Category: Resources

Over the past month we’ve seen heartbreaking photos from Colorado: homes washed off their foundations, stores filled with mud a foot deep, livestock perched on islands in a sea of brown water.

Pain of dealing with legal problems

Our first concern is for the lives of the people involved. Then, typically, the news coverage moves on, and we are left to our imagination to consider the mess left behind.

Physical mess we understand. But what about the legal mess?

Physical mess we understand. Mud, water, shovels, sweat.

But every picture of a damaged car or home, of a business or farm or highway, represents a potential legal problem, a problem that could last weeks or months and complicate that family’s life forever.

Can we prepare for legal disasters? Yes, we can.

Here are a few questions every family needs to be able to answer.

1. Can you prove who you are?

These days many, many “families” are not legally related. Some family members may not be legal citizens. In an emergency, your problems will be magnified if you don’t have the documents to prove who you are and your legal relationships to others. These documents may include a rent agreement, custody for children or powers of attorney for parents. Have copies of these documents made and store the originals in a bank safety deposit box if possible.

2. Can you prove that you own the lost or damaged property?

Several years ago when a mobile home park in California was evacuated at 4 a.m., residents had no time to gather important papers. 80% of the homes burned to the ground. Months later those homeowners were still having problems proving they had owned the property! Again, add ownership documents (car, home, insurance) to your “Go-Bag” so you can grab it and take it with you even if you have only minutes. Electronic copies work as well as originals in this case.

3. How will your personal obligations be handled if you are out of work or out of your home?

Bills don’t stop just because your house has been flooded. If you pay by check, your check and checkbook may have been lost. If you pay bills automatically, you’ll at least have a few days reprieve. In any case, you’ll need to notify all your creditors of the situation. Do you have a list of who they are and how to contact them?

4. What about business contracts if your business is shut down?

Once you’ve ascertained that your employees are safe, you’ll turn to keeping the business alive. Do you have standing orders for delivery of product – either to or from the place of business? What happens when you default on those contracts? Does your business emergency plan include contacting all employees regarding the work schedule, contacting all vendors and customers to tell them what to expect? What about being ready with an announcement to the news media? These communications plans need to be set up BEFORE anything happens.

These aren’t all the legal problems that may come up, but if you have made preparations to handle at least these four questions, you’ll be in a lot better position to make it though a natural disaster.

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT TOPIC.  PLEASE FORWARD TO FRIENDS.

Copy and paste this link:  https://emergencyplanguide.org/legal-problems-surface/.

Ever happen to you?

Last week we got the notice. “On Tuesday your utility service will be temporarily out of service.”

Clean it up!

We live in a community with a fragile infrastructure. We’ve had electricity outages, burst water mains and even four natural gas leaks over the past few years. (Actually, three of the gas leaks were because of construction, so they weren’t because of the infrastructure. But hey, an outage is an outage, no matter how caused.)

Anyway, this time it was our water service, “Off starting at 8 a.m., until the leak can be found and repaired.”

You realize what happens when there’s no water, right?

No shower or bath, of course. (Easy to do without.)

No flushing the toilet. (Less easy.  It takes GALLONS of water to flush a toilet.)

No rinsing of dirty dishes. (A nuisance only.)

No rinsing hands after picking something up off the floor, or pulling a weed, or wiping up spilled coffee. (Yuck.)

No rinsing the counter after wiping up the spilled coffee. (Sticky!)

You get the picture!

Of course, we were warned, so we were prepared.

It wasn’t even an emergency. Here’s what we did:

• Made sure we had plenty of clean drinking water.
• Filled up the plastic trash cans and set them beside the toilet to allow for flushing.
• Filled up some large pots and pans and set them on the kitchen counter for cooking and rinsing.  (ended up labeling them as “drinkable” or “rinse only”)
• Filled the dishpan with warm water (heated on the stove) and dish soap and put the dirty dishes to soak for the afternoon.
• Opened a couple of packages of handi-wipes and placed them strategically.

I was amazed at the number of times I started to turn on the tap and then had to remember – no water!  But this was a planned event, for a limited time only, so no real problems for us. What would it be like if this went on for a whole 24 hours, or several days?

What sort of water outages have you experienced?

What did you do to plan? What was it like if unplanned? Share your stories in the comment box. We want to hear about it!

As part of National Preparedness Month, Joe and I staffed a booth at a local neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Faire on Sunday. It was held in a street that ends in a cul de sac, and we were one of about 20 different organizations trying to raise awareness among folks in this neighborhood.

How effective was it?

Generous Support from Local Agencies

The police department was there with two cars and a child fingerprinting set-up; the fire department brought one of its engines and let kids crawl into the cab. The gas company was demonstrating utility shut-offs, and the electric company had a truly terrifying display (aimed at children!) that zapped when its puppet people approached a live overhead wire.

