Good Morning Fellow Boortribbers and welcome to the Froggy Bottom Cafe.
I would like to take this day to urge everyone to think strongly about preparing for disaster or emergencies.
I hope everyone realizes by now that disaster can strike anywhere at any time and everyone in this country should begin now to prepare for any emergency that may arise.
I have posted a diary on Village Blue with more complete preparations for disaster info, but here I will just talk about an Emergency backpack, for each member of a family to be picked up and run with on a moments notice.
These are items I suggest should go into such a pack, but this is just a starting point, everyone will have different needs.
Flashlights and batteries
Small battery radio
boy scout camping stoves, the ones the size of a large saucer, that unscrews and becomes a burner
Fuel for the stove
Water, count on enough for 3 days
Medicine that is required, plus aspirin type meds, and pepto bismal
As big a first aid kit as you have room for
small sewing kit/stratight pins, needles, tweezers, scissors
Folding knife
Boy scout cooking set
Boy scout handbook
Copies of ID’s and important papers
Maps
Important phone numbers
Your personal disaster plan, meet up spots for your family, etc.
Water purification tablets (can be purchased in drug store)
Change of clothes and sturdy shoes
Underware
Feminine Sanitary Supplies
Personal hygene items
Plastic Bags of assorted sizes
Rain Poncho
Soap, solid and liquid
Roll of toilet paper
Ball of rope,
Large safety pins (these can be used for many different purposes, in worst case senario can be used in building a makeshift structure.)
Sheet of plastic, such as a painters type
Foil blankets (can be found in sports store or boy scouts stores)
Can/bottle opener
Tablet
Felt tip pens
Dried food such as top ramen, or other backpacking type food, that can be easily made in small camp stove (BTW I once made fried bread over one of those camp stoves and boy scout cook set.)
Trail mix, raisens, crackers, your favorites
Deck of cards
Compass
First aid book
Matches
For children add, crayons, small games, coloring books, or whatever your kids like.
After watching the disaster in NO, I would now suggest a small hatchet.
The redcrosssite has kits already prepared and for sale, prices vary, but it can also give you more ideas for what you might want include in your packs.
Military surplus site is here
That’s about all I can think of now, so if you have any items to add, please suggest in comments.
Please, please take this seriously and start now to do this preparation. I personally am preparing mine in memory of all those who perished and to all those whose lives will forever be changed as a result of this disaster.
People have mentioned how Bootribbers might want to have a way of getting in contact with other in case of emergencies, so if each one of you would reach out to another boomer that you feel a kinship with, we might be able to have a whole chain of contact.
{Update: janet Strange reminded me of the Katrina~People Finder site where you can sign up to help enter data on a searchable data bank. This is a real chance for us computer nuts to help, especially for those who cannot easily do work outside of the home to help.}
Have a great Labor Day!
I know a lot of you want to help Katrina’s victim’s and aren’t sure how beyond giving money. Nag has a diary Katrina: Net Volunteers Needed Now. Important work, and all you need is a computer and a little time to do it. Please recommend Nag’s diary to get the word out.
Also, see Othniel’s diary Austin and New Orleans. He lists what’s needed right now and also has a very moving account of his day at the convention center where evacuees are being housed now.
Thaks for putting those links in here Janet, I looked at the site on Katrina Victims last night, signed up and will start to work on it today.
Excellent way to use the many hours I/we spend online everyday. It’s one way to feel useful.
Any others suggestion for helping out are welcome here.
I’ve been doing this for the past several hours. I advise printing out the instructions so you have them right by you and also printing out each list of names. Once you get going, and if you’re comfortable with entering info into a computer, it’s simple, though you will find there’s not much info most of the time.
I had to stop once to cry over a father looking for his 12-year-old boy, but I’m back at it now. I even just now got a list that’s topped by a report that somebody has been located and is okay.
If you’re wishing for a way to help, this is a good one!
A moment of soul relief.
