Disaster Planning 101

I name names : the products I use and carry;

Peanut butter

Schrade switch-it knife

http://www.discountsupplyunlimited.com/schrade_switch_it_knife.html

Granola bars

fleece

What to tell the kids ... ( post in progress)

Extra planning for children

What to give the kids

About family, etended

pet are kids and often vice versa

Long dark teatime..

This is a basic kit for going into the woods.*

First, always carry the "ten essentials" when you hike or backpack.

there are several good lists

( I like this one -- it lists 20 items)

http://tennessee.sierraclub.org/broome/ten_essentials.htm

similar

http://home.earthlink.net/~colorado_hiking/1_Hiking_topics/The_Ten_Essentials%20.htm

Every list is slightly different, but all hold to the same idea -- pack a few things in case of a sudden storm, accident or getting lost. You should expect to be on your own for 12-24 hours. You should also expect that the weather will change, you will get lost and things might take longer than you had planned.

Light is a useful tool and psychologically welcome. You should expect to provide your own sources of light for at least part of any emergency.


-Candles

-Flashlights / headlamps - Look for LED bulbs and common, easily available battery types ( AA, AAA)

-Hybrids & hand cranks

-Other --Chemlights, krill, solar lights, etc.

My house burn, I might get hurt, the farm may flood.

Bummer.

People tend to ignore uncomfortable things, (bills, sickness, the state of the world) so many just don't plan -or even think about -- emergencies and disasters.

Bad idea.

Cause stuff happens.

And planning can help get your life back on line.

I have, in my time, put out an indoor fire, had a minor car accident, changed a coupla of flats, seen hypothermia in action, and a few dozen more minor events. These things are hard to prevent but easy to prepare for.

And the thinking ahead, planning, and evey the buying of the tools necessary can even be fun.

So, you can igonre all this planning stuff and hope that nothing bad ever happens. Or you can get on with it.

And maybe even have a bit of fun.

TRO

I hold a number of views different from the rest of the emergency prepardness community. I'll list theme here, give my resoning and let you decide.

Guns --Lots of emergency/ survivalist types love guns. They love to shoot guns, collect guns and talk guns.

And for disaster planning? Guns. Get some and then get some more. Store a minimun of 1,000 rounds for each gun. Carry a handgun --protect yourself!

I respectfully disagree.

Three reasons;

One the safety issue. A gun in the house will be more likely to hurt someone you know than to ever shoot a burgular. The odds are against you.

This is especially true if you have kids.

Two is simple economics. A gun & ammo -- even a basic one -- will run about $200-300. That's as much as I spend on a whole survival kit.**

Pluse a gun lock or safe. ( another $50- 300, plus moving the thing.)

Three is the weight/ space issue. If I'm walking/ driving somewhere, I'd rater use the space in my pack for extra water, clothing and food, in that order.)

You'll have to make up your own mind, but consider what tools and equipment will be most useful is most situations, remembering most disasters are pretty boring.

I'd simply rather use the money and space in my pack for other things. Youll have to decide for yourself.

Teacher RO

PS Its very important to get proper trainign and to know the laws concerning firearms. Like a chainsaw, its a whole lot of power for one person to wield.

(** See my other posts on preparing cheaply. Done right a whole kit can be done for less than $50 -- depending on your electronics.)

Blizzard. White-out. Forty below wind chills.

Welcome to my world.

I live on the northern great plains. We get Winter here. A foot of snow in a day winter. Roads closed weather. Can't see your hand weather.

Going off the road or having a minor breakdwon is serious concern.

Your Winter car kit is likely your first trip in to prepardness land.

1. food/ consumables
2. tools
3. warmth
4. signal/ communication
5. everything else.

Technology is great. But in an emergency situation,

Computer back-ups

primitive tools

24 hour stores and group psychlogy

panic

the phones, electricity and the internet

these things are the most fragile parts of our information society.

where's my mail?

Information society

Gee, its dark

5th street is where?

Given that we now get most of our information from the internet ( and cable tv)

I wish I had a bike

A knife.


Did you shudder just then?


Many people are prejudiced against knives. Often associated with gangs or hodlums, they make some folks cringe. Yet, many, many thousands of knives are carried and used everyday with no trouble. A knife is a tool, like a car. It has many good uses and limitations; depending on the user. Like a car.

In planning for emergencies, you should have tools on hand -- the most important of which is a knife.

USES: A knife can be used to cut paper, boxes or twings, help make a fire or prepare food.

My prejudices:

I prefer a well-made, medium size, locking folding knife. You might like something else.

