Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country Handbook

I found this handbook this evening while I was putting information together for another class. I thought I would pass the information along. This information is directly from their website. I hope that it is helpful to those who have asked for more information about earthquakes and the Utah Valley. Here is the web address:

http://ussc.utah.gov/putting_down_roots.html

The Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country handbook is a new and comprehensive resource that provides information about the threat posed by earthquakes in Utah, particularly along the Wasatch Front, and explains how you can prepare for, survive, and recover from these inevitable events.
If you live or work in Utah, you need to know why you should be concerned about earthquakes, what you can expect during and after an earthquake, and what you need to do beforehand to be safe and protect your property.
To obtain a copy of Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country – Your handbook for earthquakes in Utah:

• Download a PDF of the pamphletHigh Resolution (16MB)Low Resolution (5MB)
• Pick up a free copy from the Natural Resources Map & Bookstore
• Pick up a free copy from the Utah Division of Homeland Security (1110 State Office Building, Salt Lake City)
• Pick up a free copy from your city or county emergency manager (for more information see the government section of your local telephone book)
• For bulk orders (ten or more), please contact Bob Carey (Utah Division of Homeland Security) atmailto:bcarey@utah.gov or 801-538-3784.

More information on faults and earthquakes in Utah can also be found at the Utah Geological Survey.

The First Bite - Where Do I Start?

Preparedness can be completely overwhelming. When I talk with people about preparedness, this is the one frustration that I hear. "I just don't know where to start." "I look at all that I need to do and I am completely at a loss as to what to do next". It reminds me of the story about eating an elephant.

How do you eat an elephant? One small bite at a time.

Take it one small piece at a time and over time, it adds up to a whole lot of preparedness. At first, it will seem as though you are not even making any progress at all. Then one day, you will look around and be surprised to see that you have 72 hour kits. Oh look, you have a 3 month supply. Water? I have water on hand for my family. It is mostly a matter of getting started, planning and then working on it regularly.

When I started I read everything I could find. And then I was completely overwhelmed by all that there was to do. In addition, I know that I tend to get distracted by everything and loss focus on the important things and the goals that I set. In order to combat this problem, I decided that I was going to have to set appointments with myself and treat them as though they are just as important as an appointment with someone else. I wouldn't put off meeting a friend for months and that is how I treat my appointments with myself. This may not work for everyone but it works for me. Each week I have 1 1/2 hours where I do nothing but work on preparedness. Sometimes it is planning what I need, sometimes it is organizing, sometimes it is going and picking something up. Remember when I planted tomatoes and peppers (which are doing great, by the way)? That was one of my appointments. Gardening is part of my preparedness plan.

To return to the elephant analogy, taking everything that the 'experts' suggested to I do to be prepared for an emergency, I broke it down into smaller, bite-sized areas and went to work. I decided which to work on, put them on the calendar and went to work. I am amazed at how much I have been able to accomplish in a short time. It has been about 3 years of constant focus and the reward has been peace of mind. We always have places we could do better but I do not worry because I know that we are getting there and eventually whatever is still lacking will be worked on.

The first thing that I worked on was getting a family emegency plan together. This helps my family know what to do if there is an emergency, who to call and where to go. BeReadyUtah.gov is a wonderful site to help with this. You follow the prompts and fill in your information and at the end it will print you out a page that has your family plan on paper plus it also will print out a wallet-sized card that folds up and you can carry with you that has all of the family plan information on it. I loved this! I now have this little card in my wallet that has all our contact information on it for my children, where they will be, where we met if there is a problem, etc. I think it will be helpful if there is a emergency and I forget everyone's phone number (if I can call) or where we meet if I can't get back to the house. And my children have one also. I thought this was a great idea because you could put it in your child's backpack and it would always be there if they needed it. It comes in handy even if there isn't a disaster if they need a family or work number that they don't remember.

Once my husband and I discussed all of the information on BeReadyUtah.gov and came up with a plan, filled out our plan information and printed off our cards, we then sat down with our children and had a family discussion. Realize that my children are teen-agers and college-age kids. They thought we were being a little on the loony side. We took a lot of hassling from them about being overly dramatic about the 'what ifs' and there was a lot of eye rolling and sighing. They are big people, you know, and can take care of themselves. They are grown but I still feel that by the end of the discussion, they learned something and to pacify their mom, they tucked their cards into their wallet or purse. Hopefully, they will keep it with them and never have to use it.

Here are some suggestions for making a family plan and discussing it with your family.