Morning fog pours over Deception Pass Bridge in N. Puget Sound onto late-summer salmon fishing boats.
Thanks for that beautiful image for our “soul relief” which we all need now.
Gooserock, I have a photo that looks almost exactly like this from when I was up there last month. We just drove past (I’m sure there’s info signs and whatnot, but we’d driven a long way that day from Vancouver and didn’t stop) and I’m curious about it – seems like it must have an interesting story, both from the name and the way the fog does this.
Can you tell us more? (I know, Google is our friend, but I’m off to the local Red Cross office now to see about how to volunteer. Back later.)
as it does in any hilly oceanic area, like San Fran for example. You can see that the sky above is clear blue. The area east (left) of the bridge is a sort of small fijord where the air pools and sometimes gets temperature/humidity differentials overnight to create the effect. Puget Sound is a mass of microclimates due to hills, islands and channels. Fog can do pretty much anything it wants around here and doesn’t seem to owe anyone an explanation.
I’ve only lived in the Sound for 5 years after a lifetime in Ohio so I’m not especially familiar with the region yet. I’m just getting accustomed to feeling at home here.
Deception Pass is a very narrow strait between Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands. The photo is from Fidalgo looking south to Whidbey. A short stretch to the right and you’re at into Puget Sound looking out the Strait of Juan de Fuca, next stop Japan. Under the bridge to the left you soon reach north-south channels separating Whidbey and Fidalgo from “America” as our island friends put it.
Tides rise & fall 5-13 feet in the Sound depending on the time of the cycles, so strong currents through the pass make it unnavigable under sail once or twice on many days. I think explorers named it for that reason. You’ll see powerboats at peak flow barely making progress against it. It’s the most-visited park in the entire Washington state park system, for good reason.
Whidbey Island also has a “Useless Bay” which is a large sandy bay that is very shallow, probably too shallow for navigation or building a port, hence the name. I recall a tour guide on a ferry trip once mentioning that the highest parts of the island, some 500′, have been completely washed over by tsunamis in the past.
That’s probably everything I know about the region around the pass.
I was just looking at the regional threads and noticed that the world thread is not being used. Perhaps we could use that thread to post items, suggestions and links regarding disaster relief and the various projects members are working on or trying to get started.
I just got off the phone with our intrepid Infidel, and he informed me that his field is “Disaster Cleanup” and that is his area of expertise and he has been working (for years) on a product that can be used to biodegrade the flood waters in New Orleans, said product has been tested and used in South America.
He has been contacted by various organizations, businesses involved with the cleanup to see if this can be used there. He is now working on the numbers and logistics to see what he can manage to do in partnership with corporations and homeland security.
I cannot possibly give you the technical details as related to me by Ipig and he tells me as soon as he has time and computer connection he will let us all know.
He also tells me that this product, which is similar in nature to that used to clean up oil spills, will render the water clean in a matter of days and will also clean out the sewer systems as it works its way though the water. It is sprayed on the surface of the water from tanker trucks and the product is manufactured and ready to go from 2 locations in the US.
Red tape to be cut, etc.
Infi would head the subcontracted project, (wish I could remember his exact words.)
I told Infi, that this was the most encouraging thing I had heard!!!!!!
Damn it’s good to hear news like this. Wonderful really.
ALRIGHT!
I am SO glad to hear some good news!
There are so many such fields I’d like to work in, but can’t for lack of education. Supid 60’s!!
I’ve been reading of such processes in popular science publications for some years now. I hope it goes (and I hope the bugs dutifully exterminate themselves after eating the last of the gunk).
The only suggestion I can think of off hand diane would be that people who are more well off and have their own disaster pack ready would be to make up a few extra packs or even modified very basic packs-to be ready when they come across someone who is poor and in dire need of such a pack.
Excellent ideaChocolate, and this could be a project to get started in schools, organizations, towns.
Also there is a project started by two girls, called, ‘we got your back’, sorry dont have a link, which is organizing to prepare backpacks for kids, filled with school supplies.
