Category: Neighborhood groups

The recent California earthquakes have had several positive results here where we live, in Southern California.

I already mentioned how our neighborhood emergency response group volunteers jumped into action after the 7.1 quake on July 6. There they were, out in the dark with their walkie-talkies, talking to people, passing along info to our mobile radio command post.

What happened the next day, though, was actually more exciting. Everywhere you could hear the second positive result from the earthquake: ordinary citizens talking and talking about the quakes and how to be more prepared next time!

• “How should I be storing water? Do you have a water barrel? What about plastic bottles?”
• “What’s the chance of a broken gas line? Should we turn off the gas?”
• “What if I am trapped in my house?”

And hooray! Positive result #3 — Two more neighbors decided to join the team!

I am busy assembling the “recruiting” kits – some basic info and instructions, plus the two most important items for team members: a fluorescent vest and a battery-operated walkie-talkie.

If you are figuring out what your next move ought to be for summer – consider getting a couple of walkie-talkies!

They are fun for families camping, hiking or heading to a county fair. Small kids and teens like them. They are essential if you have wandering children or lagging-behind grandparents! And if you are interested in building a neighborhood emergency response team, you’ll want to practice with those walkie-talkies before you decide which ones to buy.

I’ve written reviews of the top 5 or 6 models every year. If you are really interested in more detail, please check out that page. There’s a whole lot of info there to absorb before you make a big buying decision.

Here’s a recommendation for you.

In the meanwhile, here’s information about my favorite model – and the one we use for our local neighborhood group. Simple, straightforward, flexible.   These use AAA batteries or rechargeables; you can also recharge by plugging into the wall. A pair costs less that a dinner out – and will make your summer a whole lot more memorable! (Click on the image to get details and prices at Amazon.)

If you manage to get a pair of walkie-talkies as a result of the earthquakes and of reading this Advisory, that would be the best positive result of all!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

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Day 10 of Summer Vacation: A time for some shorter and lighter Advisories as a welcome change-of-pace!

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CERT is in all 50 states and in over 3,000 cities. Why, there may be a chapter in YOUR town that you didn’t know about!

So what exactly is CERT?

Community Emergency Response Team training is what started Joe and me off and what continues to provide structure and support to our local neighborhood group, even though many of our volunteers have NOT completed the training. Every one of my books builds on CERT principles!

Official CERT training takes about 24 hours, stretched over several days or weeks. This 6-minute video will give you a good idea of what CERT training means to ordinary people who are looking for a way to be better prepared and to have a stronger connection to their community.

What potential dangers are YOU concerned about? What did you see in the video that you would you like to know more about? Find out about CERT in your neighborhood. Just type into your browser the name of your city or town, followed by “CERT.”

Let us know what you discover! (And if you’ve already had some experience with CERT, please give us an idea of how it went in the comments, below.)

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

Day 8 of Summer Vacation: A time for some shorter and lighter Advisories as a welcome change-of-pace!

A “robust sequence” of earthquakes.

That quote above is from the eminent seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones. If you’ve watched the news about the earthquakes in California, you’ve seen her.

Here’s a quick report from our community in Southern California.

We’re in Orange County, along the coast in Southern California, about 160 miles from the earthquake epicenter at Ridgecrest, which is more in the center part of the state.

But even here, we felt both of the largest quakes – the 6.4 on July 4^th, and the 7.1 yesterday on July 5^th. No comparison – that second quake was MUCH bigger! 

When it started, I was seated right here at my computer. The chair seemed to be moving left and right. Then it was definitely moving left and right! That died down, and then things started shaking. The whole house started bumping, rattling, creaking, clunking, blinds banging and banging against the windows! Happily, our lights stayed on. I moved away from the computer and monitor and my bookshelves, but nothing fell.

In the end, things gradually returned to normal. Today, the only damage I could find in my house were three new hairline cracks, perfectly aligned about 4 feet apart, from one side to the other of the tile kitchen floor.

Our neighborhood emergency response team got into action.

We are always preparing for earthquakes in California. Here in our community, several people quickly made phone calls, and we were also able to connect via email, but our main communications took place via walkie-talkies. Within about 5 minutes, neighbors were checking on neighbors and reporting in. Two of our team members monitored the news (using ham radio, too) and shared what they were learning. That info was passed along via the walkie-talkies. Within about 20 minutes, everyone had reported in to our “Command” channel: “People in the streets, no damage.”

What happened in Ridgecrest was far worse, and is a reminder about being prepared.

We should be prepared for any emergency with basic supplies:

1. Sturdy shoes
2. Flashlights and lanterns!
3. First Aid kit
4. Water
5. Non-perishable food (in non-breakable containers)
6. Blankets

In earthquake country, you want to stash these items throughout your house.

An earthquake isn’t like a storm, where you probably have some warning to grab your survival kit and head to shelter. In a quake you will still be at home afterwards, and so you want to be able to get to your supplies even if parts of the home are damaged.

