DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

With the very recent memories of the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile in my mind, I thought I would take some time to remind all my friends and colleagues about the importance of being prepared for "the big one."

While sitting here creating this note, I can look out my window and see where the Hayward Fault is located, just a few hundred feet from my office. It is a stark reminder of how close we are to the location of a "significant event" as seismologists sometimes refer to a major quake.

One of the first things I remember hearing when I came to California in 1970 was that there would be a major earthquake on the Hayward Fault in the next 30 years. I heard the identical warning last year when the '06 quake was having it's 103rd anniversary. So clearly, we don't know when it's going to come, but to ignore the reality of where we live and what's "around the corner" is no more then sticking our head in the sand. I can tell you as a victim of the Oakland Fire, it is not a good idea to be unprepared.

While no expert, I have had exposure to The City of Oakland's CORE Program (Citizens of Oakland Respond to Emergencies). It assists neighborhoods and families by supplying the training and expertise to ensure residents and their families have the best chance of making it through a major earthquake or other disaster. They assist with little things like creating a plan so that families that are apart when the disaster occurs have an agreed upon place to meet and someone out of area to call to let them know their whereabouts.
Their web site is:
http://www.oaklandnet.com/fire/core/index.html
The other very useful source for this kind of information, with practical suggestions for how to minimally prepare without becoming a survivalist, is http://72hours.org
This site was created by the City of San Francisco. It gets its' name from the belief that for the first 72 hours of a major disaster we are likely to be on our own, without emergency services. This site makes recommendations related to making it through that period of time with minimal inconvenience.

I hope I haven't brought you down with this message. I just wanted you and your families to be safe.