Hide and Seek

"Ollie, Ollie oxen go free" - children's game of hide and seek

In yesterday's post I pointed out the many reasons why rescuers may be slow to reach your door - blocked roads, floods, no street signs, etc. Now let's consider the best of conditions, help has reached your neighborhood. Now what? Except for the obvious cases, like persons sitting on the roof of their flooded house, it won't be easy to determine who needs rescuing and where.

If resources permit, rescue teams may do house to house searches but this takes lots of time and manpower. Here are some ideas to help rescuers find you quickly.

1. Try every type of phone when calling for help.
   - During emergencies cell phones are quickly overwhelmed or the cell towers fail. An old fashioned land line phone attached to a jack the wall can be a life saver. Land line phones get power from the phone line and may still work when electricity fails.
2. Call someone far away.
   Local 911 and local phone lines will be overwhelmed and all you get is a busy signal. Try calling family or friends out of state. Calls to someone outside the disaster region may work while busy lines might block them from calling you. Let them know where you are and ask them to notify 911 on your behalf.
   Frequently in a major disaster, the number of lost people is overwhelming and search efforts less than organized. Your outside friend can keep retrying on your behalf if you're not found over many days and your cell phone and land phone have lost power.
3. Register on FEMA
   FEMA supports a website so your outside friend can register that you are a person displaced in a storm. Power/Internet permitting - you can register yourself to let family know where you are sheltered. See https://asd.fema.gov/inter/nefrls/home.htm
4. Register on the Red Cross Safe and Well
   Same as FEMA - report persons missing or report yourself as alive and well https://disastersafe.redcross.org/
5. Make it obvious that you need rescue
   Paint "HELP ME" or "SOS" on the door or wall of your house. Write in soap or markers on your windows. Put a note on the door (covered in something water proof and nailed down) letting rescuers know what room you are sheltering in.
6. Contact the news media
   If you have not been rescued and your 3 day kit is running out, you or friends can try calling the media to ask them to find out why you are not being rescued.

BOTTOM LINE
Don't play hide and seek when you want to be rescued. Use every means you can to make your location and your need for rescue obvious.