Emergency Prepardness — A
Reminder
In this spring newsletter that goes to all residents of Barron Park,
I think it is useful to give an overview of emergency preparedness.
To those of you who have read my past articles (see newsletter
archives at
http://www2.bpaonline.org/BP-News/index.html),
my apologies for the repetition. But perhaps
this review will be a helpful refresher.
The four major types of disasters relevant to Barron Park are floods,
toxic spills, terrorism and earthquakes. Of these, a major earthquake
is the most important because damage will be great, because it will
seriously affect the entire Bay Area, not just a local community, and
because it is likely to occur here in the not-too-distant future. The
U.S. Geological Survey estimates that there is a 62% chance of a
magnitude 6.7 or greater earthquake striking the San Francisco Bay
region before 2032 (see http://quake.usgs.
gov/research/seismology/wg02/). Such an earthquake, regardless of
whether its epicenter is on the San Andreas Fault, the Hayward Fault,
or another related fault, will cause major damage throughout the Bay
Area. We live in abayside, urban environment similar to that of Kobe,
Japan, which in 1995 experienced a magnitude 6.9 earthquake that
killed 6,000 people and caused over $100 billion in damage.
In a major earthquake, Barron Park will experience moderate to severe
structural damage to residences, a number of injuries, absence of
electricity and gas, and disrupted water supply (remember that the
Hetch Hetchy water pipeline, which supplies our water, crosses the
Hayward Fault!). Government resources will be overwhelmed, and fire
and police departments will have to give priority to major, critical
facilities such as hospitals. The Palo Alto Neighborhood Disaster
Activity
(www.cityofpaloalto.org/oes/panda)
will supplement city resources, but these volunteer personnel also
will be severely taxed in the first phases of a major disaster.
Indeed, their first obligation must be to their own families and
residences.
The bottom line is that each household in Barron Park will be on its
own after a major disaster and should be prepared to provide for its
basic needs for several days to a week. We all need to have
sufficient emergency supplies to tide us over until outside
assistance becomes available and water, electricity and gas are
restored. Excellent guidelines for building emergency caches are
presented in the 3rd edition of "Living with our faults"
(www.cityofpaloalto.org/oes/earthquake/).
Comprehensive disaster
preparedness kits are sold by the Palo Alto Chapter of the American
Red Cross (www.paarc.org/supplies/cat_disaster.htm).
Drinking water will be particularly critical. A person can survive
for weeks with minimal food, but only a few days without water.
Certainly local, State, and Federal governments will do their best to
supply emergency water for drinking and cooking. But these emergency
measures will almost certainly take several days to a week to
implement. Consequently, each household should take stock of its
emergency water sources and be prepared to survive for up to a week
without water from any outside source. Guidelines for emergency water
are summarized in the Summer 2003 issue of the Barron Park Newsletter
(www2.bpaonline.org/BP-News/2003-summer/index.html).
Finally, let's not forget that many of us spend many hours per day
away from home and that getting home in the aftermath of a major
earthquake is going to be exceedingly difficult. Even if roads and
bridges are only lightly damaged, non-functioning traffic lights will
produce instant gridlock, as in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The
remedy here is obvious: carry an emergency kit in your car. Specific
suggestions for such a kit can be found in the Fall 2003 issue of the
Barron Park Newsletter
(www2.bpaonline.org/BP-News/2003-fall/index.html).
I know that some Barron Park households are well-prepared for a
disaster, but I suspect that the great majority (80%?) are not. In
the days after a disaster, with water, electricity and gas
unavailable, what will this 80% do for the basics of existence? Can
this 80% count on the good will of their prepared neighbors, thus
reducing their neighbors' preparedness from one week to just a day or
two? I would like to think that our community spirit will allow us to
muddle through, somehow. But I would worry a lot less if 20% of our
households were unprepared rather than 80%. It's up to each of you.
By Patrick Muffler, Committee Chair