Blog of the Week: Let Us Prepare

From an email my sister sent me, I found "Let Us Prepare", which is a blog focusing on many different aspects of emergency preparedness. this blog to this handout, "Let There Be Light". which is very nicely done. Debbie Kent has done a fantastic job cataloging and evaluating various heat/power source options for when electricity is lost. This has obviously been compiled for a colder climate and would require a bit of re-prioritizing (less firewood, more propane/gasoline for generators, etc), but it's a fantastic reference. For future reference, should the above link cease to be available, I have uploaded this handout onto our download site, and you can find it here.

The blog itself offers information and videos on a smattering of various subjects, but her best features are her "challenges", such as, "this week, prepare to be stranded in your car overnight in a snowstorm." She then gives a list of the articles a family would need to store in their vehicle to survive such an eventuality. Again, climate differences have to be factored in, but for folks with preparedness priority paralysis, this blog provides a much needed nudge into your baby steps.

Fwd: storm alert

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Cheryl Driggs
Date: Sun, Aug 3, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Subject: storm alert


There is a tropical disturbance in the Gulf that could develop into a storm and move west towards us this week. Please stay alert to the situation.


Be sure to visit texasprepares.org http://www.texasprepares.org/ReadyOrNot/Client/Home.aspx for information on how Texans can make a plan, build a kit and learn about disasters possible in Texas. There are checklists, shopping lists and forms to download and print out. You can also fill out forms online and have them emailed to family members.

Food for Thought: In the Eye of the Hurricane

Along Came Dolly:

When Hurricane Dolly hit Brownsville, Texas, last week, I didn't pay any more attention that to track the storm on the internet and hope we'd get a bit of rain out of the deal. Especially because the storm couldn't make up its mind whether to be a tropical depression or a tropical storm or an out-and-out hurricane, I am afraid poor Dolly did not get much respect from me. I smiled when my Utah family would ask me how we were surviving the storm. Didn't they know that was like asking them how was the weather in Las Vegas? Besides that, Dolly scarcely deserved the notice. Katrina and Rita, now those were hurricanes.

Then, my son's mother-in-law sent me this log about their vacation down to San Padre Island, and I was reminded once again how important it is for us all to be prepared, even for such a seemingly inconsequential thing as a tropical depression. Dolly charged up to a Category 2 right before landfall, and the damage she wrecked on south Texas racked up into the billions. Even with the lessons one would hope we here in southeast Texas learned during Hurricane Rita, it seemed another round of the same.

When I asked her permission to post this, Deana responded:

It really was a good lesson in preparedness. We had food with us, but had to run out before the storm and get food that didn't have to be cooked (we did lose power early in the storm). Even then, it didn't last long. The store was running out of things quickly, but we did manage to get some essentials and, luckily, two lanterns for light. Thankfully, we had enough gas in our cars to get out of the storm area---it was at least 100 miles to the nearest available gasoline.

Here's Deana's description their experience with Hurricane Dolly:

A vacation down to South Padre Texas became an adventure we won't soon forget. After a couple of beautiful days on the Texas coast, warnings were sent that a Cat 1 hurricane was on its way from the Gulf. We tried to monitor the storm. The last report we heard from the local news was the storm has weakened to a tropical storm and that is would blow over in a day or so. We decided to stay in a day or so enjoy the beaches once again. Soon after, we lost power and with it all communication and information. As it was, the storm strengthened to a Cat 2 hurricane. We hunkered down in our condo.

South Padre island took a direct hit from the eye of the storm. The wind velocity reached 115 mph! Water flooded the condo – we were on the first floor and so we spent the day Wednesday sandbagging inside the condo and constantly mopping up the water that came in under the walls and from the ceiling above. Luckily we made some friends from Pennsylvania in an adjoining condo which also decided to stay. They provide us a dry place to rest from the water and wind.

