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| This is a 300 acre ranch near Boise, Idaho. |
I am away this week. (Yes, I finally found someone I would trust to stay at the house and take care of my beloved horses.) This was a tough trip to take simply because it occurred on the heels of one of my dogs multiple copperhead bites. Before I left, the dog was very well recovered, and is still doing just fine. When I travel I don't usually spend much time on the internet, and so I usually don't make blog posts while I am away. However, I thought this was important to mention.
Several years ago when Wal-Mart and Sam's Club started selling Augason Farms freeze dried food and other items for preparedness, I did think it interesting. I learned also that many midwestern and western Super Wal-Marts actually have the Augason's #10 (industrial) cans on the shelves in their stores rather than simply available online. I told myself that they were exploiting, quite rightly, the opportunity to make money by providing us all with emergency food and nothing more.
A week ago, the Wall Street Journal wrote an article and related to us that Wal-Mart recently participated in exercises in preparation for a major earthquake along the New Madrid fault line. (The New Madrid covers Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas.) These states are a great deal more populous than they were in the 1880s, the last time a significant earthquake occurred there. The US Geological Survey has also admitted that there is potential for much more severe quakes than they had believed prior. I know there is no shortage of their little vans and trucks in Virginia within fifty miles of the epicenter of the 5.7 (or 5.8, depending who you believe) earthquake that occurred in 2011.
It is not my intention to frighten anyone, but a little preparation can go a long way in keeping your family safe from a significant earthquake which is a distinct possibility in many, many places in the United States.
Wherever you are and whether earthquakes have been known to occur in your region or not, please consider the following:
1. Check all of your bedrooms. Make sure that there are no large bookcases, televisions, stained glass hangings or anything else attached above beds that could collapse on the head of a family member in the event of an earthquake.
2. Secure televisions, bookcases, stoves and other large appliances, to the wall.
3. Do some reading on earthquakes, and create a written earthquake plan for your family.
4. Consider anchoring your hot water heater.
5. Place emergency supplies in a couple of different places on your property. A new galvanized trash can with emergency supplies placed in your garage could be all you and your family could access following a severe enough earthquake that you are prohibited from reentering your home until FEMA inspects it. Have multiple supplies in different places.
These are my prior posts on this subject:
The first four links below are important to read if you haven't before.
http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2011/09/assessing-your-home-for-earthquake.html
http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2012/04/expanding-our-knowledge-on-earthquakes.html
http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2012/09/anchoring-and-securing-heavy-items-in.html
http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2011/11/oklahoma-earthquakes.html
http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2012/08/an-earthquake-anniversary.html
http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2012/03/another-31-earthquake.html
http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2011/10/earthquake-in-turkey-aftermath.html
http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2011/12/widespread-earthquake-in-mexico.html
Stay safe, and I will try to do the same.
12 comments:
Secure the refrigerator, too. Or, did you say that? The 15 or so nuclear reactors on the New Madrid are what bother me.
I think WalMart has been pretty proactive in their emergency preparations. I know that other retails have emergency warehouses too, such as Home Depot for hurricanes, positioned just outside of the danger area so they are still functional. The company I work for watches the weather reports and are on high alert with 24 hr coverage to ship if disaster threatens. We live in MO near St Louis and occasionally will fee tremors. Good thoughts. I know we don't have our appliances secured.
I did not specifically mention refrigerators. I am not sure how to anchor many refrigerators, and this is something you could ask your appliance repair person. Some of them have refrigerant coils which could make anchoring difficult. Stoves have been known to topple on young children, and many of these can be easily supportively anchored to the wall. Until you found a solution for anchoring the frij, it would be somewhere to avoid during quakes.
Yes, nuclear reactors in seismically active areas are of concern. Fukushima Daiichi is still leaking radioactive water.
Thanks Kathy, Securing appliances is an annoyance, and it does make servicing and moving the appliance to clean behind it or to replace vinyl or tile floors more difficult. However, it could make an incredible difference to your safety in the event that your area has an earthquake.
They laughed at me in Lowe's when I bought anchoring materials and vinyl dipped stainless steel cord to anchor my appliances. Several years later when the 5.8 earthquake broke some Virginia homes in half and damaged a Virginia high school and a middle school until they required demolition, no one was laughing. They asked how I knew. I didn't know other than the fact that tornadoes and earthquakes are possible anywhere.
Jane,
Earthquakes we have daily, usually more than once.
Need to have a wrench available to emergency gas shot off, make sure you have water and it's secure, make sure to purchase earthquake insurance because earthquake damage is not covered on normal insurance, and easy access to get out of home......make sure they're no items lose that can block emergency exits.
I spoke a bit about my own earthquake riider in one of the prior posts. The emergency gas shut off wrench or another tool depending upon the set up you have is an important idea. Each person in the house should know where the water shut off valve(s) are also.
Thanks Sandy, for the benefits of your experiences with this. Best wishes,
Be safe my friend. Having lived in Southern California, I know the earthquake thing too well. They're not to be overlooked.
Please stay safe in your own travels too, and thanks for posting.
I've done went and gotten too old to give a shit what takes me out and have started giving away a lot of my survivalist and bug out stuff.
You lost a good friend and neighbor this year. For most of us life is a struggle, and the loss of someone makes it much more difficult. Here's hoping that you find lit an easier struggle than now, and soon. Best wishes,
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