Drill To Prepare First Responders For The ‘Big One’ (CA)

CBSLA.com) ^ | March 21, 2013 6:58 AM

[BenLurkin]

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — First responders from across Los Angeles County are practicing for the “big one” Thursday in a drill designed to measure the response to a magnitude-7.8 earthquake.

The exercise is hosted by the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management and will take place downtown from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“It’s our game day. The NCAA basketball tourney is starting, it’s their game day. It’s our game day for the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Offices, Office of Emergency Management,” Emergency Manager Kenneth Kondo told KNX1070.

This year’s functional exercise will feature the California Integrated Seismic Network’s Earthquake Early Warning Demonstration System and the participation of 53 city emergency operations centers, American Red Cross, Emergency Network Los Angeles, Southern California Edison and county departments like the Coroner, Fire, Health, Human Resources, Public Health and Sheriff.

The event will test and evaluate selected emergency functions and the interaction of various levels of government, response organizations, volunteer groups, and industry in a simulated environment, officials said in a statement.

“When a catastrophic disaster takes place, we’re all in it together and we all gotta help each other,” Kondo said.

Safety officials recommend all residents have an emergency kit that includes a battery or hand crank radio, whistle and food and water to sustain themselves for several days.

For more information on how to prepare for disasters, visit http://lacoa.org and http://espfocus.org.

[Cold Heart]

March is disaster preparedness month. Our local concern includes the 9.0+ mega thrust eathquake. Lots of bad things are expected for us on the coast. Power, water roads all out for very long time. 1-2 years to restore drinking water.

[A Navy Vet]

"Safety officials recommend all residents have an emergency kit that includes a battery or hand crank radio, whistle and food and water to sustain themselves for several days."

"Several days"? If the San Andreas does its thing, you're going to need more than "several days". The potential for long-term disruption of supplies is a reality. Plus, no mention of self-defense when the "takers" start looting local inner-city stores shelves and go bare. Guess where they will head? This is my Prepping scenario.

Anyone who doesn't remember the LEOs backing out of the Rodney King riots weren't paying attention, and that was just because of a verdict. Imagine the confusion and desperation if the water lines, gas lines, power lines, food distribution lines and major trucking routes are broken. Not to mention the further destruction by the rioters when Uncle Nanny can't re-supply quickly enough. It will make Katrina and Storm Sandy look like inconveniences.

[DCBryan1]

What they really mean to say:

"Thanks to liberals and the government, citizens have been disarmed and pose little threat to us when the food and water run out! They will be whining and begging for a place under big government's wing like Hurricane Sandy victims and they will have to relinquish those arcane so-called constitutional rights"

[Celtic Conservative]

What if the"big one" happens while they are practicing for the "big one"? would it screw things up so badly it would take longer to get it sorted out? I seem to recall that the day Doolittles raiders attacked Tokyo they had just concluded an air raid drill so that when the American planes came overhead nobody thought anything of it and it totally screwed up their response to the raid. Just a quirky thought.

CC

[Kartographer]

Preppers’ PING!!

[Jeff Chandler]

[Kartographer]

Don’t you know if you store more than a ‘few’ days worth of preps you are a ‘tinfoil’ nut job? Just ask any lib and there are more than a few FReepers who will tell you the same thing.

[Old Sarge]

March is Emergency Preparedness Month.

[Kartographer]

If you like to join us ‘tinfoil’ nut jobs this post is for you.

Its your choice you can prep or you can stand around on a bridge waiting for FEMA to bring you a bottle of water, a MRE, a warm blanket and a kiss for your boo-boo and maybe you can even get your picture as you stand there on the national news.

Any one with half a brain can look arouns and see for themselves what is happening right before thier eyes. There’s a Great Storm coming you can feel it.
Listen to what the bible says: A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. NIV Proverbs 22:3

One of the things Selco covers in this article is the fact that many will not accept that a breakdown is occurring even as they watch it happening before their eyes. Why don’t they realize it? It’s caused by a condition called ‘Normalcy Bias’ a mental state people enter when facing a disaster.

It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects. This often results in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for a disaster, and on a larger scale, the failure of governments to include the populace in its disaster preparations. The assumption that is made in the case of the normalcy bias is that since a disaster never has occurred then it never will occur. It also results in the inability of people to cope with a disaster once it occurs. People with a normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before. People also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.