And talk over a plan for contacting family members after an emergency. Be sure to include an out-of-area contact number.

Now, in my case, our out-of-state contact person, my brother – was somewhere on a boat headed to Alaska! So we need to set up a secondary contact right away.

What comes next?

We’ll be operating for a while based on what we learned last night about earthquakes in California. For us, the good news is our neighborhood volunteers were prepared and DID WHAT THEY HAD TRAINED TO DO.  

If you are interested in building a neighborhood emergency response group, or strengthening the one you have, we have resources that can help! Check out our website: https://EmergencyPlanGuide.org! and if you have specific questions, please be in touch directly. We have some real experience — even more today than before — and we’d love to share.

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

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Day 6 of Summer Vacation: A time for some shorter and lighter Advisories as a welcome change-of-pace! (Or at least, that was the plan!)

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We sat at the 2nd Wednesday monthly meeting of our CERT Leaders and stared gloomily as one of our members gave yet another status report about some of “her” residents in the community. “Not one extra can of food. Not one extra bottle of water.”

Her neighborhood had many elderly residents. In some cases, residents are handicapped by lack of funds. In others, the reason is plain apathy, procrastination or worse. You may hear: “It’s the government’s job to provide for us in an emergency.”

Are “governments” responsible to care for us in a disaster? How capable are they?

We saw an answer to the second question in interviews by the media following Hurricane Sandy’s damage in New Jersey. Local and state governments were overwhelmed and unable to respond. Likewise, relief agencies like the Red Cross and Salvation Army were also overtaxed by the enormity of the event. Some people went weeks without services.

More recently, we watched the Federal Government pretty much abandon the victims of Hurricane Maria, in Puerto Rico.

And here in California, huge fires have pulled emergency responders from communities distant from the fires and even from other states — leaving the people left at home without full protection for days and even weeks.’

These disasters damage communities and even destroy them. And usually, it’s people who are less affluent who suffer the most.

And these disasters pose an important question for all of us: What can we do to help? Are we doing it?

And the most difficult version of that same question:

Are we prepared to share with people who ignored warnings?

Are we ready to care for irresponsible neighbors as well as ourselves in a disaster scenario? That question presents responsible citizens with untenable choices.

Here in our neighborhood we are admittedly better prepared than most. Over 70% of our residents indicate that they have some food and water set aside for emergencies, largely as a result of ongoing education programs that span a decade.

But 70% isn’t 100%. More needs to be done.

Never stop educating people on the realities of a disaster.

Here in our neighborhood we regularly publish “educational bulletins” and, when circumstances allow, bring in guest speakers to talk about preparedness. Some of the best bulletins:

• Recognize a gas line leak. (Gas company)
• Clean up around the house to prevent a wildfire. (Fire Department)
• Vial of life — important emergency info for the refrigerator.

Some of our most successful meetings:

• What’s in your emergency kit? (Show and tell!)
• Try out a fire extinguisher! (Thanks to Fire Department)
• Retrofit your home to withstand an earthquake. (Neighborhood contractor)

Maybe if we make a party out of preparing for emergencies . . .

Every neighborhood volunteer group is always looking for ways to engage new neighbors. We hear about some of the good ones!

During a power outage, one neighborhood held a “Power Outage Picnic.” People brought meat to the party and a couple of volunteers with gas-burning grills cooked it up for everyone to share! By lantern light!

We held an “emergency preparedness fair” sponsored by the local hardware store. They brought dozens of items as demos, then handed attendees a coupon for 20% off if they would come to the store to buy.

After all these years of coming up with educational ideas and trainings, we finally put together a whole book with ideas for 21 activities to help overcome apathy and procrastination. That book has been our consistent best seller! If you are looking for some inspiration, consider getting a copy for YOUR neighborhood.

Each one of the activities comes with objectives, procedures, materials you’ll need, and commentary. And there’s a separate planning sheet for each activity to make it easy for volunteers to step up and take a turn as host. You can find out more about Meeting Ideas here.

The point of all this? Leaders have to recognize that preparedness is an ongoing challenge. You may have to wheedle or even use a little guilt now and then to get people to take action. But with a few ideas and some energetic team members, you can make a big difference in how resilient your community will be.

We think it’s worth it. That’s what this website is all about!

If you are what we could call a “solo preparedness devotee” (or perhaps “voice in the wilderness?”) you know it’s hard to stay inspired and to maintain any momentum in learning new stuff, keeping your supplies up to date, etc.

And if you are involved with a group of neighbors or even trained citizens, you experience the same problem — only worse!

How to keep people interested and inspire readiness?

A close call works.

For example, a 4.5 earthquake works well here in California. News of disasters in other parts of the country or even the world also catches people’s notice and can inspire readiness. Even an announcement about a change in course of FEMA can be useful.

But close calls usually indicate that someone is suffering, so we certainly don’t like waiting for them or depending on them . . .

For a group, we look to regular meetings for inspiration and engagement.

So then the question: What should be on our meeting agenda this month?

