Rick Stonell: on Disaster Preparedness

The good news is that the damage caused by floods in the MidWest is being dealt with - although it may take years for a full recovery.

But what’s the next disaster that might threaten a US city? Rick Stonell predicts a problem in July. This is the time that Air Conditioning saves lives. For ecxample, in 1995 Chicago, there were 500 fatalities caused by a heat wave

The city set new records for energy use, which then led to the failure of some power grids: 49,000 households were without electricity at one point. Many people went to the city’s beaches, but others vandalized the fire hydrants. More than 3,000 hydrants around Chicago were opened, causing some neighborhoods to lose water pressure on top of losing electricity.

The city’s roads warped in the heat - train tracks expanded beyond their engineering limits and buckled, causing long delays for commuters and freight. Some schoolkids in city buses became so dehydrated/nauseous that the Fire Department had to hose them down. Hundreds of people were hospitalized with heat-related illnesses - and this was not just the very young and the elderly (although they were most vulnerable)

On Friday, July 14, thousands of Chicagoans had developed severe heat-related illnesses. Ambulances couldn’t keep up with emergency calls; hospitals were unable to cope: 23 assumed “bypass status” and refused to accept new emergency patients. Some paramedics were forced to drive around the city, looking for an open hospital

As the price of fuel increases - and the nation’s infrastructure decays, this can happen again. Do you have a way of staying cool?

The recent earthquakes in Hawaii have concentrated a few people’s minds. But did you know that there’s an earthquake predicted for the continental US? And it’s not on the West Coast?

I’m taliking about New Madrid, Missouri - the site of a major earthquake (probably Richter 8.0) in 1812. Seismologists are predicting a 90% chance of a similar event in the next 50 years.

see this link for more on the 1812 event: www.rick-stonell.us

Sometimes it’s the simple, low-tech approach that works best.

Walkie-talkies and cellphones are cool toys - but I’d recommend that your kids have 2 things with them when they leave the house.

1. A roll of quarters - for payphones and bus rides
2. A good whistle - the scream of a child isn’t as loud as you think; but a good whistle can be heard for miles and it’s easier for an injured/trapped child to keep blowing a whistle than keep screaming.

The Department of Homeland Security developed the Ready.gov website as a disaster preparedness information point of presence; one member of the Federation of American Scientists initiated a challenge to improve on the Department’s work.

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As if the heat wasn’t enough, strong storms hitting New Hampshire on Wednesday took out power to as many as 8,500 homes and businesses and toppled power lines and trees onto homes, mostly in the Seacoast area. Downed trees damaged about 20 mobile homes in a park in North Hampton after a lightning storm.

“I was amazed that no one was hurt,” Fire Deputy Corey Landry told the Portsmouth Herald.

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Your cellphone’s battery will lose its charge at the least convenient time - this is as guaranteed as Death and Taxes. I also guarantee that you’ll want to make calls during a disaster.
Fortunately, there are a few solutions to this variation on Murphy’s Law

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THE BUG-OUT BAG
With luck, you will never experience a huge and overwhelming disaster like Hurricane Katrina. However, if disaster threatens your family and/or forces an evacuation, you may need a fully-stocked and easily-reached emergency “bug-out” bag. This could help make rescue, recovery and a “return to normal” easier and more successful; in the early stages of a disaster, it could even save lives.
A bug-out bag is basically a big bag or backpack containing the following:

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