Look at all that black smoke!

On August 7, a small, "seemingly insignificant leak" was found at one of the country’s biggest oil refineries located near San Francisco. Though required by California law to “immediately” notify the public of any gas leak, fire or oil spill, Chevron did not consider the leak to be an immediate danger to residents nearby.

“At that point in time, there really wasn’t anything we could advise the
community to do,” said Mark Ayers, the refinery’s fire chief.

Yet some two hours later, that small leak became an intense fire that sent acrid black smoke into the sky and more than 1000 people went to hospitals with health complaints of eye irritation and breathing problems. All but a handful of patients were quickly treated and released, hospital officials said.

A county wide Level 3 Hazardous Material "Immediate-Extreme-Health-Hazard" alert was issued advising local residents to,

"shelter in place, go inside, close all windows and doors, turn off all
heaters, air conditioners and fans. If not using the fireplace, close fireplace dampers and vents, and cover cracks around doors and windows with tape or damped towels." [fireplaces? in California summer?]

That's a pretty rare alert. Consider this,

While Bay Area air quality officials excluded potentially toxic pollutants, their analysis did not say exactly what was in the smoke that boiled out of the refinery's No. 4 Crude Unit, only that the air around the refinery was unlikely to cause any long-term health effects.

Chevron admitted that the fire caused the refinery to emit large clouds of sulfuric acid, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and hydrogen oxide. "We apologize for the fire and smoke caused by yesterday's incident," the company said in a statement.

How to Evacuate an Airplane

"A hundred years ago, it could take you the better part of a year to get from New York to California; whereas today, because of equipment problems at O’Hare, you can't get there at all."
~ Dave Barry (Only Travel Guide you'll ever need)

Earlier this week, a United Airlines flight at Dulles International in Washington, DC had to be evacuated when passengers saw smoke. Everyone quickly left the plane via the the inflatable slides including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A reporter on board wrote, "Hearing of possible broken bones, from the slide landing, but no other serious injuries."

Slides were fun when we were kids but an airplane slide is serious and can be dangerous. A government study of airline evacuation drills in the 1970s and 1980s found that almost 5 percent of the participants get hurt. The slides are designed to handle 70 passengers a minute so that means you have less than one second to go out the door. So here's some advice:

1. Get out fast – DO NOT grab your luggage.
2. JUMP onto the slide. Don’t hesitate at the doorway or try to sit down. JUMP.
3. Keep your arms crossed over your chest as you go down the slide on your back. This will help prevent skin burns as you slide.
4. Get out of the way! When you reach the bottom of the slide – MOVE quickly. Another person is just one second behind you and will crash into you if you don’t move quickly off the slide.

Bottom Line

Keep in mind two things:
1. Move quickly - jump on, get off fast.
2. This is not a slow ride down on your butt. It's a fast ride down on your back.

The second leading cause of injury is broken ankles and leg bones at the bottom of the slide. Be prepared to hit the ground by having both feet ready and your legs tensed but not locked and rigid. Be a stiff spring and let your knees bend and absorb the force with your leg muscles as you resist the impact. Picture how your legs work when you land from a jump or fall. The slide is a controlled fall and you'll land with nearly as much force as if you had jumped out of the plane without a slide.

To the degree that the slide does slow your fall and lessen the impact, that slowing is caused by friction and "slide burns" from friction are the leading injury from evacuations. Always wear long pants when you fly. Never shorts or a short skirt.

Old Favorites

Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.
~John Ed Pearce

Today I'll point you back to older blog posts that provide more details for Hurricane preparation.

Steps to take before a Hurricane arrives

includes
1. Food Safety
2. Food & Water
3. Lights
4. Stay Informed
5. Evacuation Preparation
6. Health
7. Important Papers
8. Peace of Mind
9. Prepare your Home

See also creating a Family Communication Plan

Bottom Line

Don't just read. Make the plan, build the kits.

Safe-House

You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right.
~Maya Angelou

Yesterday I mentioned storing food and water at your "safe-house". What is that?

