide relief for an extended period, and for an extended family. The dome tent is modeled after a typical African bush hut, with built-in mosquito screens, groundsheets, ventilation and internal privacy screens so people can divide the space as they see fit. Thermal blankets, insulated ground sheets, treated mosquito nets and water purification equipment provide protection against contaminated water supplies.

The box contains a stove, pans, utensils; tools include a hammer, ax, saw, hoe, rope, pliers and wire cutters. There is also a children’s pack with books, crayons and pens. The volunteer at the Rotary conference told me that when a community is wiped out, setting up a school becomes a top priority, and these simple items can help get that started.

So what does this have to do with us?

1. Action Item:  Check out the ShelterBox website and see what they’re doing. Read stories of survivors who’ve been served by this organization. It’s inspiring.
2. Action Item:  Compare your list of long-term “survival supplies” with what goes into the ShelterBox. You may get an idea or two.
3. Action Item:  Consider donating or volunteering.

You can learn more at www.shelterboxusa.org.

(P.S., just so you know, ShelterBox USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Sarasota, Florida.)

Trying to escape!

How many stories have you heard in just the past few hours about people trapped in their cars due to severe weather? I’ve heard about hundreds, even thousands, of people — racing to avoid an oncoming hurricane, carried off roads by flood water, or just stuck for hours in massive traffic jams!

If you find yourself in one of those traffic jams . . .

and you are unable to escape before the storm hits, or unable to get home after the storm hits, what condition will you be in?

• Do you know what action you and your family members in the car should take, and when?
• What about being in touch with other family members that are outside the car?
• What supplies will you have in the car to help you make it through the hours until you can get back home or to another safe place?

What can you do now, before the next storm hits?

Here are some very basic preparedness actions that the recent storms have reminded us about. You can take these steps NOW before the next storm hits!

1. Keep the car at least half full of gas at all times.

2. Have a map of the area in case you need to find alternate routes to get around traffic jams, road blockages, etc.

3. Know which radio channels broadcast weather information. On CNN we heard weather broadcasters telling people exactly what to expect by the minute.

4. If you get in your car, take your Survival Kit with you. Knowing you have some food, some water, some sanitary supplies, and some cash will be reassuring, at the very least. If you have to manage in the car for many hours, having this Kit will be a huge comfort.

5. If you take your pet in the car, take the Pet Survival Kit, too. I saw one man in flip-flops and a t-shirt whose passenger was his dog. Did the dog have food and water? An adult can understand that doing without is necessary for a while; an animal – or a small child – cannot.

Flooding facts, for review – thanks to FEMA.

More people drown in their cars than anywhere else.

Know the difference between a WATCH and a WARNING. A flood watch means a flood is possible in your area. A flood warning means flooding is already occurring or will occur soon in your area.

Six inches of water will reach the bottom of most passenger cars causing loss of control and possible stalling. A foot of water will float many vehicles. What looks like six inches may not be; the road may be washed out below the water surface.

Two feet of rushing water can carry away most vehicles including sport utility vehicles (SUV’s) and pick-ups.

Stay in the car or get out?

Do not drive into flooded areas. But if floodwaters rise around your car, abandon the car and move to higher ground if you can do so safely. Do not stay in the car: it may stall or get stuck in the water, and then get pushed off the road. Once off the road, cars often start to roll, making escape impossible.

What’s your story?

What experiences have you had being trapped in a car? Share your stories with us and our readers. It may help save lives.

Thanks, Virginia

P.S.  If this article strikes a chord, please pass it along to friends and family.  Just copy this link and send it in an email:

https://emergencyplanguide.org/trapped-in-the-car/