I think about this on a regular basis. We don't have earth quakes nor do we have volcanoes, but we get hurricanes.

Our house was built to the 150 MPH standard of 1995-97 vintage. It covers the roof, walls, & columns. They have improved the standard, with the addition of wind loading the underside of the house. There is some thought that the floor can be sucked out from under a house on stills.

I can't substantiate that, but on both H Georges & Wilma, our soffits were sucked out(30-40%) and needed replacement. For cooling, our soffit overlaps the house by 4 ft. The last storm I did a complete replace with hardy-board. We had the vinyl shiite..

When we move,, and if we build, I will use the 150 wind load limits no matter where we live. The up-front expense off-sets any after the fact preparations.

If we don't build, I will plan based on what we buy. BUT I will buy with disasters in mind, to include terrain structure placement.

If,, If I get my required 5 acres,, I will have a mini-barn with a man-cave and gear...

My $00.0002

The japanese have this earthquake thing down pretty good. Look at thier structures and building practices.

We have a 3' crow bar next to every bed here in earthquake country. In every large quake I've been in there's a bit of a warning just before it hits full force and it takes a few seconds before real shaking and damage starts, so, If you can keep you balance, you can move to or near a bedroom.

Pat

I was thinking more along the lines of keeping the gear in a couple of sturdy places (in case one is inaccessible in the aftermath) to start digging out family members. Axe, maul, sledge, pry bar, pinch bar, come-along, Hi-Lift jack, straps, chains, pulleys, rope, chainsaw, quickie saw, you get the idea. Maybe a stethoscope, if you are in quake country.

In the vehicle would be a good alternate place for some of the tools.

Along with an aid bag or two, and everyone knows where they are/how to use them. Our kids are not rescue pros, but I would rather for them to immediately start trying to dig me out after a big one than to wait a week or more. Also, even if you get them out, they will probably need splinting or wound treatment.

We recently built our home and the subs were always commenting about my over-engineering and over-building. I just asked them if they wanted to work on it, or not. Seems like all of them did. It is pretty solid, with lots of anchors, straps, and tie-downs. I agree, a retrofit is much more expensive than good planning and prep work.

TR

Poseidon
 

FWIW, after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, a major point of emphasis in the ensuing 'be prepared' discussions was to have handy the tool for shutting off the gas line going into a residence. (Out here, a specific tool--designed to keep dolts like me from getting confused--was recommended.)

A secondary point of emphasis was to have a flashlight very close at hand (i.e. in one's bed) so that if an earthquake struck during the evening one might avoid stepping on something sharp and jagged while seeking safety during the temblor itself.

What's neat if you're outdoors is that the birds will go quiet just before one comes through. Friends who have happened to be looking out an upstairs window report that you can see the thing coming, like a ripple.
We're way overdue.

I lived in St. Louis, MO for a time (hell on earth :D), and attended an earthquake awareness seminar for my children's school. It was suggested that the specific tool be "wired" to the pipe beside the shut-off valve so you didn't have to look for it, or go get it - IT WAS THERE!

When and if the New Madrid Fault line spring to life again, the St. Louee Mizzou-eee area could be in for a world of hurt. Office buildings in that area are not built to CA earthquake standards, and the death/injury projections vary widely by the time of day that the quake occurs. IF during working hours - astronomical. At night, when people are in homes, not nearly as bad.

ZonieDiver--

We in L.A. received that guidance as well.

I still cannot believe what I thought I saw the walls doing in 1994.:confused: It seemed as if a giant was using the house as an accordion. In my disbelief, I groped stupidly at what I'd read about naval warfare in the age of sail. Of how the wooden hulls of ships would, at times, bend obscenely yet not break from the impact of cannon balls.

(It did not help my state of mind that during that earthquake, memories of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake came flooding back--unbidden, unwelcome, unrelenting.:eek:)

Well into 1995, when a heavy truck would rumble down a street, you'd see Angelenos tighten their jaws and then shoot each other looks of relief when they realized what had made the ground shake.:)

IMO, SoCal's collective response to Haiti speaks not only to our best qualities as Americans but also the deep-rooted understanding that, at any moment, we can be the ones crying out from the ruins.

I often think about this as I live on the West side of the Missouri river & drive into STL. I'm on the 2nd floor of a 3 story building, but I'm more worried about getting back across the river if I'm at work.

For Those In Virginia
 

It's a ways off, but it might be worth putting this on the calendar.


Bandy


http://www.tax.virginia.gov/site.cfm?alias=IndWhatsNew

Sales Tax Holidays 2010

May 24-30, 2010: -- Hurricane Preparedness Equipment. During this seven-day period, purchases of items designated by the Department of Taxation as hurricane preparedness equipment, including portable generators, will be exempt from the Virginia sales tax. Portable generators must be priced at $1,000 or less, and other eligible items must be priced at $60 or less for each item.

http://www.tax.virginia.gov/site.cfm...uipmentHoliday

May Sales Tax Holiday: Hurricane and Emergency Preparedness Equipment

When: Monday, May 25, 2009 through Sunday, May 31, 2009

What's Exempt: During this seven-day period, purchases of certain supplies and equipment needed for hurricane preparedness will be exempt from sales tax. Retailers may also choose to absorb the tax on other items during the holiday period, but they are responsible for paying the tax on those items to the Department of Taxation.