A good Family Evacuation Plan will cover three levels of events:
1. Fleeing the House. Where will your family gather nearby if forced to flee a house fire?
2. Fleeing the Neighborhood. Where will your family go if flooding or wildfires force a neighborhood evacuation?
3. Fleeing the Region. Where will you go to escape a class 5 hurricane?

No one wants to evacuate. It's the last choice and usually only done when mandated by civil authorities. Hurricanes can result in neighbor evacuation from flood zones or regional evacuation for "the big one"

Be prepared by planning TODAY where for a "safe house" for each event above.

1. Identify a friendly neighbor's house where all kids should go during a house fire.

2. Find a friend who lives above your flood zone but not too far away. Walking distance is best although it may be a long walk of a few hours.

3. Find another friend who lives several hundred miles away that will take in your family during a regional evacuation.

Don't rely on a motel or public shelter. You may be competing with millions of others for a bed. It's better to find a private place that will shelter your family and pets.

Bottom Line

Once you've identified your safe-home locations, ask your hosts if they will store a kit for your family in their basement or attic. Consider the items listed from the past two days in this blog. A change of clothes, important family papers, cash (if you really trust the host). Help your hosts to create a cache of food and water for all to share.

Pet Go-Kits

The difference between friends and pets is that friends we allow into our company, pets we allow into our solitude. 
~Robert Brault

When forced to evacuate your home what will you do with your pets? Most people will want to bring the pets with them which causes two problems:

1. Most emergency shelters will not allow pets. So where will you stay?
2. Do you have emergency supplies for your pets?

Problem 2 is easy to solve - make a go-kit for your animals. Here are some ideas from the ASPCA:

• Pet first-aid kit and guide book
• 3-7 days' worth of canned (pop-top) or dry food (be sure to rotate every two months)
• Disposable litter trays (aluminum roasting pans are perfect)
• Litter or paper toweling
• Liquid dish soap and disinfectant
• Disposable garbage bags for clean-up
• Pet feeding dishes
• Extra harness and leash (Note: if you do find a pet friendly shelter, harnesses will be required.)
• Photocopies of medical records including recent rabies shot and distemper. (very important for pet shelters - they want to know your pet is safe. Otherwise it will be quarantined with other "sick" animals)
• Waterproof container with a two-week supply of any medicine your pet requires
• Bottled water, at least 7 days' worth for each person and pet (store in a cool, dry place and replace every two months)
• A traveling bag, crate or sturdy carrier, ideally one for each pet
• Flashlight
• Blanket (for scooping up a fearful pet)
• Recent photos of your pets (in case you are separated and need to make "Lost" posters)
• Especially for cats: Pillowcase or EvackSack, toys, scoopable litter
• Especially for dogs: Long leash and yard stake, toys and chew toys, a week's worth of cage liner.

Bottom Line

Remember, food and medications need to be rotated out of your emergency kit—otherwise they may go bad or become useless.

Is a 72-hr kit sufficient?

"I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving." –Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Sept. 6, 2005, after Hurricane Katrina

Survivalblog.com has published an interesting article entitled, Transitioning to Seven Day Bug-Out Bags, by Firefighter Charles. Since Hurricane Katrina the American Red Cross and FEMA have urged families to extend their "72-hr" kit from 3 days to 5 days or even 7 days. Because of this the name "72-hr" kit is now a misnomer and "Go" kit is used instead.

With the success of the 9-1-1 emergency phone system, people have come to expect a quick response to any emergency. But during a disaster, there may be tens of thousands of people trying to reach a very small police/fire department. Of course the local police/fire may itself be destroyed by the disaster (or as in New Orleans, local emergency services fled the town to safety along with the residents.)
with local resources overwhelmed you'll have to wait for outside resources to come to the rescue. Firefighter Charles accurately describes what happen and how long it takes...

