Plan for Evacuation

- There is no time like the present when it comes to sitting down with your family and preparing for the day when you may be forced to evacuate your home.

In the event of a sudden emergency or disaster, you may have just minutes to gather your family and important papers and get out of your house, possibly for good. With preparation and practice, you stand the best chance of getting out with what you and your family need and ending up in a safe place.

Here are five steps to help you and your family on the road to safety:

1. Arrange Your Evacuation Ahead of Time

• Identify where you can go in the event of an evacuation. Try to have more than one option: the home of a friend or family member in another town, a hotel or a shelter. Keep the phone numbers and addresses of these locations handy.
• Map out your primary route and a backup route in case roads are blocked or impassable. Make sure you have a map of the area available.
• In case your family members are separated before or during the evacuation, identify a specific place to meet and ask an out-of-town friend or family member to act as a contact person.
• Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or local radio or TV stations for evacuation instructions. If advised to evacuate, do so immediately.

2. Create a Home Inventory

Create a complete home inventory of your personal property. A home inventory will help you ensure that you have purchased enough insurance to replace your possessions. It will also speed the claims process and substantiate losses for income tax purposes.

To make creating a home inventory easier, the I.I.I. provides free, downloadable software located at KnowYourStuff.org . The Know Your Stuff software allows you to add digital photographs of your valuables and save scanned receipts. It can help you organize and list your possessions on your computer, after which you can burn the finished inventory onto a CD-ROM or use the optional secure online storage service, Vault24, accessible from the software itself. Print out and store a hard copy of your home inventory, making sure to keep a copy with your important documents and a second copy in a safe place outside your home (in a safe-deposit box, with an online storage service or with an out-of-town friend or family member).

3. Plan What to Take

• Earthquake/Emergency Preparedness KitEmergency Preparedness Kit
• Bottled water
  
• Clothing and bedding (sleeping bags, pillows)
  
• Flashlight, battery-powered radio and extra batteries
  
• Special items for infants or elderly or disabled family members
  
• Cash, Glasses, Contact info
  
• Medicines, prescriptions and first aid kit
• Pet food and other items for pets (litter boxes, leashes)

4. Gather Important Documents

Keep important documents in a safe place that you can access easily.

• Home inventory

5. Take the Ten-Minute Challenge

To find out if you are ready, do a real-time test. Give yourself just 10 minutes to get your family and belongings into the car and on the road to safety. By planning ahead and practicing, you should be able to gather your family members and pets, along with the most important items they will need, calmly and efficiently, with a minimum of stress and confusion.
Michael Skyler is the owner of the Earthquake Supply Center, an earthquake and emergency preparedness supply center. For information and supplies contact him at 415.459-5500  or visit http://www.earthquakesupplycenter.com

Keep a survival kit with you in your car at all times!

What to do before an Earthquake. part 6 of 6

Earthquakes strike suddenly, violently and without warning. Identifying potential hazards ahead of time and advance planning can reduce the dangers of serious injury or loss of life from an earthquake. Repairing deep plaster cracks in ceilings and foundations, anchoring overhead lighting fixtures to the ceiling, and following local seismic building standards, will help reduce the impact of earthquakes.

1. Help Your Community Get Ready
   • Publish a special section in your local newspaper with emergency information on earthquakes. Localize the information by printing the phone numbers of local emergency services offices, the American Red Cross, and hospitals.
   • Conduct a week-long series on locating hazards in the home.
   • Work with local emergency services and American Red Cross officials to prepare special reports for people with mobility impairments on what to do during an earthquake.
   • Provide tips on conducting earthquake drills in the home.
   • Interview representatives of the gas, electric, and water companies about shutting off utilities.
   • Work together in your community to apply your knowledge to building codes, retrofitting programs, hazard hunts, and neighborhood and family emergency plans.
   • For more information go to http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/eq_before.shtm
2. Michael Skyler is the owner of the Earthquake Supply Center, an earthquake and emergency preparedness supply center. For information and supplies contact him at 415.459-5500  or visit http://www.earthquakesupplycenter.com
3. Keep a survival kit with you in your car at all times!

What to do before an Earthquake. part 5 of 6

This is the fifth installment in a series of six

ways to plan ahead.

What to Do Before an Earthquake

Earthquakes strike suddenly, violently and without warning. Identifying potential hazards ahead of time and advance planning can reduce the dangers of serious injury or loss of life from an earthquake. Repairing deep plaster cracks in ceilings and foundations, anchoring overhead lighting fixtures to the ceiling, and following local seismic building standards, will help reduce the impact of earthquakes.