I’ve been organizing or helping organize our neighborhood emergency response group meetings for about 16 years now. Even if we figure only 4 meetings a year during that time, that adds up to A WHOLE LOT OF MEETING AGENDAS! Every meeting is an effort — and a challenge! – to inspire readiness through training, door-prizes, entertainment, examples, stories . . . whatever works.

Fortunately, other groups share their meeting agendas with me.

If you’ve been sticking around here at Emergency Plan Guide for a few years, you’ve read about a number of meetings – and not just ours, but also meetings I’ve heard about from other CERT or neighborhood groups. For example, just this week I got these three reports that have already helped suggest meeting topics here in my neighborhood:

• A friend in a Northern California coastal town reported that she is putting on an earthquake tabletop exercise for a neighboring town. Both those towns are in the way of tsunamis if/when there’s a big Pacific Rim earthquake. Here in Southern California a tsunami is less likely, but an earthquake?  You bet.
• Another leader in a different Northern California city wrote to tell me that her neighborhood group had planned and executed a Fire Prevention Clean-up Day – removing Juniper trees (very flammable), trash, leaves, fallen branches, etc. from around the homes in their mobile home park. Hearing about this group’s enthusiasm was certainly inspiring to me! We’re working on a similar project right now! (Watch for more.)
• Still another formal CERT group got this media mention yesterday: Lafayette, CA: The Lamorinda Residents Guide to Wildfire Preparedness & Evacuation. a joint effort that included the Lamorinda Citizens Emergency Response Team (CERT) was mailed to more than 62,000 residents in critical wildland fire hazard areas of the East Bay (CA).

Emergency Plan Guide tries to share as many good ideas as possible!

In the past I have put out many individual Advisories about successful meetings we’ve held. And I’ve also published two downloadable books with meeting planning ideas, with about 75 plans for easily-repeatable neighborhood meetings.

Note – these aren’t official CERT trainings. Rather, they are ideas stressing readiness that can be used with “ordinary” groups of neighbors, some of whom have had CERT training but most of whom have not.

I am in the midst of updating them with more meeting agendas and will soon be republishing them in a new format.

And this brings me to a request.

What can YOU add to our list of meeting resources that will help other neighborhood groups inspire readiness within their own ranks?

Have you held meetings that have been particularly interesting, fun or productive? And that lend themselves to being copied? If so, could you please send a description so I can include it in the next version of the book?

I’m thinking that together, we can produce something like “Chicken Soup for Great Emergency Preparedness Teams!”

Here are some simple questions that might work for telling your Great Meeting story:

1. What was the title/theme of the meeting and what was your objective?
2. How did the meeting unfold? Any surprises? Any laughs? Any hiccups? What was particularly inspiring or engaging?
3. Did you need props, handouts, show-n-tell items, other materials?

Please send a story! If you want to remain anonymous, or your group wants to remain anonymous, just say so/ But let us know what sort of neighborhood you’re in, to help readers adapt your great meeting to their neighborhood.

Sharing strengthens volunteer groups and thus whole neighborhoods!

As you know, FEMA’s most recent push has been for Community Resilience – as opposed, I guess, to national response capability. I’ve been working at the community level for years, and I think most of you have been, too. Sharing ideas to help organize communities and inspire readiness among their residents is what we’re about.

I welcome your ideas for great meetings to share!  Please send them to Virginia@EmergencyPlanGuide.org.

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

In case you’ve missed them, here are a couple of Advisories from the past about meetings that worked to inspire readiness. At least, I have received repeated assurances that they made a difference!

• Use a quiz as the basis for group discussion!
• The perennial favorite: Show and Tell. Have members bring examples of each of these!

If you are a dedicated spring cleaner, you’ve already taken care of the windows. You may have done some spring cleaning in closets or in the garage, too. And when the time changed a few weeks ago, you undoubtedly checked the batteries in the smoke alarms. (You did, didn’t you?)

With summer coming up quickly, it will be easy to get caught up in end-of-school parties, vacation plans, etc. In the midst of that, your spring cleaning may get interrupted, along with some of your good preparedness habits.

Here are a few quick reminders for your family and your neighborhood team. Click on the images to get more details on these items from Amazon.

Walkie-talkie spring cleaning.

Yesterday we picked up my daughter at the airport. While Joe circled, I hopped out with a walkie-talkie so we could keep in touch. This is one of the most convenient uses for these hand-held radios!  No dialing, no busy signals, no dropping of the signal. Just push to talk: “OK, I see her! “OK, we’re at gate 3, right at the crosswalk.”

But the walkie-talkies have to have good batteries! Actually, we have added walkie-talkie battery replacement to our twice-a-year Daylight Savings Time checklist.