Other booths sold emergency supplies, first aid supplies, and ice cream. There was even a display of how to splint a broken arm using newspapers.

Reactions from Neighborhood Residents

We were there helping sign people up for the next Community Emergency Response Training class, and to talk with passers-by about emergency supplies. Here’s what we discovered:

• The word “emergency” evoked no response other than glazing of the eyes – even though these people had come knowing this event was supposed to be about emergency preparedness.
• The word “survival” worked much better. Particularly when we asked, “Do you have a survival kit? In the car?” (This is southern California, where everybody commutes.)
• The best response came from the children. When we asked, “What do you do in an earthquake?” the kids all responded automatically, “Drop, cover and hold on.” Their parents looked on in wonder.

Some percentage of the people absolutely would not approach our tent; they just smiled and kept walking. (You gotta ask yourself, why did they even show up? Well, it was a beautiful day, and there was music and balloons . . .)

Recommendations from the Field

1. Children —  Many of the families had children, and those booths that had something for children fared the best.

2. Mystery — In our booth, where we talked about the need for a survival kit, I pulled items one by one out of a backpack to show them. Again, children were eager to see what would come out next.  They were most interested in the space blanket, the solar-powered/crank radio, the whistles and the LifeStraw. They actually asked questions while the parent/s looked on.

3. Give-aways — A number of people didn’t seem to have time to actually talk about their preparedness, or our display, but they happily took one of our postcards that listed our website for more info.

At the end of the day, we had accomplished a number of things, including making an excellent connection with the local newspaper reporter and his photographer. We were again reminded about how difficult the “preparedness message” is to deliver.

But if we got just a half-dozen families to take action, that’s more people who will stay alive and survive when the big one hits. So, was it worth it? You bet.

Virginia Nicols
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

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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

Children Deserve Survival Training

When there’s an emergency, whether storm, earthquake, flooding, or power outage – children go though it just like you do. How prepared are your children to survive? How about your grandchildren?

How prepared are these kids to respond in an emergency?

Little ones may not understand the potential danger of a storm or other emergency, and perhaps they don’t need to. But they CAN be prepared to take action when they recognize certain warning signs.

Emergency Preparedness at School

These days all schools have access to emergency preparedness training through FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Education. (Just search for “Emergency Preparedness for Schools” on their websites.) Most schools have and practice emergency procedures.

In fact, our grandchildren (aged 10 and 13) seem to know more about how to respond in an earthquake than their parents do!

However, take these children out of the school setting, and they have no experience in taking care of themselves. These are children who have grown up in the suburbs. They’ve never spent time in the wilderness, never used tools, never hiked more than a couple of blocks! (Don’t get me wrong. They’re smart, and getting a great education. But it doesn’t include any survival skills!)

Action Step: Find out what Emergency Preparedness training your children’s teachers go through, and what drills they and the children participate in. It may reassure you!

What about survival training for younger children?

If your children are home with you all the time, then naturally you will be making decisions for them in the case of an emergency.

Still, you may not be with them all the time! What if the storm hits when your child is:

• At a day-care center
• On a play date at a friend’s house
• At a birthday party or an athletic event where other adults are in charge
• At the movies, at Sunday school, playing in the backyard – the list is endless!

You simply can’t be with your children 24 hours a day. So, what survival skills are you giving them?

A simple emergency preparedness tool for starters!

In 1993, FEMA and the American Red Cross put together a Coloring Book for Children. (Yes, it was created in 1993, so the illustrations are pretty dated . . . but I feel that overall, the coloring book has value.)

Here are five highlights from the coloring book, as I see them:

1. Work together.  The book is designed to be worked on by an adult and child team. Do you have older children who would find the coloring book silly? Let them be the “adult” in the conversation with the younger child.
2. Call 911. Use the coloring book as a tool to teach your child when and how to call 911.
3. Family emergency plan. If you haven’t done it yet, use the book as a motivation to identify your “outside meeting place” and your “out-of-area” emergency contact person.
4. Survival kits. Discuss – and build! – emergency supply kits for each family member.
5. Repeat.  The quiz on the last page is a good review.

Action Item: Here’s the link to the book. Click on it and print out the book. It’s 26 pages long, so you probably won’t be going through it all in one sitting.

Click to download Coloring Book

(Here’s the entire link again, in case you need it:  https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/dam-production/uploads/20130726-1505-20490-1849/color.pdf)

I think this coloring book could be improved by being brought up to date. In fact, I’m ready to do a new version myself, because it seems as though young children still like to color. What suggestions do you have for improving it? Please let me know by using the comment box below.

Thank you!

Virginia – Your Emergency Response Guide Team

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!