Other Information:

* Guidelines(PDF 44.1Kb)
* List of Exempt Products(PDF 28.6Kb)
* Frequently Asked Questions
* Sales Tax Holiday Information Center

The Little Dude has two parakeets. That live in a huge cage, NO CLUE where the My Reason For Living and Bright Center on My Universe found this monstrosity. Little Dude had it in his room. But LD is one of those annoying "Good Pet Owners" who actually read up on his charges (Danny and Sunshine Jr). And he knows they need to be stimulated and I won't buy him (I mean the birds) a flat screen TV for his room. I also will not maintain the temperature of an otherwise unoccupied portion of the house at 70 degrees while we are at school and work (Which might explain the "jr" part of the yellow one's name).

Right now the plan is they will move downstairs to the Family Room (where the TV is). But I can't just set this aviary estate on the floor.
"Dog will get them"
"Will not, dog does not have opposable thumbs"
"Get a stand"
"More money thrown at $15.00 birds?"
"It's for Little Dude"
"Well, okay but it better turn out better then when BCMU had the mice"
"I'm sure they were very happy in the wild"
"Some thing was . . . probably a snake"
"GET THE STAND"
"Right"
"Go to the Good Will first"
"Awwwwwwwwwwww"

Which brings me to this thread that I have been reading with great interest.
I found an old manual (foot powered) sewing machine. In working order. It was built by the Eldridge Company. Looks like it was probably early 1900's. The cabinet looks like oak and except for one cracked board is fully functional. In one of the drawers there was a medicine bottle (dated 2-6-71) containing a dozen needles, a cable that attaches to the foot pedal and the machine and a box of "attachments" that appear to afix to the machine where the needle operates. Once the weather gets better and we can work in the garage, we'll repair and refinish the cabinet. And then I'll go through this whole conversation again!
BUT! Until then, this is where the bird's cage will sit.

Now a manual sewing machine seems to be like a good thing to have if you can spare the weight and the cube and will be setting up a permanent base.


Goodwill rocks.

I just got in a new link in my survival preparations today. Got in an Eton FR1000 in the American Red Cross Edition scheme.

Last week, www.woot.com had their semi-monthly Woot Off! in which they transition from one item a day to selling another item as soon as the current one sells out. If you have never been to the woot! familyof sites, I highly recommend it. The Woot Offs are a great way to waste a couple days looking for one item you can use amongst many that are silly or redundant.

Ok on to the point, I had been looking for this Eton for awhile and my fiancee and I had even registered for it at REI. Over there, it retails for $100. I got it for $35 shipped from Woot!

Features include:

* 22 GMRS (General Mobile Radio System)/FRS (Family Radio System) channels
* 121 privacy codes (38 CTCSS / 83 DCS)
* AM/FM receiver
* VOX (Voice operated transmission)
* NOAA weather radio and NOAA weather alert
* Siren and Flashlight
* Can be powered from four different sources:
o Rechargeable Ni-MH battery
o Dynamo crank alone
o 4 “AA” batteries
o AC Adapter (included)
* Cell-phone charging jack

First impressions are that it is a very handy piece of gear. The housing and knobs all seem very sturdy. The antenna is attached with a legitimate piece of metal and doesn't look like it will break off too easily. It does fold down when not in use.

The flashing lights are bright, the radio is loud and reception seems good both on FM and WX. I haven't tried out the twp-way radio yet. The emergency siren is also very loud. It sent the cats running for sure.

The backside of the radio has a large handle that runs the full length of the body. It would certainly make using the flashlight and such easier.

You can see from the features, that it runs on hand cranked power, a rechargable Ni-MH pack, 4 AAs or the AC adapter. The nice feature I noticed here is that they all integrate well. The battery compartment holds the rechargeable pack and the AAs at the same time. They sit next to each rather than say having to keep up with the rechargeable whenever you take it out to use the AA option. That seems pretty smart to me. One less thing to worry about in an emergency. It also of course gives the ability to maintain use even when your AAs are dead or being switched for new ones. Or you can crank to charge the batt pack while using the power from your AAs at any given moment.

It can be seen here: http://www.etoncorp.com/product_card...uctDbId=344790

Anyone else have experience with these or similar? Hopefully this is helpful for others...

Anyone have any weather related preparedness issues to talk about?

I learned that a good gas fireplace will put out enough heat to keep most of a large house warm, even with high ceilings.

Also, a gravel driveway will ice up almost as fast as a paved one, and can take several days to thaw.

TR

I have definitely found out about this where we are living in AR. Kids have been out of school all this week while the majority of roads have all been fine. Supposedly there are mysterious gravel ones out in the county that keep the rest of us from getting on with the week since they don't melt nearly as quickly.

Weather I am planning for here primarily focuses on tornado season and ice storms. Last year's ice left parts of the county out of power for 2-3 weeks. It definitely drove home the idea that it doesn't take any sort of dramatic disaster to cause long term damage. We only got ice for maybe a day, but it stayed cold all week and plunged northern AR and much of MO into the dark ages for quite awhile.

One thing I need to add to my kit is the plastic sheeting mentioned earlier in this thread. Definitely a good thought for keeping the roof viable if a tornado comes through.

A lesson from our last big ice storm in southern Missouri---Ventless gas heaters are relatively inexpensive, use no electricity to operate, are easy to hook up, and put out a lot of heat. Smaller, portable sizes can run off a 5 gallon propane tank(same one a grill uses).

Lesson learned at the same time: 1)pellet stoves are great, as long as you have electricity; 2)always have a well-functioning chainsaw with >1 sharp blade(icy tree limbs = downed power lines and closed roads); 3)tractors (or nearby friends that own tractors) are invaluable for a lot of purposes, including making electricity.

Lesson learned a couple of weeks ago---blower function on a shopvac works well in thawing frozen water lines if you have a way for it to inhale >32degree air.