Disasters:
During and afterward
Last updated 27feb10
Notice
Copyright
2005-2010 Ken
Young (http://www.DinoDudes.com).
All
rights reserved.
This document may
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redistributed for educational purposes at no charge in unaltered form.
This information
is for
educational purposes only. There is no guarantee of any kind that it is
accurate, or that no harm will come to anyone who uses it.
This information
is provided
on an "as is" basis with absolutely no warranty or guarantee. The
information is not necessarily correct, complete, or suitable for any
particular use. The entire risk is with you. Should harm arise from
using this
information, you assume responsibility for all damages and injuries. In
no
event shall the copyright holder, or any other party, be liable for
compensation or damages arising from the use, misuse, failure to use,
or
inability to use this information.
Print this and keep a hard
copy where you can find it if you need it
-
If you
know the water may go out in advance, fill the bathtub with cold water
and turn
off the cold-water valve going into the hot water tank. Both hold a
large
volume of water. Turn off the water main to prevent contaminated water
from
entering.
-
If you
drain the water heater for potable water, be sure to turn it off.
Running it
empty can ruin it.
-
Do not
be selfish. Work hard to help others. Share your stuff. People who work
together do all right. People perceived as selfish don't get help when
they
need it.
-
Be
prepared to shut off the gas, water, or electricity if you need to. Do
not shut
off the gas unless necessary, because only the gas company can safely
turn it
back on. This could take a month if they are busy.
-
Check
the house & garage IMMEDIATELY after an earthquake (or anything
else that
can damage your house) for fire, shorts, and gas leaks. Do not turn any
switches on or off or unplug anything until you check for gas leaks
(switches
commonly make a small spark). If you need light to check for gas leaks,
use a
lightstick of a flashlight that runs on a single 1.5V AA, AAA, or coin
battery.
It takes more than 2 volts to make a spark. Turn multi-cell flashlights
on & off
outside.
-
Unplug
your electronics if the power might be affected. Power failures,
electrical
storms, and floods affect the power. Power line problems can damage
your
electronics.
-
Start
preparing to evacuate if you think it might be necessary.
-
Stay
off the phones! Nobody can get through to 911 because everyone responds
to an
emergency by calling their family & friends to talk about it. When
people
call, tell them to stay off the phones.
-
Make sure
the phones have not been shaken off the hook. Those phones tie up the
lines.
-
Knock
on the neighbors doors, make sure they are OK, and tell them all to
stay off
the phone. After a disaster, the phones are ONLY for distress calls.
-
Do not
hang up if there is no dial tone, wait for one.
-
Pay
phones are the most likely phones to work after a disaster.
-
Do not
use the toilet if there is no water. Tape the lid down right away so
nobody
forgets. Dig a hole and rig a privacy tarp. Digging a hole is a problem
in cities,
so line a wastebasket with a garbage bags, tie it after use, and put it
in the
garbage outside. Use a bucket to fetch creek-water if someone uses the
toilet.
Improvised sanitation bag: Line a plastic grocery bag with newspaper,
and line
that with another grocery bag.
-
Do not
put food in the garbage disposal when the power or water is out, lest your
sink clog
and stink. Cover it so nobody forgets.
-
Do not
open the refrigerator or freezer unless necessary if the power is out.
Keep the
cold in. Tape the door shut right away so nobody forgets. An unopened
half-full
freezer keeps food safe to refreeze for about a day, a full freezer
lasts about
2 days. Cooking when this time is up can save food. Food with ice
crystals can
be refrozen.
-
Buying
ice converts a refrigerator into an icebox to preserve food. Dry ice
keeps the
food in a freezer frozen.
-
Floodwater
usually contains sewage. Treat floodwater like it came right out of the
toilet.
-
Floodwater
renders food, pots, and dishes unsafe. Wash thoroughly and then
disinfect for
15 minutes by bleach disinfectant solution or boiling.
-
Discard
food exposed to smoke or firefighting chemicals. Scrub pots, dishes,
etc, and
then use bleach disinfectant solution.
-
In
case of flood, assume the tap water is contaminated until tested.
-
Dilute
bleach 10-1 for disinfectant solution.
-
Use 1/4 teaspoon of
unscented bleach to sterilize a gallon of drinking
water. Mix
& wait 30 minutes. Add 6 more drops & wait again if you cannot
smell
the bleach. The fragrance in some scented bleaches is poisonous.
-
If the
tap water is not safe, prepare bleach disinfectant solution for washing.
- If
you must use creekwater, filter it
through 2 coffee filters before sterilizing with bleach.
- If you
touch something that touched floodwater, and later eat before washing
your
hands, you may get violently ill.
-
Do not
try to "help" animals. A frightened small animal can tear you up.
-
Someone
trying to help a small animal sounds like this: "Oh the poor little
thing! He
needs help! I'll help you little fellow. AAAAAHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT
OFF! I
sure wish I could get seen at a hospital!"
-
Do not
use power tools you are not experienced with, especially chain saws.
Wait for
someone experienced.
-
Do not
use sources of fire you are not experienced with, especially oil lamps.
A
disaster is much harder to deal with after burning oil goes everywhere.
-
Disasters
displace snakes & rodents. Expect this and be careful.
-
Do not
drive through water. Just 3 inches of water can stall an engine and
less than
12 inches can float the car (this is a bad thing). Most Americans who
die in
floods do so in their car.
-
In a
chemical spill, turn off the heater, air conditioner, bathroom fans,
and all
other fans that suck in outside air. Retreat to one room of the house
and seal
the cracks around the doors and windows with duct tape.
-
Some
water sources should never be used for drinking.
Never drink from automobile
radiators, waterbeds, or floodwater.
-
Photograph
damage for insurance.
-
Hospitals
cannot handle disasters that produce lots of injuries. Do not waste
time going
to the hospital unless there is no other way to save a life. They
probably have
one emergency room bed per 20,000 people. If there are more than half a
dozen
emergency patients they expect to send them to nearby hospitals.
Keep
this
list taped to the inside of a cabinet or closet door so you can find it
in an
emergency.
This information
was
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