A good article on ‘Normalcy Bias’ is on our own ChocChipCookies Blog The Survival Mom:

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2010/12/29/normalcy-bias/

You either prepare and stand on your own beholden to no one or you become dependent on others to provide your basic needs and become their ‘serf’. Me I don’t want to be beholden to anyone for providing what is needed for me and mine. I certainly don’t want to have to kiss some ‘gubberment’ third class bureaucratic to try and coax some help from them, I don’t want some ‘jack booted’ thug herding me in line and telling me where to stand, sit, eat or sleep. And last but not least I don’t want to be shut up in with a bunch of ‘zombies’ and have to worry about not only trying to get basic necessities but having to fight to keep what I manage to get.

For those who are just starting or are old hands at prepping you may find my Preparedness Manual helpful. You can download it at:

http://tomeaker.com/kart/Preparedness1j.pdf NOTE! THIS IS A FREE DOWNLOAD. I DO NOT MAKE ONE CENT OFF MY PREPAREDNESS MANUAL!

For those of you who haven’t started already it’s time to prepare almost past time maybe. You needed to be stocking up on food guns, ammo, basic household supplies like soap, papergoods, cleaning supplies, good sturdy clothes including extra socks, underwear and extra shoes and boots, cash (I myself have been putting up change for the past few years both for the metal content and the fact that using change places to make what purchases you can will move you down the the list of possible marks during shtf), tools, things you buy everyday start buying two and put one up.

As the LDS say “When the emergency is upon us the time for preparedness has past.”

Again I like to recomend FReeper’s ChocoChipCookie Blog The Survival Mom (Please Blog Police let this one slide!) Where you can get lots of useful information like:

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2011/11/20/8-morale-boosters-for-any-worst-case-scenario/

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2010/02/02/survival-priorities-the-rule-of-three/

And More

Also there is Ferfal’s Blog a survivor of Argentina’s first collapse:

http://ferfal.blogspot.com/

And there is Selco’s Blog a Bosnian War survivor at:

http://shtfschool.com/

“There is no greater disaster than to underestimate danger. Underestimation can be fatal.”

[US Navy Vet]

I HOPE that the “Big One” slides LA and San Fruitcisco into the Pacific.

[US Navy Vet]

And FLATTENS Sacramento.

[Gritty]

If they're smart, they'll be stocking up and planning for a whole lot more than "several days" of inconvenience waited on by helpful first responders, accompanied with their own handy whistles, a battery radio, a few bottles of Evian water and cans of cold ravioli with Ritz crackers, followed up by a street party to eat up all the left over FEMA goodies...

A Failure of Civility

[A Navy Vet]

"Don’t you know if you store more than a ‘few’ days worth of preps you are a ‘tinfoil’ nut job? Just ask any lib and there are more than a few FReepers who will tell you the same thing. "

Yes, I've read such. However, I am not a true end-world doomsday prepper. My 2 realistic concerns are:
1. The BIG ONE finally hits California;
2. A dirty bomb going off in Los Angeles;

I know there are many end-world scenarios, but to be honest, I probably wouldn't want to survive after an Extinction Level Event, nor an all out nuclear war. Ever seen the movie, "The Road"? It's about a father and son trying to make their way through a post-apocalyptic world. It was probably the most realistic and depressing movie regarding that scenario.

We are simply prepared for local disasters. We have a year supply of Mountain House freeze dried foods, access to a lake (with Katadyn filters), and many other necessities, not to mention self-defense and cooperation on our street.

BTW, one thing I never see on prepper sites/shows or even read here is the 50 gallons of potable water in your home water heater, not to mention your toilet tanks and filling bathtubs if the water lines have not been cut off. That can last quite awhile if not world's end. The other matter that is never discussed is how to dispose of human fecal matter (you can pee anywhere). Our plan is a 5 gallon bucket lined with plastic bags for each use. Disposal is not a problem. Also, without showers, hygiene can be accomplished with a large supply of baby wipes (Mom To Mom). You can use them for armpits, groin, and potty wipes.

And yes, we have the crank radio (2), shaker flashlights (plus many regular flashlights and batteries), coleman stove with propane bottles, solar outside lights to bring inside, and now looking at the Sun Oven (http://www.sunoven.com/) It can not only cook, but boil water, depending on your location.

We will do okay unless an asteroid, nuclear war, devasting earthquake, or a complete meltdown of our economy. Even then have some gold coins.