When the storm subsided 24 hours later the billions of dollars of damage had been done to the small resort town. Shingles littered the ground everywhere. Almost 50% of the roofs of dwellings had been damaged. Fences – wooden were destroyed and steel gates were ripped from their hinges and tossed across the road. Many store fronts had their glass shattered and their store interiors blown to confusion. We saw at least a dozen telephone poles that had been snapped in two and are sure there were many more. Metal street light poles were bent and blown over and many of the street light fixtures lay in the streets shattered. Traffic lights were ripped from their wires and thrown in the streets. Signs were all obliterated. Fuel pumps were stripped of their casings and the many fueling canopies were torn apart and thrown into their parking lots. The damage was amazing to see.

On our drive home we saw that Port Isabel – just across the Launga Madre also experienced a direct hit and was also very badly damaged. Port Isabel, Brownsville, and other low lying cities were completely flooded. A small city just north of Port Isabel was completely under several feet of water.

I have included just a few pictures of the damage – even after seeing the results of Katrina and Rita it still is amazing to us what a storm can do.

We are all safe and enjoyed our time on vacation and our adventure and thank you all for your prayers on our behalf.

Blog of the Week: Prepare Today Newsletter

Another Perspective:

This is a collection of information to assist others in their preparedness efforts and to help them be ready for the challenges which are coming.

The Prepare Today Newsletter is a blog authored by a ward preparedness specialist from California. It provides a slightly different view of emergency preparedness, particularly since Californians face an entirely different set of hazards from their environment. They have fires and earthquakes, we have hurricanes and ice storms, etc. Added to the other resources available to us, this blog adds its bit of harmony to the same tune we know so well.

Here is a snippet of one article, a bit of commentary entitled "Musings of a Ward Preparedness Chairman":

Why is it so many saints are unenthusiastic about getting their food storage and emergency supplies?

For some it's a matter of money – both too little money and, curiously enough, too much money. The challenge for those with limited funds is more understandable than those who have what can only be termed "abundance". We live in an area with large numbers of prosperous members who don't have their food storage – why?

This is something I've wondered about a lot and recently gained additional insight from reading the observations of an online forum moderator named NeatBrian.

Read the complete article.

Things to know:

URL: http://preparetodaynewsletter.blogspot.com/
Author: A Californian ward preparedness specialist; otherwise anonymous
Emphasis: Emergency Preparedness
Rating: 4/5

Link of the Week: Home Storage Online

LDS Home Storage Helps Online

• LDScatalog.com: If you need a simple and easy way to get started or augment your home storage, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints makes it quite convenient. The prices are extremely competitive but higher than they are at the individual Home Storage Centers where customers assist in the packaging process. Via online catalog the following products are offered:
• #10 cans of:
• hard red winter wheat
• pinto beans
• white rice
• quick oats
• Home Storage Starter Kit, in addition to provident living pamphlets and teaching aids, containing:
• 2 #10 cans of hard red winter wheat
• 2 #10 cans of white rice
• 1 #10 can of pinto beans
• 1 #10 can of quick oat

• ProvidentLiving.org: A much wider range of products are available at the Home Storage Centers. To expedite your visit and assist in planning ahead, the Church has made available online an order form to be completed in advance, valid at HSC's in the United States and Canada. Its use is simple.
• Access the form. You will require the software, Adobe Reader, available for download free of charge.
• Fill in your pertinent personal information at the top of the form.
  
• Select each product (rows), the quantity desired of each size available (columns of #10 cans, pouches and bulk). Of note, the HSC's often have difficulty keeping up with the sharply increase in demand in recent weeks. It's a good idea to call ahead or contact your ward preparedness specialist to determine the products immediately available.
  
• The total cost of your purchase is recalculated as you move from field to field. However, the cost of any individual product is not calculated until you exit that field.
• Save, Print, or Reset the form when you have completed your selections. Save individual configurations of purchases on multiple forms for future use.
• Complete your purchase when you go to the HSC with the printed form in hand
  

Things to Know: Online purchase URL: http://www.ldscatalog.com Home Storage Center Order Form links:

• USA English
• USA español
• Canada
  

Sponsor: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Emphasis: Home Storage, Preparedness
Rating: 5/5