Survivor Stories…Emergency Preparedness…Emergency Management

Posted by Carolyn on May 26th, 2010 in Before the Disaster, Evacuation and Refuge, Survival Tips, Survivors Stories | 1 comment

Truthfully I am a little tired of Money Saving Tips. I have posted so many and I am feeling a little burned out so I am changing direction for a little while. I hope those who have been following the tips will understand that I am trying to help you create a self reliance life style so all of these aspects are important. We will return to the money tips but for now I want to share some of the survival stories I have been receiving. I love your stories as I learn something from each one. Please keep them coming.

How do we prepare for emergencies and how do we manage them once they happen?

Today I want to share the experience of a family who survived the San Diego fires two years ago.

We had a half hour notice to evacuate. A friend called when he was called by a friend who received a reverse 9-1-1 call. My initial thought was, this is a drill, we’ll be back tonight, we’ll be the only ones on the road. All of these assumptions were wrong. My husband grabbed the kids and told me to grab a few things. What did I grab? Makeup! Of course when he came in and saw me I woke up to the important things. We ended up taking three days worth of clothes, photo albums, camera, computer, file documents, journals, scriptures, 72-hour kits, and the kids each picked one toy. There was no forethought; I just grabbed what I could, what was visible.

I wish I had taken past journals, letters from my mission, my wallet, CDs and movies for the long drive. Can you believe I forgot my wallet?

A drive that would normally have taken an hour took three times that long. We did not take food, so our 72-hour kits were used to supply snacks in the car. We learned that you never put mints of minty gum in your kit without wrapping it separately. Everything tasted like mint.

I now have a plan, an updated box of important documents is ready to go in the garage, and we always have at least a half tank of gas. The experience affected my children more than I thought it would. The smoke was very scary for my son, and he still talks about it. He still pretends to put out fire in our grass. I know they had feelings of displacement and confusion. We went to Toys R Us when we were in LA that night. Toys and food are what they needed.

There are a few unspoken tips here. First, you need to take food, at the very least the food in your 72 hour kits. You may be heading to a great final destination (your out of area contact) where they will feed and pamper you but the drive there will be long. You will not want to exit to purchase food as there may be long…lines of traffic waiting to get back on the freeway. Avoid stopping for anything if at all possible. A quick ten minute stop may end up adding an hour to your trip.

Second, you grab what you can see so place a list near your exit door so you will SEE it. This list should include items you had deemed important to grab when you need to evacuate quickly. A great list does you no good if you fail to use it. Place your Disaster Preparedness Binder next to your computer so as you grab the hard drive you remember you binder which will also contain vital information.

Third, kids need comfort. They need to know everything will be ok and they can feel your stress. Be sure to include some new toys, travel games, etc. in your 72 hour kits to distract kids on the long drive. If you have a DVD player in the car include a DVD in your kits. It can be a favorite or one that is a classic like Swiss Family Robinson or Mary Poppins.

Please send me your stories and I will share them here.

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