That's as prepper as I'm going. We do have other items, but too numerous to list here. If you have a viable idea for a 6-12 month survival plan, please let me know. Feel free to Freepmail me or post it here. However, please be realistic about the threat.

[A Navy Vet]

"I HOPE that the “Big One” slides LA and San Fruitcisco into the Pacific."

Thanks alot, shipmate. There are quite a few of us good people here. If it's big enough to send LA and Frisco into the ocean, it will definitely kill countless patriots inland.

[Kartographer]

Clearly you have missed a number of prepper threads:

To: Kartographer; Eva; All
Get the WaterBob here for cheapest price, $17.99

http://www.hurricaneprepper.com/waterbob.html

If you wnat one, get if before hurricane season which means get it now because they sell out in hurricane seaosn. This place is in Florida, down the street from where they make these WaterBobs.

130 posted on Tuesday, March 19, 2013 2:36:15 PM by Marcella (Prepping can save your life today. Going Galt is freedom.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies | Report Abuse]

To: appalachian_dweller; OldPossum; DuncanWaring; VirginiaMom; CodeToad; goosie; kalee; ...
Preppers’ Ping!!

Seems like a good time to post a lick to a new water filter I ran across over at Cheaper Than Dirt:

Manufacturer: Monolithic JWDF14
Item: CAMP-352

Just Water, monolithic ceramic drip filter works as well as the high end British ones only at a fraction of the cost!

This half-micron filter removes water-borne bacterium with a 0.5 micron efficiency which exceeds NSF standards. The ceramic filter can be cleaned with a soft brush at least 100 times, and it produces 14 gallons of drinking water per day. This system includes a ceramic filter, filter sock, and spigot.

Simply double stack two clean five gallon buckets with lids, drill a 1/2” hole in the bottom of the top bucket and through the top of the bottom buckets lid, place sock over filter and install it in the bottom of the top bucket. Drill a 3/4” hole on the side and near the bottom of the bottom bucket and install the spigot. Fill the top bucket with water from a lake, rain, tap, river or stream and in an hour you will have bacteria free water to drink in the bottom bucket.

Non-returnable, buckets not included. See our item # CAMP-309 for a food grade, standard 5 gallon bucket. Need just a filter? See our item # CAMP-354. Same ceramic filter material and made by the same company, but in common “candle” shape and without the sock or spigot.

Filters are manufactured to meet:
National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) Standard 42
National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) Standard 53
ISO 9002 Quality Standard
USA AEL Laboratories
USA Analytical Food Laboratories
USA Johns Hopkins University Laboratory
Abbot Laboratory South Africa
University of Chihuahua Mexico
British 5750 Quality Standard
England’s Water Research council (WRc) Performance Standards

The filtration efficiency is 0.5 micron
Removal capabilities as follows:
99% Arsenic 5 and 99% Arsenic 3 (special order)
99% Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S special order)
95% Chlorine and Chloramines
99% Taste
99% Odor
98% Aluminum
96% Iron
98% Lead
90% Pesticides
85% Herbicides
85% Insecticides
90% Rodenticides
85% Phenols
85% MTBE
85% Perchlorate
80% Trihalomethanes
95% Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons
99.999% of particles larger than 0.5 micron (Staffordshire University Labs) (includes Anthrax)
99.7% of particles larger than 0.3 micron (Staffordshire University Labs)
98% of particles larger than 0.2 micron (Staffordshire University Labs)
100% Giardia Lamblia
100% Cyclospora
100% removal of live Cryptosporidium (WRc Standard)
100% removal of Cryptosporidium (NSF Standard 53 – A.C. fine dust – 4 log challenge)
100% removal of E. Coli, Vibrio Cholerae (Johns Hopkins University)
99.999% removal of Salmonella Typhil, Shigella Dysenteria, Kiebsiella Terrigena (Hyder Labs)

Product is silver impregnated and will not permit bacteria growth-through (mitosis) provides a hostile environment for all microbiological organisms and will not support their growth. Ceramic elements may be cleaned 100 or more times with a soft brush or damp cloth.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/CAMP-352?pagenumber=2

And they is a thread and instructions in my preparedness manual on making a DIY Berkey

[Kartographer]

Forgot to ping you as I referenced one of your post.

