My heart goes out to the people of Chile today and still to the people of Haiti who are going through one of my biggest fears right now: utter and total loss of loved ones, familiar environment and property due to massive earthquakes.
I will never forget the 7.1 San Andreas fault temblor on October 17, 1989. I was 13 years old and at my aunt’s apartment complex alone in San Jose, California. I have never felt more scared, more unprepared and more alone. The aftershocks were the worst reminders of what had taken place. During the quake, I panicked and looked out the window only to see the intersection of Willow Street and Bird Avenue liquefy and ripple like water. It was the most disconcerting visual of my childhood. We were lucky. The whole Bay Area was pretty lucky.
Haiti still needs help and will need help for a long time. Physical help. Chile may need even more help. Hawaii may suffer the consequences of a tsunami. That scares me so much. I have checked in with a bunch of people in Honolulu and they are okay and will keep updating. It’s so good that they have so much time to prepare.
As for the future, I implore the the people of Mexico, California, Portland, Washington, B.C. and Alaska to see these events as a huge warning. This will happen locally at some point in the future. I hate to think of it, but it’s a fact and my generation has been lucky so far that we haven’t had to deal with such tragedy. But when it comes, I will be there to help. Until then, prepare. Be ready. It will be well worth it and you will be so glad you did.
———
Word to the nerd.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on 27 February, 2010 at 10:31 AM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged Bay Area, earthquake, earthquake zone, personal updates. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
I would suggest everyone compile a personal survival kit
all the items can be found readily and cheaply
but prove invaluable in an emergency
I keep my personal kit in a water proof stuff sack
about the size of a football but you can keep one
in a stainless steel nalgene water bottle and the kit will be safe and dry
kit.
4×4 gauze pads
roll of gauze
medical tape
aspirin benadryle imodium
emt shears (these are useful for more than first aid )
super glue (its sterile and can glue wounds that would need stitches
as well as repair other items)
space blanket
water purification tablets
water containment bags (gallon Ziploc bags work ,I prefer sil cloth bags)
duct tape 10′ roll (always handy)
2 contractor trash bags 55 gal( shelter and water proof sleeping bag)
cordage (I use para cord )
hand sanitizer (as well as sanitizing ,you can saturate some gauze with it
and use as a fire starter)
lighter and matches (I carry a fire steel as well )
swiss army type knife (what ever you want as long as it has a blade
and can opener)
tea bags and hot coco mix ( small comforts go along way in a stressed environment)
add a 3 day supply of any meds you need
led flashlight
Thats the basic kit
with it you can
render first aid ,provide clean water
get out of the elements , make field repairs
,start a fire for warmth or cooking boil water ect
word, word, word, Mike. Trev and I are getting our kit together over the next few days