( see also multi-tools)

Legal considerations:
Many places, a large knife is classified as a weapon. In some places, ALL knives and blades are considered illegal ( Airports, goverment buildings, etc.) Know the laws locally.

Labels: basic gear, EDC, knife

2005 was a rough year.


To sum up -- the goverment is not always going to be there to help, and in some instances (convention center, anyone?) is going to make it much much worse.

In any VLE (very large event) you can expect to be on your own for 24 hours to 2 weeks. How long dendends on several factors, but don't initally expect any help from the police, fire dept or every to get very good information for a while.

You'll be on your own for heat, food water and entertainment for a while.

BTW: This is why the 'shelter in place' option exists. If its safe, sit tight and wait for things to settle.

IN modern America we tend to think very short term; we can get gas at the 24 hour mart, food from any of many stores and police/ fire response in just minutes. All that changes after a disaster.

One of the strangest things I heard after Katrina was that the police radios failed -- because their batteries ran out.

Really?

A good, general resource:

www.equipped.org

Red Cross Disaster kits; ( checklists)

http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_3_,00.html

Worldwide weather

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/reports/weather-events.html

FEMA family disaster plan

http://www.fema.gov/rrr/famplan.shtm

Wikpedia entry for "bug out bag"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bug-out_bag

An extensive list of 24 hour pack lists
http://www.survival-center.com/dl-list/dl1-toc.htm

A woman's take on a BOB:
http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/prepare/bug-out.html

The lights go out. The roads are blocked. A blizzard or tornado cuts you off from the rest of the town. There you sit.

Well, you might get bored. And you might be afraid of the dark.

But its a certainy that you'll get thirsty.

Humans need water every day. Even a small person, sitting at a desk job in an air-conditioned office needs 1-2 quarts of liquids a day.

And that amount goes up -- way up -- when a bigger person starts working outside in the heat.

One rule of thumb is one gallon for each person each day. This is a good start.

Water is cheap. Before an emergency. We get cool, clean water out of the tap for pennies. But AFTER an emergency, what is the water flow stops or it gets contaminated?

That's why storing water is recomended.

TRO

PS Don't forget your pets.

MORE

O.K. I love gear. Lots and lots of high tech shiny fun stuff. There is tons of stuff to buy; electronics, fancy clothes, high tech food and so on.

But what do you really need?

Many writers devide wht you need into five groups by what you'll use the items for:

1. shelter/clothing
2. heat
3. food/ health
4. signaling
5.
6. tools



(See related post: Knives )

Note: your cell phone is fragile, not waterproof, electrically powered and the cell network is likely to be overloaded or go down in many emergencies. In a similar vein, your GPS system is great, if you have batteries, the manual and some experience in using it.

This is the 'Big Picture' part of the blog.

What are your basic beliefs about disaster planning -- what are you planning for? How long do you wish to be 'self-sustaining?' How much are you willing to spend?

Many 'Planners' just like to collect gear and chat on-line with other 'planners.' Well, no matter how cool your $200 custom knife is, it probably wont help you while you wait for a week for the power to come back on.

The basics are quite boring.

Shelter
water
food

beyond those:

tools/ repair
signaling
firstaid
route finding

Ok, you're not going to buy a land roverand a romote cabin on the lake. What are some easy small things you can do to prepare?

1. Think about what you're planning for. ( See the blog entry: "No, really. What are you planning for? ( "Realistic expectations" )

2. Begin to train and plan in small ways for emergencies and disasters.
I call these ten dollar steps.

A. Buy 2 24 packs of generic bottled water. Store it in the back of a closet, garage or basement. Now you're ready for a day or two without water.

B. Buy a basic first aid kit. Read the book that comes along with it

c. Check your some alarms and buy a fire extinguisher

d.

The good news is that many emergencies have similar results -- and most are things you can plan for.

But what should you expect?

The formula I use is this: plan for
A) things you can prepare for
B) things you can realistically expect to happen


A list for Chicago might look like this:

Top five
1. extereme cold
2. Blizzard/ snow/ rain
3. Heat
4. crowds/riots
5. ???



Under "A", this means that nuclear war is not something I worry about. Short of moving, no amount of planning is going to make me safe. Also, given my location, a terror attack of any sort is unlikely.

Under "B" -- What might happen at your location?

There are sexy disaster and then there's the weather. Guess which one's more likely?

The weather.



The ten year rule.

You should expect that if has happened in the last ten years, it will likely happen in the next ten.

Most of what we prepare for is quite boring & predictable.


Location, location, location.

On the micro level, you should know what to expect -- if you're in a flood plain, expect flooding.

