Natural Disasters

[editorus]

With Katrina over and most of the nation just numb viewing all the damage.  I would just like to bring up, have you given any thought both in the office and at home to your disaster plan?  If so what have you done, if not do you think you should?

[gee4]

We have a disaster plan/crisis communications plan set up in work but nothing as far as personal life is concerned.  I guess we don't think of these things.  In my lifetime I have not experienced floods or earthquakes etc, but NI has had it's fair share of trouble over the years.  I guess when your time is up, it's up.

G

[smssilva]

I work in a telecom company and we are mandated by the goverment to have this kind of plan, since setting up communications is vital in a disaster area.

In home I dont have exactly a plan, but being an ex-scoutgirl I always keep can food and bottled water for emergencies.

S.

[raindance]

We have a disaster/contingency plan, and are in the process of updating it.  

As far as home is concerned, I've done as much as I can possibly do at this stage.

Raindance

[potofgold]

In July we instigated our Emergency Plan on 5 occasions:

1.  Alert/Standby in response to 7/7 London Bombings
2.  City Centre evacuation of 20,000 people on Saturday night
3.  Explosion of chemical factory - local residents evacuated
4.  Arrest of one of 21/7 bombers - local residents evacuated
5.  Tornado - whole area evacuated and full emergency plan instigated incl 600 staff mobilised within 60mins (still ongoing but now in recovery phase).

Whilst these aren't on the scale of the situation caused by Hurricane Katrina, it sure made me thankful I had actually read our EP and knew what my role as part of the Rapid Response team was (luckily I only attended the last of those listed here).

At home - well I have bottled water, dried goods and tinned/frozen foods... I could probably feed myself for a month as long as I had gas/electricity (either would do as cooker is gas and have microwave... planned just in case), or perhaps a week if I couldn't cook.  I have insurance details easily accessible and a list of bank payments, but not much else you can plan for at home except for being able to leave in a hurry?

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[reddrogue]

Our only plan is to leave as soon as we hear that something is coming.  Its weird, I was living in Indianapolis for a while, and it was hit by a tornado, but only on one side of town.  Where I lived, there was nothing, no damage whatsoever.  But the other side of town, trees were uprooted, homes were missing roofs, trailers had been overturned.  

So, my plan is to grab the box with the important papers in it, the kid, the mom, and hit the road BEFORE the tornado hits.  That is what we usually see around here because we are landlocked.

[countrigal]

My plan depends on the disaster.  Most that I deal with are tornados or flooding, normally due to the hurricanes hitting the coast.  In my camper, I have a camping stove that works off of bottled gas, along with canned or dried foods, bottled water, extra blankets and clothes, etc.  If we have to evacuate, we would hook up to the camper and take that all with us, along with the fire-proof box with all our important papers in it, probably some momentos (ie: pictures), some more clothes, and as much food from my freezer as we could pack into the coolers, because even if they thaw faster than we could eat it, we would have something to share with others in need.

If we don't have to evacuate, then I have bottled water in the house next to my box of important papers in an interrior room, along with some canned and dried goods.  I have a generator that can feed my house electricity enough to keep my refrigerator going (if it's still there) and another cooking stove is kept in the house that runs off of bottled gas, in case the camper's no longer there.

The only time I've had to implement any type of plan was the ice storm in Little Rock, AR that kept us without power for 6+ days.  I had a wood burning fireplace, and plenty of wood kept in the back yard, so I had heat.  I blocked off the front room, so we were living in the one room, able to keep it heated easier.  Cooked on the cooking stove, kept the freezer closed as it had plenty of ice in it and it was in a cold section of the house, so nothing thawed there, and any new stuff was placed outside in the cold to keep frozen.  I had a gas hot-water heater, so we could shower, though the bathroom was chilly when you got out, even with the hot coals placed in there to warm the room prior to and during the shower.  All in all, I weathered that 'disaster' better than a lot of folks, mainly because I had my plan and stuck to it.  Had friends stay with us, since they had no way to heat their home, so we basically had a slumber party that week.  I enjoyed it really.  I guess growing up in South Dakota, where you could get blizzarded in at any time, lose power for who knows how long with any snowstorm, and have any other problems arise from the weather really prepared me for these types of issues.  I keep a well-stocked pantry, plenty of frozen foods and plenty of ice (in bags, milk cartons, etc), and plenty of bottled gas to run my cooking stoves and/or grill.

At work, there is a Disaster Contingency Plan for almost any type of disaster you could imagine, since we're a hospital and can be involved in any number of scenarios.  My role is the same for any of them -- if I'm at work, I could be called upon to assist in any number of ways and need to be prepared to do so.  If I'm at home, they may call me in to assist, but not very likely since I'm not clinical.

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

[ozbound]

Here in Western Washington the most likely disaster is an earthquake. You would think after the quake in 2001 we'd be better prepared but well...we are somewhat prepared--we have a good supply of drinking water--but have been unable to stockpile food. I realized we also need to gather at least enough cardboard crates for each of our cats in case we need to evacuate them. OUr best resource at this point is our network of friends who I am sure will help each other out in case disaster strikes! I sure now enough now not to depend on the government at any level!