• Go to BeReadyUtah.gov and use their site. They have lots of basic information that is good to know. Their site can help you make an emergency plan, get a 72 hr kit together and has many other resources.
• Fill out your family plan
• Meet with your family members to discuss how to respond to the dangers of fire, severe weather, earthquakes, floods and other emergencies
• Find the safe spots for each type of disaster
• Discuss what to do about power outages and injuries
• Draw a floor plan of your home and mark two escape routes from each room
• Post emergency numbers near the phone
• Teach children when and how to call 911, police and fire
• Pick one out-of-state and one local friend/family member to call in a disaster
• Teach children your phone numbers, home and work
• Pick two reunion locations, one right outside your home, and one away from your neighborhood in case you cannot return.
• Take a basic first aid/CPR class ( http://www.utahredcross.org/general.asp?SN=3167&OP=3370&SUOP=12132&IDCapitulo=I2OD6QV708T ) and take a CERT class ( http://www.provo.org/fire.ppd_certprogram.html )

It sounds simple. It is simple. There's nothing to buy, you don't have to go somewhere to do this. You can do this at home with paper and pencil or a computer. It's just a matter of sitting down and doing it. I think when I did this, it took me about a week to do everything on this list that pertained to my family. Discussing it, finding the information, sitting down and actually putting it on paper, have a family meeting and then put the plan in our emergency binder. After I finished, I felt like a weigh had been lifted from my mind. Hopefully, if there is a problem, my family will at a minimum know where to go to meet and how and who to get in touch with so that we will all know that each other are safe.

Japan As a Reminder for Us to Prepare

A little girl stands in line with the rest of the people waiting for the second batch of water in Shiogama on Monday.  David Hogsholt for CNN

 

I happened to see this the other day while I was reading more about the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan. As horrific as the earthquake and tsunami were, many people have been motivated to start or assess their own preparedness because of it. This is a good thing as being prepared can make an emergency a little easier on yourself and your family. Our family is constantly praying for everyone who has been affected and they have been in my thoughts as I go about my day. They are having similar weather to what we have right now and my heart hurts for those who are in the cold and struggling to stay sheltered and fed. Food, water and shelter continue to be scarce even this long since the disaster. And now they have the added concerns of radiation in the food and water that is available.

I just want to remind everyone about the importance of storing water and food. 

 

"In many areas there is no running water, no power and four- to five-hour waits for gasoline. People are suppressing hunger with instant noodles or rice balls while dealing with the loss of loved ones and homes. "People are surviving on little food and water. Things are simply not coming," said Hajime Sato, a government official in Iwate prefecture, one of the three hardest hit.

. . . "I'm giving up hope," said Hajime Watanabe, 38, a construction industry worker, who was the first in line at a closed gas station in Sendai, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of Soma. Just then, an emergency worker came over and told him that if the station opens at all, it would pump gasoline only to emergency teams and essential government workers. "I never imagined we would be in such a situation" Watanabe said. "I had a good life before. Now we have nothing. No gas, no electricity, no water."  He said he was surviving with his family on 60 half-liter bottles of water his wife had stored in case of emergencies like this. He walked two hours to find a convenience store that was open and waited in line to buy dried ramen noodles."1

How fortunate for them that Hajime's wife stored that water for a time such as this. What a blessing it has been to their family. It has been days since the disaster in Japan and still many areas don't have any relief supplies. In some remote areas there has not been contact because of impassable roads. We could be in a similar situation should we have an earthquake. The government may not be able to get relief supplies to us for days or weeks. Being prepared is up to you.

Preparedness Fair

I had the opportunity to set up a booth at a Preparedness Fair today. The turn out was great. They had many people come and look through the booths, watch the demos and learn some new skills. There were lots of things to look at and I learned some new things that I hadn't know before. I love learning new things especially when they are preparedness oriented. I learned about making 'wheat meat' and sprouts (which tasted yummy) and saw this cool little stove that I think I might need. I can't wait to try this and a couple of the other things that I learned. Of course, when I do I will post pictures and how it went. I also talked with lots of people about CERT and had great interest in the program. YEAH! And I saw several of the members of our last class. I have missed them. I make friends at class and then I don't get to see them very often. It was a great day.

Are We Learning from Japan?

I have watched with sadness and concern the recent events in Haiti, Chile, New Zealand, and now Japan as these countries have dealt with devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. The pictures coming out of Japan have been particularly disturbing and have caused me to re-evaluate what we are doing as a family to prepare for potential earthquakes in our own state of Utah.

I read with interest an article by Malcolm Foster (AP) as the news broke concerning Japan's quake yesterday. We've all heard (and hopefully we've done something about it) that we should tie down our water heaters to prevent fires following an earthquake. But in Japan fires started for a number of reasons I hadn't really thought about. Cars were tipped over or crushed causing gas and oil to leak. Gas lines broke and not just those connecting to water heaters. Are there other things we should be thinking about besides securing our water heaters? Certainly our firefighters will be too busy dealing with fires to also deal with the other issues. Are we prepared to carry out search and rescue efforts on our own? Can we serve as providers of first aid?

Foster reported that critical roads and bridges buckled, collapsed or were covered with debris. By nightfall after the quake, the streets were jammed with cars, buses, and trucks trying to get around or out of the city. Are we prepared to shelter in place? Are we prepared to evacuate if necessary without the use of our cars and roads?