Last week we also added 10 more walkie-talkies to our supply for our neighborhood group Block Captains. The Uniden model continues to be our favorite, and prices haven’t gone up much at all. Here’s the model we buy – less than $25 for a set of 2:

Uniden GMR1635-2 Up to 16-Mile Range, FRS Two-Way Radio Walkie Talkies, 22 Channels with Channel Scan, Battery Strength Meter, Roger Beep, Call Tone, Keypad Lock, Black Color

If you are building your emergency team, or are planning family outings that will involve keeping track of each other in crowds (like a theme park) or in the woods, consider Walkie-talkies for your own family use. For short-distance communications they really can’t be beat.

Spruce up safety clothing.

Some clothing items seem to find their way into dark corners and onto the floor of the trunk of the car. I’m referring to sweatshirts, gloves, hats, etc.

With summer coming, it’s time to clean out and be ready for warmer weather. But don’t forget the safety gear that you KEEP in the car.

For example, we have found that having colored shirts and/or reflective vests are smart additions to our usual car survival kits.

• Heading for Disneyland? If everyone in the family — Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Kid 1, Kid 2, Kid 3, etc.! — is wearing the same bright-colored T-shirt you will be a lot easier to spot!
• Being on the street in the dark next to a disabled car is terribly dangerous! A reflective vest becomes an important safety item on the street and a reassurance in a campground at night.

Last week when we put in our order for more walkie-talkies for our team we also bought 10 more reflective vests for our neighborhood group Block Captains. They are amazingly modest in price!  (It’s not like we are wearing these every day, so they don’t need to be top of the line.) I chose these because they have pockets, and the package came with an extra vest in child-size!

Click on the link below the imageto get full details.

CIMC Yellow Reflective Safety Vest with Pockets, 10 Pack, Bright Construction Vest with Reflective Strips,Made from Breathable and Neon Yellow Mesh Fabric,High Visibility Vest for Working Outdoor

Battery replacement.

How many flashlights and emergency radios do you actually have, when you add up all the ones in the cars and in the house?

Guess what, they probably all use batteries! And have you noticed the rule that says batteries will whimper and die just when you really need them?

So, the competent Prepper adds a flashlight check and battery replacement exercise to the spring cleaning list.

Over the years we have tested and tested different batteries. The best ones one year seem to lose place to another manufacturer the next year. So we simple buy batteries on a regular basis.

Again, you probably need different sizes. Here’s a convenient pack with the AA and AAA sizes most common for our flashlights and walkie-talkies. Click on the image for exact pricing.

You may want to separate batteries and put a set of extra ones – of the right size – in a plastic baggy that you store alongside the item they belong with. When the power is out you can’t be searching through your battery box . . .!

Here’s an image of one of our flashlights. Note the green batteries in the holder which will be replaced with the gold ones stored in the bag.

Car survival kit spring cleaning.

We’ve spent time before on everything to consider for the survival kits you carry in your car.

For spring cleaning, it may be enough to simply refresh.

• Go through your first aid kits and replace old bandages, anything that has cracked or gotten wet. Recycle old medicines and put in new ones. Add anything you’ll need for summer, including sunscreen and dark glasses.
• Replace all your snack food with new packages. Canned stuff may last a while longer, but why not eat it up now and put new things in its place?
• Remove kids’ items that they have outgrown, and replace with more appropriate things – we’re talking games, toys, etc.
• Consider adding a new battery-charger for your devices. As we’ve written before, the “power packs” store enough to charge your phone more than once. (Scroll to the P.S. in that Advisory for an example of a popular power pack.) And solar-powered chargers are now ubiquitous. Both make good gifts, too.

Communications update.

Do all family members have updated phone numbers? Do all response team members have updated phone numbers for their neighbors? Now’s a good time to refresh this info.

And test family members’ memory. Can they recite the phone number of your out-of-town contact?  (Make it a contest as you are driving to that vacation spot. . .)

Insurance review.

We see so many ads on TV about saving money by switching auto insurance. Maybe you have switched, and actually saved money!

When it comes to other insurances, it’s important to shop and compare, too. Given the past couple of years’ dramatic storms, fires and floods, you may discover that the coverage you thought you had has changed, or is going up in cost. Or maybe you thought you were covered and you haven’t been covered at all! Or you are now required to have coverage that you didn’t have to have when you bought your house years ago!

Check out these Advisories for important questions to have ready when you talk with your insurance agent.

• Insurance for natural disasters
• Insurance for landslides
• El Nino preparations (Scroll down to the middle of the page for insurance info)

OK, this Spring Cleaning review could actually take some time. You probably can’t do it all in one week.

But every item you check off the list means you are in better shape to avoid an inconvenience, not to mention an emergency.

Good luck!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

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Focus on Senior Citizens

This week I wrote an article for a newspaper being delivered to over a hundred Southern California “55+” mobilehome communities.

The topic was emergency preparedness, and it turned out to be about how seniors struggle to prepare for and to respond to emergencies. The article seems particularly timely given the terrible loss of property and lives in mobile home park disasters across the country in the past couple of years.

The most recent tragedy, of course, was the fire in Paradise, in northern California.

If you have done any research at all about this fire, you will discover that of the 86 people who died in that fire, 53 of them – 77% — were over 65! (If you want to read a full article about that fire and the people who were affected, get this one from the Los Angeles Times.)