[Kartographer]

Also there's been a couple threads where I recomended look for theses 275 gallon totes:

[Kartographer]

This is in my prepareness manual:

Emergency Toilets & Garbage Disposal-by Alan T. Hagan

[Marcella]

One year around 2007, in summer, and this is Texas so the temp. was over 100 degrees, I had to leave my house fast as power went out for hundreds of miles around here, mostly north/south and my husband was just out of the hospital after a terrible surgery and he couldn’t take that kind of heat in his condition. A neighbor told me there was power 40 miles west.

Now, I was prepared for a hurricane but not leaving my house fast. I had to get items together to leave the house and the house was dark. I couldn’t remember where a flashlight was so wasted time to find one. Went upstairs and got medicines and some personal toiletries, a change of clothes for us, then downstairs to get a jug of water from the water stash, some food items to eat, etc. The car had just been filled up so that was a blessing as gas couldn’t be pumped at stations. We had some cash due to husband always having cash – I seldom had cash in my purse (another mistake).

We had to drive more than 40 miles to find a hotel because others got to that place before we did. Thousands were on the roads getting out of this area.

I said that would never happen to me again. I would fix it so I could grab and go - I can do that now. One major item I got was “Life Gear’s Wings of Life”. This prepared survival backpack is made in California. I read customer comments on there and most of those people were from California. They talked about they had this backpack, one for each family member, and the packs stayed close to the front door in case of an earthquake. I think Californians are likely percentage wise, to be more prepared than the general population in this country. If one grabbed this backpack and stuck their medicines in there, it would be a fast leave from the house. There is also enough room to put a change of clothes and other items one would want. I keep a change of clothes in there. I found this backpack on the Walmart website for $70. That was some years ago and they aren’t on that website now. Years later, I wrote about this backpack so looked it up on the web and they were about $100. I keep one of these backpacks in my car and one in my downstairs bathroom.

Sometimes we have severe weather with tornado warnings and when those are close I get an automated phone call from the city that says take cover. I pick up Prissy, the Yorkie, go in my downstairs bathroom with big cushions and we stay in there until it’s safe to come out. If the house falls down and we are still alive in there, we have three days of existence by having that backpack in there with us.

It’s the best backpack I have found and I wouldn’t be without them. Also, always know exactly where a flashlight with good batteries is in your house so you can find it fast. Mine right now is on the floor by my chair. Here is the list of the contents of the backpack:

Life Gear’s Wings of Life survival backpack provides the ultimate in survival preparedness. It is a complete three day survival kit with food, water and essential survival gear. The food and water have a shelf life of five years, and can withstand a temperature range of -40 to +120 degrees F. Detachable wings of life help keep things organized, accessible and easy to find in stressful situations.

Life Gear Wings of Life Survival Backpack
Features:
Sleeve system for storage of food and water
Waterproof tarp
Cell phone/walkie talkie carrying case
Water reservoir pocket
Multifunction tool sleeve
Cushioned shoulder straps
Lightweight ergonomic design for children and adults
Back ventilation system for cool air flow
See-through pockets for quick access to items
Ring hooks for added attachments
Two side pockets for storage of a personal safety device and bottle
Durable construction for long life
Backpack includes:
Thermal blanket
All weather poncho
Hygiene kit
First aid kit
Multifunction tool
Leather work gloves
Respirator mask
Compass
Signaling whistle
Thermometer
Red emergency flasher
Waterproof document/cash bag
Signaling mirror
Writing pad & pen
6-page disaster preparedness action guide
Emergency food rations:
Made in USA
Meets US Coast Guard standards (160.046/23/0)
Meets Department of Defense regulations (SOLAS 74/83)
5-year shelf life
Non-thirst provoking
Withstand temperatures of -40 to 300 degrees F
Ready to eat: each package contains 9 pre-measured 400 calorie meals
Individual portions eliminate messy breakup
Contains no cholesterol or tropical oils
Enriched with vitamins and minerals, exceeding RDA requirements
Emergency water packets:
Made in USA
US Coast Guard approved
No oxygen transfer (no chance of bacterial contamination)
Pre-measured packets make water easy to dispense
Easy to transport; no cups needed
Withstand temperatures from -40 to 210 degrees F
5-year shelf life
Model No. LGDLBPK01
Shipping Weight (in pounds): 10.2
Product in Inches (L x W x H): 13.0 x 6.0 x 19.0