Develop an Emergency Communication Plan

• In case family members are separated from one another during an earthquake (a real possibility during the day when adults are at work and children are at school), develop a plan for reuniting after the disaster.
• Ask an out-of-state relative or friend to serve as the “family contact.” After a disaster, it’s often easier to call long distance. Make sure everyone in the family knows the name, address, and phone number of the contact person
• For more information go to http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/eq_before.shtm

• Michael Skyler is the owner of the Earthquake Supply Center, an earthquake and emergency preparedness supply center. For information and supplies contact him at 415.459-5500  or visit http://www.earthquakesupplycenter.comKeep a survival kit with you in your car at all times!

What to Do Before an Earthquake Part 4 of 6

This is the fourth installment in a series of six

ways to plan ahead.

What to Do Before an Earthquake

Earthquakes strike suddenly, violently and without warning. Identifying potential hazards ahead of time and advance planning can reduce the dangers of serious injury or loss of life from an earthquake. Repairing deep plaster cracks in ceilings and foundations, anchoring overhead lighting fixtures to the ceiling, and following local seismic building standards, will help reduce the impact of earthquakes.

Have Disaster Supplies on Hand

• Flashlight and extra batteries.
• Portable battery-operated radio and extra batteries.
• First aid kit and manual.
• Emergency food and water.
• Nonelectric can opener.
• Essential medicines.
• Cash and credit cards.
• Sturdy shoes.
• Emergency Preparedness Survival kit

For more information go to http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/eq_before.shtm

Michael Skyler is the owner of the Earthquake Supply Center, an earthquake and emergency preparedness supply center. For information and supplies contact him at 415.459-5500 or visit http://www.earthquakesupplycenter.com

Keep a survival kit with you in your car at all times!

What to do before an Earthquake part 3 of 6

This is the third installment in a series of six

ways to plan ahead.

What to Do Before an Earthquake

Earthquakes strike suddenly, violently and without warning. Identifying potential hazards ahead of time and advance planning can reduce the dangers of serious injury or loss of life from an earthquake. Repairing deep plaster cracks in ceilings and foundations, anchoring overhead lighting fixtures to the ceiling, and following local seismic building standards, will help reduce the impact of earthquakes.

Educate Yourself and Family Members

• Contact your local emergency management office or American Red Cross chapter for more information on earthquakes. Also read the “How-To Series” for information on how to protect your property from earthquakes.
• Teach children how and when to call 9-1-1, police, or fire department and which radio station to tune to for emergency information.
• Teach all family members how and when to turn off gas, electricity, and water

If you ever have trouble finding your glasses, wallet, or keys, it’s even harder after an earthquake, but you’ll need them more than ever. So watch where you put them—your medicines, too—every day and every night.

You will really need your glasses, your wallet, your medicines, and your keys, and you’re going to want them right now as you’re running out of the house.

So keep track of them.

When you go to bed every night, put them where you know you’ll be able to find them easily—even after your house has gone through a blender.

Michael Skyler is the owner of the Earthquake Supply Center, an earthquake and emergency preparedness supply center. For information and supplies contact him at 415.459-5500 or visit http://www.earthquakesupplycenter.com

Keep a survival kit with you in your car at all times!

What to do before an Earthquake part 2 of 6

This is the second installment in a series of six

ways to plan ahead.

What to Do Before an Earthquake

Earthquakes strike suddenly, violently and without warning. Identifying potential hazards ahead of time and advance planning can reduce the dangers of serious injury or loss of life from an earthquake. Repairing deep plaster cracks in ceilings and foundations, anchoring overhead lighting fixtures to the ceiling, and following local seismic building standards, will help reduce the impact of earthquakes.

Identify Safe Places Indoors and Outdoors

• Under sturdy furniture such as a heavy desk or table.
• Against an inside wall.
• Away from where glass could shatter around windows, mirrors, pictures, or where heavy bookcases or other heavy furniture could fall over.
• In the open, away from buildings, trees, telephone and electrical lines, overpasses, or elevated expressways.
• Secure all furniture and other items that could fall or become missles that could injure people

For more information go to http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/eq_before.shtm

Michael Skyler is an owner of the Earthquake Supply Center, an earthquake and emergency preparedness supply center. For information and supplies contact him at 415.459-5500 or visit http://www.earthquakesupplycenter.com

Keep a survival kit with you in your car at all times!

What to Do Before an Earthquake

This is the first installment in a series of six ways

to plan ahead.