The question is:

Why were seniors affected so disproportionately?

We can all probably agree that the basic steps to preparedness are pretty much the same for every audience.

But when you look at these basics, you realize that some proportion of seniors struggle with making any headway.

1. Seniors may not have easy access to information about the risks they face.
2. They may not have the discipline to come up with a reasonable plan.
3. If money is tight, they may not be able to afford the emergency supplies that everyone recommends.
4. In a violent emergency (flood, earthquake, fire), seniors may not be strong enough or mobile enough to save themselves. (Just look at the women in the image above.)

But when we look even more closely at why seniors struggle with the concept of preparedness, we see that . . .

Seniors may be a “different breed.”

For example, in my own senior community, when there’s an emergency we immediately hear cries of:

 “Who’s going to take care of me?”

Seniors have taken care of others during their lives. Now they expect others to take care of them. The problem with this thinking?

Realities have changed!

• Families no longer live in close proximity.
• Property owners and managers are under no obligation to protect their senior residents.
• We’ve seen how local authorities can be overwhelmed.
• And Federal authorities can be just too late with too little.

Counting on someone else leaves seniors more vulnerable than other groups.

 “I’ve made it this far and I’m not changing the way I do things.”

Sound familiar? There are jokes, even movies, about stubborn, crotchety old men.

When it comes to preparedness, though, this is no joke.

• Seniors who refuse to look at risks or to take steps to prepare for them are more likely to become victims.
• Some seniors even actively protest against preparedness announcements – “You are trying to scare me.”

This mindset endangers those people and puts their neighbors at greater risk, too.

“If it’s my time, it’s my time.”

What is there to say to this?!

What can we do to improve this situation?  Can you help?

Of course, I have done a lot of searching for different official programs aimed at seniors. But when it comes to conclusions, so many of the reports say that results are, well, inconclusive or downright dismal.

So I’d like to ask YOU to think about the seniors you know, and the ones you’ve worked with, and see if you have suggestions that we could share.

Action item: Please consider the three questions below and include a comment at the bottom of this page or write directly to me at virginia@emergencyplanguide.org.

1. When it comes to seniors you know, what attitudes do you encounter toward emergency preparedness?
2. What sorts of existing programs or incentives have you seen to be most successful in getting seniors to take an interest in preparing?
3. If you ran the world, what would you suggest to improve the odds for seniors facing an emergency?

I’ll be collecting everything I can and will share in later Advisories. (Of course, I’ll maintain confidentiality.)

Thank you.

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

 

(Part Three of a series aimed at neighborhood or workplace teams)

“OMG, I smell gas!”

In the first two segments of this special article we talked about where gas lines run, why they leak and how to recognize a leak. Now, let’s talk about what to do if you actually discover a gas line leak!

What to do depends in large part where you find the leak.

When you discover a gas line leak in the home

Don’t forget Rule #1. If you detect a STRONG smell of gas in your home, leave the house immediately. Do not do not switch on or switch off lights or appliances. Do not make a telephone call from within the house.  Do not start the car.  When you are at a safe distance, now call 911 and/or your utility to report the smell.    

What’s most likely, though, is that you will get a weak smell of gas. In that case, remain calm. Think.

You may be able to solve this problem yourself and safely.

Possibility #1. Pilot light

Nearly every home has a couple of pilot lights – usually in the gas furnace or water heater, gas stove or oven. The pilot light is really a “starter” flame. When you turn on the appliance, the pilot light ignites the gas coming out of the main burner.

In older appliances, the pilot light burns 24/7. In newer ones, it is turned on when needed by an electronic igniter. (You may hear a clicking sound as it activates.) Fortunately, when the pilot light goes out, it triggers an automatic shutoff valve to the gas supply. So you won’t usually smell a gas leak from this source.

However, in older systems, your pilot light could go out from something as simple as a draft or spill. If the system doesn’t have an automatic shut-off valve you would smell leaking gas.

In this case, you can attempt to relight the pilot light yourself by following instructions on the appliance. They are likely to be something like this:

1. Turn off the appliance and wait at least 5 minutes for any leaked gas to dissipate.
2. Be sure you know where the pilot flame is located. (It may not be near the on/off knob.)
3. Turn the knob from OFF to PILOT.
4. Hold down the reset button (could be the knob itself) and light the pilot light with a long match.
5. Keep holding the reset button until the flame is burning steadily, maybe a minute.
6. Turn the knob to ON.

If the light doesn’t stay lit, try again. If it still doesn’t work after a couple of tries, quit and call for professional help.

Tip: You can’t light an electronic pilot system using a match! If the electronic system isn’t working, be sure the appliance is turned off and call for professional help.

Action item: Check all your home appliances now, before there is any leak!  See where you have pilot lights.  Are they ever-burning or do they have electronic ignition?

OK, so much for pilot lights. You’ve checked, they are working, and you still smell gas.

