Today we had a power outage. It was mainly San Diego and Orange County as far as Southern California goes. Parts of Arizona and Mexico also experienced the same outage. I was halfway listening to the news and heard that it was some sort of major malfunction. Well duh! Ya think. They shut down the San Onofre power plant for precautionary purposes and the FBI said it was not a terror threat. Understandable for them to come out and calm the fears of some given we're pretty much right on the eve of 9/11.
However, that being said, this is what really scares me. People were freaking out over this. I mean it was hot. Air conditioners were going out, intersection lights/signals were out; people were not able to get through to 911. Pure chaos. So my question is: if it's like this for a power outage, how are people really going to act in the event of a real emergency situation/tragedy?
Recently, I've become very annoyed with this "Me Generation". People thinking that they don't have to pay their dues. Acting like it should be theirs automatically. I come from an age (enter my Mom here) that had to work hard for what you got. You learned the process. You were genuinely interested in what people’s thoughts and ideas were for a common goal. In Los Angeles (NOT California) you have so many people wanting/trying to be something or someone else that they've forgotten to be themselves. Common goals are gone and those days are over. Nowadays if you're not immediately answering an email or phone call either at work or AT HOME you're not doing your part.
The past ten years, technology has been unbelievably great and a burden. Who doesn't carry a cell phone or own a computer in this day and age? The good part about technology is that we have social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to get the word out of our happenings. Look at all these uprisings in other countries. Started (in part) through Twitter and Facebook posts. Flash mobs. All through instant communication.
So getting back to the power outage and future disasters. Here is what I have learned and what I have done to prepare myself and my loved ones should something happen at home, work or my car. Sadly, those are the only places you will find me these days :(
When the Northridge earthquake of 1994 hit I was living in Santa Monica canyon. Entrada drive to be exact. Just a block East of PCH. Anyway, that area suffered some pretty severe damage. Apartment buildings were red tagged, part of the hill came down, etc. I was talking to a guy from the fire department (go figure) and he told me that I "must have had one hell of a ride because the foundation of my house was essentially on sand". After that extremely scary event, I will always remember what I didn't have and what I will always now have on hand.
Under my bed: Spare sneakers with socks in them, a crowbar for opening jammed doors and a solid flashlight. Something like a Maglite. Door jams shift so the crowbar is really important and also a really good tool for making noise, etc. These are the things I didn't have at that time.
Backpacks for each member of your family with spare cloths should you need to leave quickly. I would suggest keeping it somewhere close to the front door or exit point. I would also suggest that you check on the clothing yearly because we all know little ones grow and so do waistlines :/
Have a very simple medical kit ready at all times. Not just for emergency situations. KNOW WHERE IT IS! Communicate this to everyone. That's directed to all those who have a, "Honey, where is the...".
Water, water, water. When the shit hit the fan during the earthquake, stores were marking up water due to demand. Highly illegal but people were doing it. Get it, date it and store it off the floor.
If your really a doomsdayer then get food like, bags of rice, peanut butter and jelly, canned fruit and vegetables, evaporated milk. Things that have a long shelf life. SPAM.
If you want to go the extra route as I did, I walked around my house and took photos of each room. Did kind of an inventory of the items in my house. I'm super anal about doing it when I change the battery in the smoke detector. I also scanned all of my important documents and stored them on a flash drive and an external hard drive for back up. I got a really small, relatively cheap drive at Costco that you can throw in your purse. You don't want to leave things lying around the house, so make sure that they are in a safe, secure and cool environment. Just make sure that it's easy for someone to get should you not be able to retrieve it yourself.
And last but not least, I have a generator(s). A gas generator and a solar powered generator that runs off a car battery. I found that in the Northridge earthquake, I had a LOT of condiments in my fridge. So I vowed to never let it lose power ever again.
Par-tay at my house if there's a disaster! Whuh whuh
Aloha and mahalo
\m/