1- What to Do Before an Earthquake

Earthquakes strike suddenly, violently and without warning. Identifying potential hazards ahead of time and advance planning can reduce the dangers of serious injury or loss of life from an earthquake. Repairing deep plaster cracks in ceilings and foundations, anchoring overhead lighting fixtures to the ceiling, and following local seismic building standards, will help reduce the impact of earthquakes.

Ways to Plan Ahead

Check for Hazards in the Home

• Fasten shelves securely to walls.
• Place large or heavy objects on lower shelves.
• Store breakable items such as bottled foods, glass, and china in low, closed cabinets with latches.
• Hang heavy items such as pictures and mirrors away from beds, couches, and anywhere people sit.
• Brace overhead light fixtures.
• Repair defective electrical wiring and leaky gas connections. These are potential fire risks.
• Secure a water heater by strapping it to the wall studs and bolting it to the floor.
• Repair any deep cracks in ceilings or foundations. Get expert advice if there are signs of structural defects.
• Store weed killers, pesticides, and flammable products securely in closed cabinets with latches and on bottom shelves.

For more information go to http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/eq_before.shtm

Michael Skyler is the owner of the Earthquake Supply Center, an earthquake and emergency preparedness supply center.  For information and supplies contact him at 415.459-5500  or visit http://www.earthquakesupplycenter.com

A Big Quake and Your Phones

A Big Quake and Your Phones

After the coming big quake, if your phones work, use the phone and
not your car! A few tips:

- Change your voice mail message to state that you are safe

- Before the quake, make sure that all your family knows a single
relative or friend who lives outside California that you can
contact to say you are fine. This way, fewer calls are needed on
jammed “in-State” phone lines.

- You may have to wait a bit longer for a dial tone after a quake.
Be patient. Don’t just hang up and try again.

- Keep change or a pre-paid phone card in your wallet.

Make your home secure and your family safe.

Michael Skyler is the owner of the Earthquake Supply Center an earthquake preparedness consulting service and emergency preparedness survival kit and supplies center. Contact him at 415.459-5500 or visit http://www.earthquakesupplycenter.com

Thank you to Larry Guillot of Quake Prepare for his contribution to this blog

Earthquake Preparedness: KEEP A KIT IN YOUR CAR

Earthquake Tidbits

Earthquake Tidbits

- There is no such thing as “earthquake weather.” Statistically,
there is an equal distribution of earthquakes in cold weather, hot
weather, rainy weather, etc.

- From 1975-1995 there were only four states that did not have any
earthquakes. They were: Florida, Iowa, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.
We have the 2 person, 7-day “Get Ready Marin” kit in stock

Remember, your car is the most important place to keep a kit & supplies

==============================================

- The San Andreas fault is NOT a single, continuous fault, but
rather is actually a fault zone made up of many segments. Movement
may occur along any of the many fault segments along the zone at
any time. The San Andreas fault system is more than 800
miles long, and in some spots is as much as 10 miles deep.

Make your home secure and your family safe.

Michael Skyler is the owner of the Earthquake Supply Center an earthquake preparedness consulting service and emergency preparedness survival kit and supplies center. Contact him at 415.459-5500 or visit http://www.earthquakesupplycenter.com

Thank you to Larry Guillot of Quake Prepare for his contribution to this blog

Earthquake Preparedness: KEEP A KIT IN YOUR CAR

Triangle of Life. Does it work?

“Triangle of Life” – Watch Out!

Every so often I get an email from someone passing on information
from a person named Doug Copp, who is a self-proclaimed “expert” on
disaster management.

He says that, in a serious quake, the “drop, cover, and hold on”
advice from the Red Cross and other American disaster agencies is
wrong, and that instead you should find some “triangle of life”
area in the room to protect you.

Please don’t listen to this advice. His observations are based on
buildings in third world countries and, even if his ideas may have
value there (who knows?), they DO NOT have value here. Engineering
researchers have demonstrated that very few buildings collapse or
“pancake” in the U.S. as they might do in other countries.

If you want more info on the “Triangle of Life,” google “triangle
of life hoax.” You’ll learn a lot.

Michael Skyler is the owner of the Earthquake Supply Center an earthquake preparedness consulting service and emergency preparedness survival kit and supplies center. Contact him at 415.459-5500 or visit http://www.earthquakesupplycenter.com

Thank you to Larry Guillot of Quake Prepare for his contribution to this blog

Earthquake Preparedness: KEEP A KIT IN YOUR CAR