Possibility #2.  Appliance connection

Most often, if it’s not the pilot light, when you discover a gas leak in your home it will be from an appliance with poorly designed, faulty or damaged connection.

• Sniff to see if you can detect where the rotten egg smell of leaking gas is coming from.
• Coat a questionable pipe or connection with soapy water. Bubbles will appear where the leak is located.
• Look at the color of the flame on the appliance. Is it blue (good) or orange (not so good, could suggest a leak)?
• Check the outside of the appliance for soot or scorch marks.
• Do you have excessive condensation on the inside of your windows?

In these cases, if you identify the culprit appliance, get assistance from a qualified expert – probably your gas company. You may be advised to shut off the gas to the appliance, or even to the whole house. In either case that expert will have to re-set the system once the leak is repaired.

Action item: Do any of your appliances have shut-off valves? Look for them when you’re looking for pilot lights. Usually the shut-off is a handle that turns 90 degrees.

When you discover a gas line leak in a larger pipe or larger system

If you discover a gas leak in a larger pipeline or facility, move to a safe distance and notify your gas system operator or property owner and/or 911. (Review signs of a major pipeline leak in Part 2 of this series.)

Do not attempt to find the exact location of the leak, to shut off the pipeline or to fight any gas main fire. Dealing with a large pipeline leak is the business of professionals.

However, in a BIG disaster . . .

You may be called upon to shut down an entire system to protect against fire or the spread of fire.

The more you know about where gas lines run and the shut-offs on those lines, the more options you will have.

1-Building or home shut-off. In an emergency, shutting off the gas to the building likely means shutting it off at the meter. To do this, you’ll need to know where the meter is. You will also need a wrench and an understanding of the ON vs. the OFF position of the valve. Here’s a sample of what a typical home shut-off valve looks like. The shut-off consists of a rectangular piece sticking out of a round valve.

And here’s an illustration showing the ON (open) and OFF (closed) positions of the valve.

You can turn a shut-off valve using a regular crescent wrench. Or you can use a non-rusting tool specially designed for the purpose, like the one shown on the ground in the photo or the one below. (Click the image or the link to go to Amazon, where you can buy this tool — less than $15. As always, full disclosure: We are Amazon Associates and may get a commission.)  In either case, you must store the tool near the valve. And you may need to stand on the wrench to get the valve to turn!

SurvivalKitsOnline 515100 On-Duty Emergency Gas and Water Shutoff 4-in-1 Tool for Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Fires, Floods, Disasters and Emergencies

Action item: Find your home and building shut-offs and place a wrench at each location. Figure out a way to attach the wrench nearby to keep it from disappearing.  Suggestion: Consider a bulk purchase of shut-off wrenches for members of your neighborhood group. It’s an easy and valuable way to recognize their volunteer efforts. And it means they will be better prepared to help neighbors in an emergency.

2-Automatic valves. Some valves, such as seismic gas shut-off valves, operate automatically. They aren’t required, and many professionals don’t trust them – but you may have them on your system. Action item: Find out if any automatic valves are installed on gas lines leading to your home or in your place of work.

3-Gas main. When it comes to shutting off gas at a larger line, the shut-off may be a larger version of the wrench turn off, or it may operate with a large wheel and gear. It may be locked. Often, these valves are painted red. Action item for your group: locate the pipes and the shut-offs leading to your building or community. Larger line shut-offs may be marked with a sign like the yellow one at the start of this article. Or they may not be marked!

What procedures are in place for shutting off the gas?

As we have emphasized, shutting off the gas is a major event to be taken only with due deliberation. It will require professional assistance to get the gas turned back on again. It may take days for all gas service to be restored.

You or your group may have to make decisions about shutting off the gas. In our case, members of our community actually took official training in how to shut off the main valve. All residents have been shown how to shut off the gas to their own homes.

Questions you need to have answers to BEFORE something happens

• Who is authorized to shut off the gas?
• Which valves are they authorized to shut off?
• What training and tools do these authorized people need? Do they have what they need?
• How likely is it that authorized and trained people will be on hand in an emergency, when immediate action may be required?

With this info, you will be far more prepared in case of an emergency.

Getting even more answers

Over the years we have found that “the authorities” are loathe to share gas line information. However, as we have built up our own skills and knowledge, we have better luck at getting more. Above all, we have a better understanding of just what our role should/could be in an emergency.

One of our most effective guest speakers was a representative from the Fire Department who talked about the various gas lines in our neighborhood. (We have the usual mains and feeder lines PLUS a high-octane aviation fuel line running beside our community.) Action item: Get a speaker on natural gas safety from your own fire department or local utility. Prepare some questions in advance and send them to the speaker.

Your invitation will cause that fire official to update his or her knowledge about your neighborhood or building, as well as remind your neighbors and/or co-workers to be more alert. (In our case, the fire department speaker was NOT up to speed on gas mains that had recently been installed near us as part of a construction project!)

_______

We started this 3-part series with the question, “Are you sitting on a gas leak right now?” The question still is pertinent. We hope that by now you have a better idea of how to respond!

