Preparation for Disaster

Preparation for Disaster was Originally Posted on January 15, 2007 by lavarock

(I am all over the map with ideas, so forgive the rambling)

A major reason I moved to Hawaii from the Atlanta area is that I got tired of the ice, cold and tornados. We are not without our issues here. I recently acknowledged Hawaii is prone to every known natural disaster and some of them at the same time.

I am hearing of mainlanders enduring snowstorms and lack of electricity and I am reminded that residents here are probably better prepared for the inconveniences, maybe because we practice more.

During the recent major earthquake, we lost power statewide (which is amazing because each island generates its own power). Because we are a tropical location, lack of electrical power is not a major problem here. We often can lose power for hours at a time because many of the power lines are not buried and are prone to be knocked down by cars or mudslides. Our weather is such that not having heat will not cause undue problems. I hesitate to mention that there are people who live at higher elevations where it gets below 60 or even 50 at night, but they already have woodstoves and wood handy. Unlike the mainland where the winter is much colder than the summer, here our cold period happens at night and the difference between winter and summer lows is only about 5 degrees. Thus we don’t have wild swings in temperatures between seasons, we get it between day and night based upon the altitude. Still, unlike the mainland, where a winter storm would create an area of frigid temperatures spread across many states, someone here on the Big Island would only have to drive a few miles down the road closer to the ocean to get back to tropical temperatures.

Many islanders live a good distance from major stores, although we often have a small Mom and Pop store near us. Items like toilet paper and canned goods travel from the mainland on freighters and can be weeks away by barge. We have had storms and dock strikes that have slowed or stopped delivery of critical items and it is not unusual to have to stock up on items, which could have a delayed arrival.

We are lucky here because we grow many of the items we need and are pretty good at trading what we have much of. I’m sure this is the same as small towns on the mainland. It is not unusual to go to the Captain Cook Post Office and on the outside table, see avocados or mangos someone has left for others to take. Just yesterday I picked an orange from the lone orange tree on the property and a pineapple I am growing has started to grow fruit.

Papayas grow in the wild, as does guava. In fact, here in Hawaii, guava is considered a weed J The soil is so rich that rather than fertilize often, you need to stock up on Roundup to kill weeds that grow rapidly.

So in a pinch, someone here could trade his or her fruit or even their coffee for something else to eat.

Some people here rely on rainwater caught from roofs for use on crops, around the farm or in the house. With some preparation they can also use it for drinking. It rains often enough in most places that even if you rely upon county water for your house, in the event of a major water outage, there would be sufficient rainwater to wash with and so on.

If you have visited before, you will know that locals here can clear a spot, dig a hole and make an oven. Practicing primitive cooking (I hate to call it that, but there are no metal utensils needed) is performed often for the tourists at their luaus!

Well this is all well and good, but it doesn’t help you much if you don’t live in Hawaii, does it?

Well, some of the things we do here along with some common sense, can get you through many outages and problems on the mainland. This is not rocket science; it is more of being prepared.

For outages of electricity, make sure that you have flashlights and batteries. There are flashlights that don’t need batteries and rely on sunlight or hand winding or even shaking them. The new LED flashlights use such little battery power that you could leave them turned on for days at a time. A radio with a hand crank or low power usage would help during storms and so on.

When the power goes out, most people need to be worried about keeping warm and dry. Having blankets and warm clothes around could not hurt. Even here in Hawaii many of us have at least one long shirt and pants, if for no other reason that to travel up the mountain to see our yearly snowfall!

On the mainland I used to have a kerosene space heater (make sure you open a window somewhat to let the fumes out). During heavy cold snaps in Georgia it was quite affordable to heat up a couple of rooms for just pennies!

Do you have a mechanical can opener? An electrical one won’t help much if you have no power. How will you heat things? I have a propane grill in the garage that I can use (only use them outdoors). If you have one, why not make sure you have sufficient propane for an emergency. Have a little propane lighter also if your grill doesn’t light automatically.

Have some food available that you can easily make whether packaged or canned. If you can boil some water, a package of ramen noodles and a bowl makes a nice hot meal on a cold day. Some cultures live on ramen so you having to rely on it for a few days won’t hurt you. I always have a couple of gallons of water here, so even if the water goes off unexpectedly, I have some to drink. Perhaps having a few canned meat products and a handy loaf of bread would help you.

