This is a quick recap of several things that happened to me, items I purchased or events that caught my eye coming to the end of October.
Earthquake Preparedness
Several friends outside California, including my co-bloggers, were puzzled with recent news reports on the swarm of earthquakes near the Salton Sea and the 'Earthquake Warning' posted by the government. Their very logical questions could be boiled down to "What are you supposed to do about an 'Earthquake Warning' when one is issued?"
Tornadoes and hurricanes give you enough time to either leave the area or shelter in place; the vagueness of a quake prediction means both the chances of one occurring (1:10,000 to 1:500) and the time period of the potential temblor make doing anything impractical. Besides, even a large quake is over quickly; for example, the 1989 Loma Prieta that hit the S.F. Bay Area only lasted about 15 seconds -- far too short a time to do much but recognize there is an earthquake!
The reasoning seems to be that if the State of California is aware of a danger and does nothing to alert the population, the state will be open to demands for investigations and accusations of negligence. However, while there is very little that can be done during the shaking, quite a bit can be done to prepare for the actual shaking and the aftermath.
California government agencies have been sponsoring The Great California ShakeOut for a while. This year's drills were performed on October 20, three days after the 27th anniversary of what has been nicknamed The World Series Earthquake. Included on the Home Page is an interactive game showing what to do and how to prepare (in as fun a way possible) for a disaster along with several PDF checklists, including one for taking care of those with disabilities.
Check out the whole page. Much of the info is easily used for general disaster prepping.
Personal Care
In my EDC supplies is a toothbush/toothpaste combo called The TOOB (and reviewed in this BCP blog post). In the reviews on the REI website , several people mentioned the toothpaste cap blowing off or the the tube itself breaking. Well, mine did too, but only after what I consider a reasonable amount of time for an inexpensive, lightweight and compact toothbrush.
Also like some of the other reviewers, I found the bristles a bit stiff and some did fall out. Despite all this, I like it and it will be replaced because it makes no claims to be anything other than what it says it is.
I am tempted to go back to a full sized toothbrush and pack a partial tube of my favorite toothpaste, but that starts me down the path of carrying larger items, and not wanting to do that was the reason I stepped down to a smaller EDC bag in the first place
The Takeaway
- As with all your other preps, practicing your pre-emergency plan is as important as post-disaster clean-up. While earthquakes happen quickly, getting things set to minimize the damage is easy.
- Brushing my teeth will not be a top priority in a disaster, but during the work week it helps me make a better impression on all the people I meet.
- Nothing has been purchased this week, but The TOOB is available from Amazon for $11.75 with Prime shipping, or from REI for $5.95.
If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!
NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.
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