Yes, you can buy a $2,100 satallite phone. No, I'm not going to. Neither are you.

Here are some ideas on how to prepare on the cheap. Stuff you won't find out about in magazines that sell really cool $2,100 satallite phones. Or on websites pushing their cool toys.

The truth is that you can plan and prepare cheaply.

1. water

2. goodwill

3. Ebay

4. food

5. build/ collect it yourself

Think in terms of small purchases and make planning a part of your budget. I call these $10 ideas.

First week: Dig out a day/book pack that you used to wear in school. Start collecting old plastic bottles (2l are great) for water. Contact the red cross for their class schedule

Second Week:

Third Week;

Fourth week:

In 2005 many things changed suddenly.

At the end of August, hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana, Mississippi and other parts of the Gulf coast. It was one of the largest disasters to hit the US in many years.

The aftermath changed several basic presumptions we had up to that point.

Here is what we used to assert about personal emergency planning:


one: In 24 or 36 or 72 hours, it would be over and the cavlary ( Red Cross, FEMA, polie, rescue, other) would come to get us.

two: That 3 days of food and water is sufficent.

three: That the goverment would act quickly to help.

four: That we could get useful information on what we should do.

five: That if our house became un-usable, we would be moved to a shelter and there would be provided with beds, food and help.

In Katrina, none of this turned out to be true. It was a shocking wake-up call to those of us who had planned for an event just like this.

Here are some terms used in emergency and disaster planning:

The common abbreviations are listed after the term (like this)

24 hour pack -- What Search and rescue teams carry. Its a backpack they can live out of for 24 hours. (Related to , but not the same as a Bug Out Bag.)

72 Hour pack -- See above, just add more of what you'd need for 72 hours withou outside support.

911 --the emergency phone number you call for help. ( In offices, its sometimes 9-911)

9/11 -- A Terror attack on the US. A big wake up call


AIDS -- A disease.

Bug out bag (BOB) -- A small bag or container of essentials that a person would take when leaving his/her house.

Car kit --Emergency supplies carried in yur car. Basics, plus first aid, plus some tools and repair items. Key components include tools, spare parts, a fire extingusher and spare clothing. Add a big sleeping bag as well.

Disaster --

Every Day Carry (EDC) -- Tools and supplies that are carried each day ( At work, school, on your commute, etc.) Stuff that you would always have with you -- think pens, cell phone, cash, etc. Some folks add more to be more prepared.

First Aid -- Care given to injured. Usually given right away ('first') before being moved to professional care. Training is important here as decisions must be made quite quickly.

Homeland security, dept of. --

Katrina, Hurricane -- Hit the gulf coast of the us in August, 2005. Most damage occured after the storm had passed when large parts of New Orleans flooded after multiple levee breaks. Notable for lack of an organized goverment response including 10,000 plus persons left at shelters.

Knife -- A blade with a handle. There are many, many types and long discussions on what's best. See my suggestions and predjucies here (LINK)



Milspec

Multitool-- A pliers/ knife /screwdiver tool, useful for minor repairs. Popular brands include Leatherman and Gerber. Again, get the best quality and one with locking blades.

Optics -- A term for binoculars, scopes and telescopes.


Prepardeness --

Purell -- Brand name of an alchol bases hand-sanitizer.

Search and Rescue ( SAR) -- Groups trained to find and rescue people. Mostly thought about in wilderness situations, but becoming more prevelant in recovery scenarios.

Shelter in Place -- A newish term. It means that instead of going somewhere after a disaster, you're asked to stay put, at home. ( You should assume some of your utilities may be out for the duration.)

Socks, dry -- A surprisingly comforting piece of equipment.

Survalist -- A person who expects the collapse of the current society -- and one who prepares to survive afterward. Most folks who prepare are not survalists.

SAK -- Swiss Army Knife. I prefer the locking blande models. Get a real one. ( Victronix or QQQ)

Towel -- Know where yours is.

UV -Abbreviation for ultra violet.

VLE -- Very large event. A disaster or emergency affecting a large group of people or area.

Planning for emergencies and disasters has changed.

The events of 9/11 and then hurricane Katrina have made us all more aware that becoming more personally responsible for our comfort and survival is a necessicity.

Keeping your family safe and healthy until things get back up and running again is your responsibility. The police will be busy. The Red Cross will be busy. Hospitals will be very busy.

This whole blog -- in fact the idea of planning for disasters -- is that you can prepare quite easily for these expected events.

At its simplest level, it requires some forethought, some shopping and a little training.

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Since katrina, there have been mutli-state blackouts, extreme weather and