Being Prepared - Volcanoes

Having been both a Cub Scout Den Leader and a Girl Scout Leader, I know the importance of "Being Prepared." As a Girl Scout leader I regularly took classes from the Red Cross in First Aid and CPR, which also emphasized the importance of being trained and prepared. I also grew up in the 1950's when civil defense was a priority. In school, we practiced tornado drills, fire drills, and nuclear bomb drills (yes, we really did - although what good ducking under our desk would do in case of a nuclear attack still escapes me.) Buildings marked with a triangle were fallout shelters that were supposed to be stocked with food and supplies. At the time, it felt like a very real danger, but the emphasis was on being prepared if something happened.

I think one of the things that I've done subconsciously over time is to look at the natural disasters as they occur around me (floods, tornadoes, etc) and to see where they caused the damage and why. When unexpected things occur, we have to have thought about where to go for safety, what things do we take with us, what will we need, etc. Having some kind of mental plan can sometimes make the difference between life and death. In the past, you could go to your local county extension agent and pick up brochures and flyers to learn how to prepare for emergencies. Now, in the internet world, the information is readily available at your finger tips.

While I don't live near a volcano, I found Actions to take for Ashfall from the United States Geological Survey interesting reading.

FEMA's What to do during a volcanic eruption also has good information.

Anchorage, Alaska's Office of Emergency Management Volcanic Ash Informaion

State of Alaska - Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management notes that since the 1700's forty one volcanes have erupted in Alaska and some of them have erupted more than 25 times.

Why am I posting all these links? When an emergency strikes, sometimes our body goes into overdrive and we don't think as clearly . . . we panic. If we have at least read about what to do when (fill in the blank), then some of it will be filed in our brains and we are more likely to have an instinctive reaction that will propel us to safety than if we are totally ignorant about what to do.

The Red Cross has a page that is good for being prepared for any emergency. One of the important things I noticed was being aware of your area. Early in my years here in Austin, a lady from my church drowned in her car in a swollen creek. Being from the Texas Panhandle where flooding was not a regular event, I wondered how that could have happened, until I drove over to the site where it happened. Since then, I've been more aware of where the roads in my area are most likely to flood.

The WaterBOB

I've been trying to follow Laura Elder's BuzzBlog. She is a reporter with the Galveston County Daily News. She mentioned a device that I think people who live in areas that can get hit with extended power outages and loss of water seriously ought to consider, the WaterBOB. This device stores neatly and compactly in your kitchen cabinet. When an emergency threatens such as the Hurricane Ike that just went through, you pull it out, unfold it, and put it in your bath tub. They say it takes about 20 minutes to fill with water, but I suspect I would be sure to allow plenty of time to fill it before I might need it. It holds 100 gallons of water in a plastic container that is FDA approved for food. It comes with a handy hand pump. You don't want to be using your bottled water for flushing - way expensive. The WaterBOB seems to me to be a better way to store vital water rather than open in a tub or tubbies. It won't solve the problem of what the city will do with the raw sewage when it goes to the treatment plants that have no electricity, but it will help you keep the toilets flushed until service is restored.