And one last disclaimer. We are not professionally trained experts on gas main construction, maintenance or procedures. We offer this special series for informational purposes only. Any time you consider messing with your gas supply or gas lines, we recommend that you do it with the assistance or under the supervision of professionals. Gas is inherently dangerous so treat it with all due caution.

But as emergency responders, you can’t ignore it!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

Here are the three parts of this special series. Please read all three parts.

Part One: Are you sitting on top of a leaking gas line?

Part Two: Detecting a gas line leak

Part Three: What to do when you discover a gas line leak

 

(Part One of a series aimed at neighborhood or workplace teams)

An often-overlooked threat

The word “disaster” usually makes people think about natural disasters like tornado, flood, or earthquake.  You’ve probably already talked in your group about how to prepare for these threats.

But unless we’re reminded by notices from our local utility we may never even think about the gas lines that run under or near our homes or places of business.

And if we take the time to learn even more, we will discover that any gas line could be a leaking gas line! Moreover, a big enough gas leak can be deadly.

Time for your group to be asking: Where are the gas lines around us?

Finding out where the gas lines run in your neighborhood will take some effort.

In the years that we’ve been studying our own community we have run up against resistance from a number of sources. As can be expected, cities and gas line operators are concerned about sabotage and/or terrorist activities. They protect the details of their systems from everyone, including residents.

Moreover, a leaking gas line may or may not be repaired even though it has been noted. As you can imagine,  a utility company really doesn’t want you looking over their shoulder when it comes to their maintenance policies!

Still, a good emergency response group wants to understand its community’s risks, and so the group perseveres . . .!

Three places to start your research.

1-The National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS) is an online map provided by the Department of Transportation. As a member of the public you can search by your State and COUNTY to get an idea of where gas transmission and hazardous gas pipelines are located.

I say “get an idea” because the public viewer is good only to +/- 500 ft.  (If you are actually going to dig, then you need to contact your local pipeline operator – or call 811 – to find out exactly where the pipes are.)

Here’s the link to the map (“Public Map Viewer”):  https://www.npms.phmsa.dot.gov/Default.aspx

2-Your local gas company

Here in California we have two of the largest public utilities in the country, and our local utility provides a map showing transmission and distribution lines. Once again, the authors of the map stress that the maps are accurate only to +/- 500 ft. Still, we can easily identify the “hazardous liquid” line running along the railroad tracks very near our home.

My research on other utility companies shows that there is no consistency. Many of the utility company websites simply refer readers to the National Pipeline Mapping System.

3-Your local pipeline operator

The pipeline operator is not necessarily the same as the utility.

Keep your eye open for pipeline signs. They are not required, nor are they necessarily placed in the same way every time. What they seem to have in common is the gold color.

The round warning sign will tell you who the pipeline operator is. (You’ll see a round sign on the brochure in the image above, too.) Write down the name and emergency phone number. You may be able to get further information about that particular pipeline and what it carries from the operator.

Kinder Morgan is the largest pipeline operator in the country. Its website says it transports nearly 40% of all piped natural gas, refined petroleum products, crude oil, carbon dioxide (CO2) and more. I found this map at their website. It shows just their biggest pipes. As you might expect, Kinder Morgan has a number of competitors.

The point of all this is that with some digging (bad joke!) you can discover a lot about where pipelines are in your community and who is responsible for them.

How we got information about our own community.

This Advisory is meant to give you an idea of where to start. Different members of our neighborhood emergency response group took on different tasks in researching our gas pipelines.

• I tracked down online maps like the ones shown in this Advisory.
• One member hiked along the nearby railroad tracks and photographed a construction project. His photos show the size and exact location of gas lines.
• One member went to city hall to get the original construction drawings for our community. These drawings show not only the location but also the size of the various pipes in the network, plus shut-off valves.
• As a group we queried the management of our community regarding make-up and maintenance of our local system.
• Our group invited the fire department, the police department and our local utility to special meetings on gas safety. (You will not be surprised to learn that they don’t always agree on where the lines are, what information to share or how to respond in an emergency!)

OK, so we now have an idea of where the pipelines are and what they are carrying.

And we found that gas is leaking from all these systems all the time!

With over 200,000 miles of pipelines, and many of them decades old, it’s to be expected that there will be leaks. In fact, distribution companies track something called “lost and unaccounted for” product.  One report has their measurements ranging from under 1% to over 4%!  (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-much-natural-gas-leaks/)

What causes the leaks? Common causes are simple deterioration, overgrown and over-stressed systems, defective equipment, incorrect hookups, code violations, faulty manufacturing of tanks and/or appliances — and natural ground shifts due to floods, earthquakes, etc.

Most of the time gas that escapes isn’t even noticed (except by the atmosphere, of course, since methane – the main component of natural gas – is 30 times more potent as a heat trapping gas than CO2.)  But any time there’s a leaking gas line, there’s a potential for explosion or fire.