The US Department of Labor has a division called Occupational Safety and Health Administration, otherwise known as OSHA. I’m sure you’ve heard of it!

OSHA deals with a wide variety of employment issues, including protecting privacy, procedures for non-discrimination and retaliation, etc. OSHA also sets standards for safety, including requirements for Emergency Action Plans.  Does your workplace have a Plan?  Is it working for you?  Here’s an overview to start the conversation . . .

Who needs an Emergency Action Plan?

Just about every business. Take a look around your workplace. Do you see any fire extinguishers? If there were a fire, would you and co-workers need to evacuate the premises? These are the two key questions, so if you answer “Yes” to either one, you need to have an Emergency Action Plan!

What are the requirements for a Plan?

• It must be in writing.
• It must be kept in the workplace.
• It must be available to employees for review. (An employer with 10 or fewer employees may simply announce the plan contents in a staff meeting or otherwise orally.)

What does the plan contain?

• Information about how to report a fire or other emergency (Public address system? Call 911? Pull fire alarm?)
• Evacuation procedures and identification of escape routes (Nearest exit? Maps or diagrams?)
• Location of fire extinguishers and who is authorized to use them (Not everyone?)
• Critical steps to be taken before the workplace is emptied (Shut down equipment? Close doors? Do nothing, just get out?)
• Procedures for keeping track of all employees after an evacuation (Where are records?)
• Rescue and medical duties for those employees who are to perform them
• Who to contact for more information

How often does the plan have to be updated, or shared with employees?

Clearly, a number of plan items need to be regularly updated, such as the list of employees and the list of employees with special emergency skills or who require special training. There doesn’t seem to be a requirement to revise the plan on any regular basis, or to actually practice it. The plan must be shared with all employees covered by it, however, including new employees.

What if we should have a plan, but don’t?

OSHA provides an on-line eTool that you can use to create a basic plan. Just fill in the blanks and print it out. (Note that the material is NOT SAVED if you stop in the middle, so you need to complete all sections in one sitting.) You will discover that the questions, while simple, will force you to make some important distinctions about employee behavior in an emergency. You can find the eTool at:

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/evacuation/expertsystem/emergencyplan.html

What’s the bottom line?
An Emergency Action Plan is really only a FIRE EVACUATION PLAN.

It is not an emergency preparedness plan or a disaster response plan. It has no provisions for assembling emergency supplies to protect employees or plans to protect the business itself in the event of a disaster. Still, it is a first step to survival awareness.

Action Item: Be sure your workplace has an Emergency Action Plan as a bare minimum

Stay tuned to Emergency Plan Guide Advisories, because we’ll be dealing in more detail on Business Continuity planning.

Virginia and Joe
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

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

CERT activates for a Missing Child

CERT Volunteers get their assignment. Photo thanks to OC Register and Lt. Bill Whalen of Irvine PD

Two weeks ago, at 9:30 at night, our phone began to ring. At the same time, my cell phone buzzed and a message came up on my computer screen: “This is not a test.”

Irvine police were calling on their volunteer support teams, including CERT, to respond to an emergency – a missing child. He had left home around 7 p.m., and disappeared into the night. The police department had already been searching on foot, with dogs and a helicopter, to no avail.

The police decided to activate their volunteers. According to the newspaper account, the Lieutenant in charge expected about 10 people to show up. They did, within 10 minutes. Within the next two hours, 130 people showed up!

The volunteers included members of both CERT, which is over 600 strong in Irvine, and IDEC, the Irvine Disaster Emergency Communications (amateur radio volunteers). Groups combed the area until 2:15 a.m. Police also used footage from local buses to try to capture information about the boy.

Ultimately, he emerged from a movie theatre in an adjoining town, and prevailed on a helpful citizen to take him home.

Take-aways from the event, according to the police:

• The iAlert system for this community works. (I can attest to that! Read more about the iAlert program here: Severe Weather Alerts)
• Regular trainings for CERT volunteers have kept the group engaged and willing to participate. (Irvine CERT holds regular, nearly monthly, trainings and community service activities.)
• Organizers were hard-pressed to manage the number of volunteers that showed up. It was unprecedented.

A CERT simulation for this exact scenario had been scheduled for later this month, but it was cancelled. The real thing was better than any simulation would have been.

As an aside, here in our local neighborhood, another six people have signed up to take the no-cost city-sponsored CERT training that starts in July. It consists of 8 evening sessions, in which people review basic first aid, search and rescue and disaster psychology. Graduates get the chance to handle tools, practice with a fire extinguisher, and come out with a kit bag full of emergency equipment including flashlight, hard hat, dust mask and gloves.

Action item: Interested in CERT training in YOUR community? Head to the FEMA website’s State Directory at: www.FEMA.gov/community-emergency-response-teams .

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.)