My daughter is going to get something going at her kid’s school for some kind of project…
We already have arrivals from NO here now in socal and more will come so local projects can be started now.
Comfort packs, with hygene items, given out by red cross at disasters, (my family was so grateful for that small thing after our fire, there were toothbrushes among other things and we wooped with joy) are another project that would be low cost and easy to prepare.
Kids groups have done shoebox packages during 9/11 filled with items for kids.
I think the more we can involve the community, schools, etc. now the better we will be able to face future issues we will surely have to deal with.
Good plan– I can do that.
I have been through 3 hurricanes- the last one being Isabel- which was pretty mild here in Va,but did a great deal of damage.What you need to think about -is going camping with Nothing for 2 weeks at least.
Ya know-I lived on a sailboat for a year-and then later owned two of my own- you are Always ready for disasters in that situation.
and if you are Not Ready- You Are Dead.
Exactly, and I will add that people should begin now to stock up on the necessities, you don’t have to rush out and buy a bunch at once, just everytime you go to the grocery store, pick up a few extras to add to your total survival/disaster package.
Set aside an area, closet for storing those supplies and make it a family project. Print out disaster instructions and put copies in all the containers and backpacks.
Very important to make a meetup, connecting group of people (out of state) that you can get in touch with to connect your group together. Select several group meet up sites as some sites may not be available after a disaster.
I hate to quote the Mormons on this- but everyone should be prepared to survive for a long time without any
outside help.
Hello!!!
Just got home from a very long weekend of biz trips and we then stayed at a friend’s home.
ShyCat! I got your call about the extra hotel room for Friday night for the booman people 🙂 Thank you so much.
I see that there is also a email group now for the March Plans.
I’m also trying to get our house back in order after not really being here for days LOL as well as getting my kids ready for the first day of school tomorrow. My son is wicked worried about it :(..
But anyways, there is another room for BooTribbers graciously given by ShyCat, please pass that around so that other posters can know that they have a place to stay.
Boy, am I “bus….uh… tired. 🙂
Fill em up people- fill up those rooms-hub paid with blood,sweat and tears for them- so Fill em up!:)
Shnuffly hugs…one of the “souveniers” brought home from Disneyland was a massive cold. 🙁 Been spending most of the day sleeping; spouse went out to get me a Coldbuster smoothie at Jamba Juice which will at least perk up the taste buds.
Great time on vacation…but it’s even better to be home at last. We had a freight train break down in front of us, and had to sit for about 2 hours before it could limp into the nearest train yard so we ended up getting home about 2-1/2 hours late.
Watching Keith and his coverage of the latest Bush screwup, the Katrina relief efforts. The coldness of the governmental officials involved…and contrast that with the mayor of Jefferson Parish, who broke down in tears on “Meet the Press”: “No one is coming…for God’s sake, send us some money.” This cold, unfortunately, is going to delay my plans to head for the Red Cross and see if they’ll take my blood. 🙁 But I’ll probably log into the Web site and send them another donation, and will check other organizations as well (I’d like to see what the Episcopal relief agencies are up to).
Hope everyone is doing well…I’m so glad to hear the good news from the iPig; it’s great that one of our own can be of actual use, though this administration will probably pass him over for one of their buddies at Halliburton or Bechtel who’ll screw things up even worse for all those folks… sigh
One simple precaution for any kind of shelving, bookshelves etc–
Screw the upper ends into the wall to keep them from falling over. These shelves of mine are likely to fall if the house is shaken much, possibly blocking exit at a time when we might need to get out quickly.
Yes, we’re working on it!
Diane, I think everyone should add a book or two to the emergency pack. If you have time on your hands and no modern comforts, a book can be just the job.
I’d take TOTAL MAN by Stan Gooch and GENOME by Matt Ridley
These days a gas mask and a chem suit might also make a little sense…
Not that there’s much humor to find in any of this, but ifilm does have pretty humerous footage of Chad the Weatherguy getting freaked out on CNN.