Now FEMA’s response times as we all know is pitiful. FEMA’s response time also varies from situation to situation. But for our purposes, let's give FEMA the benefit of doubt. [Imagine] an unlikely yet devastating 7.5 earthquake in New York City (Manhattan). I’ll play with the numbers in their favor. It might take them 8 to 12 hours to figure out logistics and if the area is safe. It may take them another 10 to 12 hours to mobilize and get to the disaster area. Then once there, they set up outside of the disaster area, which might take another 8 to 12 hours. Also having engineers come in to analyze the tunnels and bridges, will further delay the rescue. Depending on the bridge or tunnel they decide analyze, that only can take up to another 12 hours. That would be an estimated FEMA’s response time. You've now exhausted your 72-hour bag. ... The total estimated time would be 62 to 84 hours. ...

Now once FEMA has established itself in, near, and or around the disaster area. It could take another 12-24 hours to receive one-on-one assistance. Considering that thousands to hundreds of thousands will also be on line waiting for “help”. Now, picture yourself being on line for your favorite band and waiting 10-24 hours to get their tickets. Now translate that to a disaster relief line. You exhausted your 72-hour bag and now have to wait in a line for hours maybe even days to be sheltered and fed. You will be beyond hungry, thirsty and tired. Knowing that you are so close yet have to wait for hours more, will really agitate you. Note: That waiting for FEMA support on a line of hundreds of thousands will bring out the good, the bad, and the worst.

Bottom Line

Everything moves slowly after a large-scale emergency. You're mostly on your own and need to be part of the solution and not part of the problem with proper training and food/water storage.

Crisis in Times Square

"We are very lucky," NYC Mayor Bloomberg said. "Thanks to alert New Yorkers and professional police officers, we avoided what could [have been] a very deadly event."

Early Saturday evening Times Square was seized with anxiety after a T-shirt vendor, Lance Orton, saw smoke billowing out of a Nissan sport-utility vehicle and alerted a NYPD officer. The Nissan Pathfider was parked with its engine running and hazards flashing near the Lion King theater. Inside was the makeshift bomb cobbled together with three 20-lb propane tanks, two 5-gallon jugs of gasoline and gunpowder from ordinary firecrackers. A small old-fashioned alarm clock was attached to a mysterious long locked metal box with wires coming out. Fortunately the detonator failed.

The heavy metal box was retrieved by a robot that smashed its way into the back window of the SUV, and was taken to a bomb disposal facility. Police inspected every other parked car for a second bomb and kept Times Square closed until 7:30 am Sunday morning. Many people missed Broadway shows or where unable to enter their hotel.

Bottom Line

Lance Orton, reluctant hero of the day, offered this advice to New Yorkers: "You see something, you say something."

Get Out Of Dodge

“The evacuation of major cities - we have a problem with that. We've never done that before.” ~ Henry Renteria, Director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services

About a year ago I wrote about the acronym TEOTWAWKI. Just this morning I came across another acronym G.O.O.D. that ties nicely into an article at NewScientist.com, Asteroid attack: Putting Earth's defences to the test. GOOD stands for “Get Out Of Dodge” and refers to emergency evacuation planning. When a hurricane is bearing down or an asteroid is about to strike your town, you won’t be the only one trying to escape. I recommend the movie, Deep Impact, which has a scene near the end of a crowded highway, no one’s moving, the asteroid is coming, so naturally people start panicking and driving on the grass, getting into accidents and getting into fights. Every man for himself!

The best solution to GOOD is getting out quickly, before the rest of the public jams the roads. If your go-kits are packed and ready you can get a head start on the crowd. Do not delay. Do not think you can escape “last minute”. You might also want to fill a gas can immediately because stations along the escape routes will quickly sell out.

When evacuating millions of people, I suspect every option is a lose-lose scenario. The highways will jam. Secondary roads can become closed with a single accident. If you have an AWD vehicle you could try off-road driving but have to cope with fences, ditches, streams, etc. In all cases a GPS unit can help provide alternative routes if you get stuck.

Bottom Line

Because of the hazards of evacuation, sheltering at home is often a better choice if you’re well stocked and prepared. But sometimes (killer hurricane or asteroid) you must get out of town, no choice. What will you do?