The key is to keep gas from building up until it reaches the level where it can explode — that is, to where it makes up between 5 and 15% of the atmosphere. A whiff of gas won’t explode.  A mix that is too rich won’t explode. There is a 10% window in which it can ignite.

Good to know!

In Part Two we’ll share what we have learned about finding leaks!

Click here to move right on to Part Two.

Virginia Nicols
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

 

 

Emergency equipment can be expensive!

Considering an equipment purchase for your neighborhood group?  Something BIG, like in the image above?

Not that you’re considering purchasing a log mover — I used the picture because it makes the point.  This probably isn’t something you could afford by yourself.  You certainly wouldn’t want to buy it and have it sitting around “just in case.”

But what if your group does need neighborhood emergency equipment?

On one hand, buying as a group makes it easier.

If you are part of a group, you can look at buying big items from a different perspective.

• You and your neighbors can get access to items you wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.
• Your neighborhood can achieve a whole new level of resilience.
• Sharing in the purchase decision automatically creates a stronger network of neighborhood first responders!

However, big purchases are not all about big benefits.

Neighborhood emergency equipment decisions take a lot more thought.

For example, here are some of the decisions you’ll have to make about that purchase:

• Who will be the named owner – for tax purposes, for registration purposes, etc.?
• Which neighbor/s will be responsible for maintenance and repairs?
• Where will the equipment be stored and who will have access?

Here’s some of what we’ve experienced when we started buying materials for the group.

Some people don’t want to play.

People may be willing to show up to meetings. But being a member of the group isn’t enough to make everyone volunteer to spend money for the group’s welfare.

Honestly, we have found nothing that will change a “me” focus to an “us” focus. It’s either there, or it isn’t. So, if some of your group members seem unwilling to participate in group purchases, after appealing a couple of times to the concepts of cooperation and mutual support, you’ll have to let them go their own way.

Others are willing to buy for themselves and share when necessary.

In our local neighborhood, when we began to organize our group, it just so happened that we were already “sharing” a number of items. For example, Joe and I had a tall extension ladder that was left behind (too tough to pack) when a neighbor moved. The ladder ended up behind our house (see the photo!), and was used by any of a handful of people on the street. They just came and got it and brought it back when they were done.

After our first neighborhood emergency equipment inventory, we discovered that one contractor neighbor stores a heavy duty pry bar (six feet long) that he would be willing to share. Another neighbor has a pair of giant shears, good for breaking open chained gates. We have solar battery chargers.

We all learned about these items, and where they are located, and in an emergency we plan to share for the benefit of the group.

Getting money for “REALLY BIG” purchases.

When it comes to more expensive items, you may have to look at other options for financing them. Whatever you decide on, start now to put together your “wish list” of equipment your group could use effectively. Your list will be different from other groups’ lists. Just the action of making the list will involve more people and likely uncover creative ways to turn it into reality.

Option One – Funding from within the local community.

In our case, thanks to a committed and enlightened homeowners’ association board, our emergency team gets money every month via association dues. Emergency Plan Guide readers who are renters have told us their groups have received financial support from their property owners.

Some of our readers are members of groups incorporated as non-profits – and they have been the recipients of donations from local stores and local insurance companies. One group buys and resells radios at a profit.

Option Two – Funding from local or national grants.

Naturally we have looked for grant money. As a community we’ve been the grateful recipient of a grant co-sponsored by the Fire Department and First Alert. Three years ago, over a 2-day period, our team helped install donated smoke alarms in every single residence in the neighborhood!

As for getting grants on our own, we have had no luck so far. We have researched — and here’s some of what we have discovered.

• It helps,  and often is required, that you be an established group, with an official non-profit status, ID number, etc. Federal (FEMA) grants usually go only to official government agencies – fire departments, etc.
• Private foundations usually have a specific focus (which may change from year to year) and may have a minimum award that is higher than you can justify asking for.
• Your request for money to solve a particular need with a one-time purchase of equipment — for example, communications equipment for handicapped or senior members – may be more positively received than a request for money for operations.
• Many grants are announced on a specific date. The organizations involved have a strict application procedure that may take months, so you need to start your investigation now. (See this Advisory about the grants from State Farm.)
• Your city may offer grants for specific activities. And, of course, your city or county may offer CERT training to all your group members, with no real strings attached.

Remember that grants, unlike donations, always come with strings attached. You have to meet the grant’s requirements and then show that you spent the money the way you promised you would.

Option Three — Sponsoring a fundraiser for your group.

This is the tried and true way for any community group to raise money – money they can spend any way they like. There are SO MANY ideas of how to put on a good fundraiser!  You could probably write this section of the Advisory yourself!

Here are a few questions to get the conversation started . . .

Working together, we have been able to get financing for the big equipment we’ve needed so far for our group. It will take another Advisory to discuss how we set the priorities for using the equipment!

Virginia Nicols
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S. What sorts of fund-raisers have you been successful with?  Let us all know by jumping down below the subscribe info and leaving a comment!