It's winter in Japan. Immediately after the quake power was out to over 14 million homes. Some could not get to their homes because the power outages meant elevators didn't work. Others lost their homes to flooding or collapse. One survivor stood in the street with an elderly parent. They couldn't get to their apartment on the 29th floor. She was quoted: "We are so cold. We really don't know what to do." And this is Japan, one of the most prepared and experienced nations when it comes to earthquakes. Have we thought about what we'd do for shelter and heat if our homes were not available? Or if power and natural gas were not an option?

Phone service was non-existent with both landlines and cell phones. This makes it difficult to know the welfare of family members who were not at home and likely scattered at school or work at the time of the quake at 2:45 p.m. Do you have a plan to communicate with family members if the phones are out?

We are probably not looking at damage from a tsunami here, but we live downstream from Deer Creek Reservoir and most of Provo lies in a flood plain should the dam fail. What are the implications of that for our families?

I don't intend to create fear by posing these questions, but we have a wonderful opportunity to learn. We need to be doing something today to put that learning into action.

It's that time of year when the world falls in love.....

Let's change the song a little. It's that time of year when the world comes alive....Yes, spring is coming. In my world, it's here. It's time to start getting out the seeds and random containers and starting to get things planted for warmer days to come. Even though it's still nippy outside, my little seeds will sprout and start a carpet of green to be transplanted later.

You may think that gardening is a summer project. Or perhaps it seems to overwhelming. And at times, it isn't the most inexpensive way to put some veggies on the dinner table. But gaining these skills can help ease the cost of having fresh produce and lessen your dependence on the grocery store.

Some seeds to start now would be tomatoes, eggplant, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, broccoli to name a few. Many of your herbs can be started in a warm, sunny window. Most plants are very senstitive to day length. When day length increases, they immediately begin to add new growth. Tomatoes and other seedlings can catch this wave of momentum; large containers will keep them from becoming root-bound before outdoor temperatures warm.

This doesn't have to be an elaborate or expensive project. A bag of potting soil can be picked up at the nursery, Home Depot or Wal Mart. I'm certain that you have some containers that you can dig out of the recycling. I have seed I saved from last year but even know seed packets are starting to show up in the back of the store. Or you can order some online or from a catalog like Burpee or Seed Savers. I used these little trays that I had left from past years and just added new little peat things ( don't know what they are called). I just drop a seed in each one and add water. Easy peasy. Now they are planted and I am waiting breathlessly for a little bit of green.

Mock Disaster March 5, 2011

Tonight was the disaster. It went well, as disasters go. We had lots of help getting the victims ready and ended up with about 35 gruesome looking victims.

Our CERT people showed up, picked an IC and got organized.

Then the responders got to work and rescued and treated the victims. They did a great job. More pictures can be found on facebook.com/ProvoCERT

What Do I do During an Earthquake?

We've looked at preparing for an earthquake. Now let's look at staying as safe as possible during an earthquake. Be aware that some earthquakes are actually foreshocks and a larger earthquake might occur. Minimize your movements to a few steps to a nearby safe place and if you are indoors, stay there until the shaking has stopped and you are sure exiting is safe. Earthquakes don't kill people, falling objects typically do. Moving away from objects that may fall on you should be your main goal.

If indoors

• If indoors, stay indoors. Do not run outside! Stay inside until the shaking stops.
• DROP to the ground; take COVER by getting under a sturdy table or other piece of furniture; and HOLD ON until the shaking stops. If there isn’t a table or desk near you, cover your face and head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of the building.
• Stay away from glass, windows, outside doors and walls, and anything that could fall, such as lighting fixtures or furniture.
• Stay in bed if you are there when the earthquake strikes. Hold on and protect your head with a pillow, unless you are under a heavy light fixture that could fall. In that case, move to the nearest safe place.
• Use a doorway for shelter only if it is in close proximity to you and if you know it is a strongly supported, loadbearing doorway.
• Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Research has shown that most injuries occur when people inside buildings attempt to move to a different location inside the building or try to leave.
• Be aware that the electricity may go out or the sprinkler systems or fire alarms may turn on.
• DO NOT use the elevators.

If outdoors

• Stay there.
• Move away from buildings, streetlights, and utility wires.
• Once in the open, stay there until the shaking stops. The greatest danger exists directly outside buildings, at exits and alongside exterior walls. Many of the 120 fatalities from the 1933 Long Beach earthquake occurred when people ran outside of buildings only to be killed by falling debris from collapsing walls. Ground movement during an earthquake is seldom the direct cause of death or injury. Most earthquake-related casualties result from collapsing walls, flying glass, and falling objects.

If in a moving vehicle

• Stop as quickly as safety permits and stay in the vehicle. Avoid stopping near or under buildings, trees, overpasses, and utility wires.
• Proceed cautiously once the earthquake has stopped. Avoid roads, bridges, or ramps that might have been damaged by the earthquake.

If trapped under debris

• Do not light a match.
• Do not move about or kick up dust.
• Cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing.
• Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can locate you. Use a whistle if one is available. Shout only as a last resort. Shouting can cause you to inhale dangerous amounts of dust.