Comfort Items

“Some parents say it is toy guns that make boys warlike. But give a boy a rubber duck and he will seize its neck like the butt of a pistol and shout "Bang!"”- George F. Will

Today I recommend reading Barter Goods -- A Woman's Perspective on http://www.survivalblog.com/. The author points out that most preparedness advice comes “from thoughtful and hardy men” who focus on fire, food, guns, and basic survival. The author doffs her “hard hat” to these men but feels that something is missing, a woman’s touch regarding items that will “improved quality of life”. She then goes on to list useful items for children of various ages and for adults.

Infants & Toddlers: baby formula mix, chew toys (i.e. teething rings), pull toys

Ages 4-9: Crayons and coloring books, hard candies, fluffy-clutch-comfort toys (like a teddy bear)

Ages 10-13: look for brain & drain items for mental stimulation and to use up the tons of energy they have. Brainy books & puzzles & card games; physical toys like Frisbees, boomerangs, Nerf ball, jump rope. Girls may enjoy a simple cosmetic kit or sewing kit.

Ages 14-17: this age group wants to be treated as adults so assign tasks to them that require some thought and/or some physical prowess like foraging or child care. Provide them with some of the trappings of adulthood like a pocketknife, multi-tool, cosmetics or a purse. Teens want privacy that a small tent of their own could provide.

Seniors: Denture cream, magnifying glasses, packets of facial tissues, hand creams, bucket hats, cold packs, heat packs, compact chess and checker sets, large print puzzle books (don’t forget the pencils), over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications, Ben-Gay, Vick's Vap-O-Rub, hard candies, and sunglasses.

Bottom Line
Being forced out of your home is stressful regardless of whether you end up at a hotel, the woods or a Red Cross shelter. Kids will be frightened and their discomfort will result in fighting and crying which in turn raises the stress level of the parents. Plan now to have comfort items on hand to keep everyone occupied and entertained. It can still pay to stock up even if you don’t have kids. You can trade comfort items with desperate parents or just gift them something to calm a crying child.

Fire at Night

“Fire is never a gentle master” - Proverb

The worst time for an emergency is while you’re asleep. And yet with home fires and wildfires this is sadly quite common. In Myrtle Beach, SC, a grass fire jumped across a major interstate late at night and quickly destroyed 40 homes. 2,500 residents had to flee their homes at 2am. Once resident who fled without her shoes said, "If we were asleep, we wouldn't have made it." The family (wisely!) was afraid to go to sleep because the blaze was so near.

Residents told of hearing police drive down their streets in the middle of the night, giving warnings on loudspeakers for residents to flee. Some residents said they had only a few minutes to escape their homes before flames arrived. - charlotteobserver.com

By the next morning, another 100 homes were destroyed and ash was falling as far as 30 miles away.

Bottom Line
When a fire is burning nearby, don’t assume that it’s under control and safe. Winds can change direction and whip up a raging inferno without notice. The South Caroline Governor had good advice for the public, “it's incredibly important that people near the affected area pay close attention to emergency announcements and news outlets about developments with [the] disaster."
When danger is nearby heed all evacuation instructions. If you stay at home, be prepared by packing your go-kits now so you can flee at a moments notice any time of night or day.

Disaster Animal Response Team

“I never married because there was no need. I have three pets at home which answer the same purpose as a husband. I have a dog which growls every morning, a parrot which swears all afternoon, and a cat that comes home late at night.” - Marie Corelli

If ordered to evacuate your home, would you/could you leave your pets behind? Because most emergency shelters and hotels have a no pet policy, the standard procedure for disasters requires that pet owners leave their loved ones behind. However as Hurricane Katrina clearly showed, when given a choice between their own personal safety or abandoning their household pets, a significant number of people will choose to risk their lives in order to remain with their pets.

In recognition of this, congress passed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act, Public Law 109–308 (2006). The PETS Act requires that State and local emergency preparedness authorities include how they will accommodate households with pets or service animals when presenting disaster preparedness plans to the FEMA. (A city or state is required to submit a plan in order to qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding.)