If you live hand to mouth (only buying items when you run out) you are not prepared for an emergency because many of them happen without warning. With our massive earthquake we had not 1 minute of notice and lost electricity and a few lost water. Many people relied on cell phones (until the equipment got overloaded) and cordless phones and Voice over IP phones (Internet phones) often were unusable when the cable and DSL lines didn’t work. Even cell phones need charging and if you don’t have a UPS (uninterruptible power supply), perhaps you should get a car charger at least for your cell phone.

Keeping your car gassed up is always a good idea, and if it is not dangerous, perhaps having some relatively fresh gas in a gas can will help, especially if you have to drive somewhere and you are nearly out of gas. Anytime you drive in cold weather where there is danger of snow, make sure you have an empty gas can with you in case you need it. I would not drive around with a full can of gas in the trunk of the car, but I seem to remember that there used to be some kinds of emergency car fuel you could carry safely but don’t remember the details.

Speaking of driving, I would NOT be driving anywhere near snow or ice anymore. I have been stuck before at the bottom of a hill in a remote area and had to sleep in the car with a heater that was broken. Although not very common, you hear of families stuck in blizzards on side roads for days with no provisions. If you have to travel, make sure that you cover the bases and are prepared for problems, which might arise.

In Hawaii, most houses are built to take advantage of the sun, shade and prevailing winds. In Georgia I saw little of that. Here our houses have large overhangs to allow a view but keep the direct sun out of the house. The houses are often positioned and have windows and doors, which can take advantage of winds for cooling.

Back in Georgia it used to get hot, very hot and yes, even humid during the summer. The house I was in had small windows and no overhanging roof areas. Thus before leaving the house I had to close the windows and the shades. The windows were closed to keep the rain out because even with a slight breeze, water would come in. The shades were down because the sun would heat the room quickly. Thus I had to run the air conditioner all summer when often opening the windows (and having some shade) would have been better. I still cannot understand why houses there seemed to never have an overhanging roof or even awnings over the windows! Imagine no electricity and being able to open the windows to get a breeze, even in pouring rain. My windows are open all day, rain or shine and not a bit of rain gets in.

Under that overhang I can also dry my clothes. I don’t use an electric drier and most clothes dry fine in our breeze, even if it is raining out. I realize that may not work well on the mainland, but it does here.

In Maryland we used to get lots of snow and cold too. During each snowstorm when I used to have the heat cranked up, the kerosene heater running and a wood stove smoking, I used to dream of building a greenhouse that would capture the sunlight and perhaps pump a bit of that heat into the house. Of course this would not be a solution just to keep warm in the unlikely event I lost power, or would it? There were times I spent hundreds of dollars a month just to heat the house during the winter. The kerosene heater was a great money-saver but was also something I could use in an emergency as my only heat source.

I once had to help an elderly lady at the New Jersey shore. She lived in a house with a large porch and Jalousie windows (those horizontal windows that open like Venetian blinds) and open with a crank. They often allow quite a bit of air infiltration. She had me cover the inside of the large window opening with clear plastic and small long strips of wood (quarter round) to hold it in place, thus making the porch a mini greenhouse. Thus, even in an emergency, just having plastic and wood and nails might help you warm up a room or protect it from the elements.

Not all money-saving ideas also help in emergencies. I am about ready to get rid of my aging hot water heater and replace it with an on-demand heater. This eliminates the tank and I will no longer heat water all day and night. Instead, the on-demand heater senses water flow when you turn on the tap and instantly heats the water, and then turns off the heat when you shut off the tap. Thus you can have constant temperature, constantly flowing hot water for hours if you wish. The problem is that if you lose electricity, you lose hot water instantly too!

With a bit preparation, you can easily get through any emergency. In advance review what you might need, be it food, water, heat, light, personal items, drugs, etc. If there is a storm coming, that is not the time to be going out and buying plastic or food, you should already have that handy. This also saves you the gasoline everyone else is wasting while you use the extra time to prepare for what lies ahead.

Have some preparable food handy, have some alternate heat sources, have a plan. This is NOT Rocket Science. Rocket Science requires more preparation!