Unfortunately, since the passage of the PETS Act of 2006, little has changed. Bureaucracies are slow to change. Under existing liability laws, a shelter could face a damaging lawsuit when someone is bitten by another person’s cute pet. And I suspect this law is not well known; I just learned of it, three years after its passage. It has never been mentioned in my training with the Red Cross or CERT.

Bottom Line

What can you do?

First- write to your mayor and governor and ask them, do they know about this law and what have they done to include pets in the emergency planning.

Second- follow the example of the Lamorinda area in Northern California (Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda in Contra Costa County). They have created a Disaster Animal Response Team (DART) to rescue pets and farm animals during Wildfires. Lamorinda DART consists of CERT graduates who have received additional animal sheltering and rescue training and are able to provide disaster response to humans and animals.

How to Escape Down an Airplane Slide

“We need only travel enough to give our intellects an airing.” - Henry David Thoreau

Emergency airplane evacuations happen more often than most people think; about once every 11 days in the U.S. Since most evacuation injuries occur on the inflatable slide,
here is some more advice Time magazine on How to Escape Down an Airplane Slide.

1. Always count the rows to the nearest exit when you sit down on the plane. The cabin may be filled with thick smoke when you need to exit.
2. Look for a 2nd exit off the plane when you get on. It is not unusual for doors to jam shut or for the slide to fail to deploy.
3. Get out fast – DO NOT grab your luggage.
4. JUMP onto the slide. Don’t hesitate at the doorway or try to sit down. Slides are designed to handle 70 passengers a minute so that means you have less than one second to go out the door. JUMP.
5. Keep your heels up and your arms crossed over your chest as you go down the slide on your back. This will help prevent skin burns as you slide.
6. Get out of the way! When you reach the bottom of the slide – MOVE. Another person is just one second behind you and will crash into you if you don’t move quickly off the slide.

Bottom Line
Speed is everything during plane evacuations. Lose the luggage and save your life. Don’t slow or stop the flow of people getting off.

Airplane Evacuations

“Evacuating a plane can be quite perilous—whether you're a real passenger or a volunteer in a certification test. A government study of airline evacuation drills in the 1970s and 1980s found that almost 5 percent of the participants get hurt.“ – Slate

Who would have thought that 1 out of 20 passengers could be injured just getting off an airplane during an emergency evacuation? But if you think about, getting off a crowded airplane is never easy even during normal days. Now add darkness, smoke, panicking people, luggage everywhere, inflated life vests, and you have a recipe for chaos.

You also may not have much time. The FAA requires that the airplane's maximum capacity of passengers and crewmembers can evacuate the plane in less than 90 seconds—the time it takes a fire to engulf a standard cabin.

Can you guess the main cause of injury during plane evacuations?

It is the inflatable slide that can be up to 26 feet off the ground. The most common injury is “slide burn” when bare skin is scraped raw going down the slide. The next danger is “hitting” the ground when the “slow down” strips fail at the base of the slide. People have broken ankles and legs from reaching the ground too fast. The worst injury occurred when a volunteer tester fell off the top of the slide and hit the pavement head first.

All the above points are occurred when a Paris flight to Toronto made a hard emergency landing, caught fire and managed to evacuate everyone in less than two minutes, 75% got off within 52 seconds

Bags were “flying down” from the overhead bins, and the plane was coming apart…. “Stewardesses started pushing everyone out,”

People near the fire at the rear of the plane panicked.

“People were tripping over each other, climbing over the seats to get to the
exit”

At a front door there was no chute to slide down and the drop was about 12 feet. A second door had a damaged chute but it worked.

“I jumped and fell onto some people,” a passenger said, “Some people broke their
arms or legs.”

Bottom Line

Stay calm and be careful when evacuating a plane and you should be OK.

“There is this myth out there that says if you’re involved in a catastrophic aircraft accident the odds [of survival] are extremely low. That’s inaccurate. The odds are extremely high,” said Mark Rosenker, the acting chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.

See also this YouTube of 777 evacuation test

PS - this post is appearing a day early. I accidently entered 08 for the year and it is not so easy to unpublish an article once published.

Fire!

"It'll be a hot time, in the old town, tonight! Fire, fire, fire." - song lyric

I don't think most people have a true appreciation for fire. We watch it burning peacefully in a fireplace or under other controlled conditions and bask in its warmth.

But last month Californians were reminded that fire can also be a monster. We "know" fire is "hot" but ...?

“It was a firestorm,” Captain Ruda said. “There were 50-foot-length flames streaking across the mobile home park. Fire hoses were melting into the cement and concrete. That’s how hot it was.”

And while we think of the hot flames as dangerous, the real killer is smoke...

“The smoke was so bad, I had to cover my mouth with a wet towel when we left,” Ms. Mendez said in Spanish. “I didn’t want to breath it in and hurt my baby.”

And most of us never learn just how fast fire can move...

“People really need to understand that because of these winds this fire can be upon you in a moment’s notice.”

Emergency crew members got a demonstration of how dangerous the winds were when, in the middle of the night, a wall of flames surrounded the Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar. Media reports said hospital staff members had worked frantically to remove critically ill patients as smoke seeped into the ventilation systems and backup generators failed.

A great example of the speed at which fire can spread is a Fire Safety video of a dry Christmas tree burning. http://www.fire.gov/newsletter/summer2001/page_two.htm
Within four seconds flames are up to the ceiling. Within 45 seconds the room has "flashed over" and is a total loss.

Bottom Line
When I lost power the other night, it took time for me to mentally adjust to what had happened and to respond by finding candles, matches, etc. With a fire you don't have time. You need to move quickly and assertively and you don't get a second chance to save something. NEVER go back into a burning house because you forgot something.

Disasters during School Hours

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."
- Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

When a sudden regional disaster (forest fire, chemical spill, nuclear power plant accident, etc) occurs during a school day, the natural instinct of parents is to rush to the schools to pick up their children. However this is NOT encouraged by most schools. A rush of incoming parents will block the roads and create confusion as the school attempts an orderly evacuation. Many school disaster plans call for all children to be taken by bus to a predetermined safe location outside the danger area. Do you know where that location is?

Bottom Line
Ask your school for a copy of its emergency plan and read it. Know what is expected of parents. Also ask yourself, "Is this plan realistic?" In Westchester county, NY there are only enough buses for one third of the school children (not counting those who walk to school!) During normal days, school buses make three trips to cover all schools - separate pickup and delivery for elementary, middle school and high schools. To evacuate everyone, the buses would have to return at lease twice into the danger zone for two additional loads of kids. This could fail on several grounds - drivers won't go back, returning buses are blocked with all lanes filled with outgoing traffic, buses are trapped in traffic trying to get out.

Russian Ruollete?

"Russian roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance" - Wikipedia

Despite orders to evacuate, as many as 140,000 people stayed in their Texas homes when hurricane Ike hit. Here is a collection of news items describing the aftermath of a Category 2 storm:

"Flooding, debris left by Hurricane Ike slowing rescue efforts" - CBS News, "the devastation is extensive"... "Waist-deep water and downed trees kept many rescuers from reaching people in Galveston." ... "a couple of barges had broken loose and smashed into homes" ...Some homes were "pancaked."

"In Hackberry, La. ... workers moved a large shrimp boat out of the highway with a bulldozer, but the team had to stop because of strong currents in the flood waters and difficulty in seeing the roadway." - AP

As the hurricane hit Friday night thousands of residents who stayed behind called 911. "What's really frustrating is that we can't get to them, [during the storm]" Galveston police officer Tommie Mafrei said. "They are naive about it, thinking it's not going to be that bad." - the Australian/AP

"A 4-year-old Houston boy died of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by his family's generator, which was inside his home." - ABC News/AP

Bottom Line
Don't play chicken with a Hurricane. Don't risk your life or the life of your family. When ordered to evacuate - leave!