Be Prepared

[Sigaba]

Originally Posted by ZonieDiver

I lived in St. Louis, MO for a time (hell on earth ), 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. 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.)

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.

[ZooKeeper]

Originally Posted by ZonieDiver

I lived in St. Louis, MO for a time (hell on earth ), 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.

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.

[bandycpa]

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

[Dozer523]

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.

[NoRoadtrippin]

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...

[The Reaper]

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

[NoRoadtrippin]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

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.

[craigepo]

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.

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by craigepo

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.

Judge:

Good info.

A 500 gallon underground tank with several drops in the house and converter lines will provide heat for a lot longer, and for less money to boot.

Why not just use a blow dryer, if you have power for the Shop-Vac?

TR

[Dozer523]

Originally Posted by craigepo

A lesson from our last big ice storm in southern Missouri---.

we went through an ice storm in Spokane back in '95 or '97. It sucked. sub zero weather and power out for days. We had a gas fireplace in the small living room. We sealed off the LR with insulated truck blankets (like moving vans use) and moved the king mattress onto the floor. The three of us stayed there. Pretty toasty as in sweaters. Since the water heater was gas we had hot water. Maxed the temerature and was able to use it straigt out of the tap for instant soup, coffee, and coco , not so great - but close - for ramen. Did make the mistake of taking a hot shower. It felt great but the condensation practically froze to the walls.

[zpo]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Why not just use a blow dryer, if you have power for the Shop-Vac?

Heat guns are made for serious use, correct? Anyone know if it could work for continuous heating? I can think of a few places on relatives places it would be nice to shoot above freezing air for long periods.

Originally Posted by zpo

Heat guns are made for serious use, correct? Anyone know if it could work for continuous heating? I can think of a few places on relatives places it would be nice to shoot above freezing air for long periods.

Quality heat guns will, just like a hair dryer, overheat and shut off..not to menition the heat produced could caught something to melt, or catch fire.

I use them all the time removing paint and varnish. Take it from me, you can get 3rd degree burns from them.

I would think someone would have the smarts to use heat tape wrapped around pipes. Barring being able to do that keeping the faucet dripping would work as well. I lived aboard last winter in Baltimore Harbor. My boat and the boats above me on the docks all had water. Our lines, even in the single digit weather the hoases that had to come from the dock to the water inlet never froze because we kept the faucets on slow flow.
AM

[craigepo]

"Why not just use a blow dryer, if you have power for the Shop-Vac?"

The shop-vac gave me a greater stand-off distance for hard to reach sections of pipe, and I already had my suit on.

Originally Posted by craigepo

"Why not just use a blow dryer, if you have power for the Shop-Vac?"

The shop-vac gave me a greater stand-off distance for hard to reach sections of pipe, and I already had my suit on.

heat tape? or was the pipe inaccessible to apply the tape?

I was watching the Weather Channel last night. They were doing things that one could do to survive in an emergency situation. I thought I would add the 'falling thru the ice" part.

Guy conveniently had a pair of screw drivers around his neck and used them to pull himself out of the water and onto the hard ice like a pair of ice picks. Showed him deliberately falling back in and then getting out again without the ice picks/screwdrivers. He pulled himself up on the ice sheet as far as he could, then he continued to lay flat and pull himself along the thinner ice until he got to stable ice and then walked off the ice.

By then he was hypothermic, as evidenced by the slow movements and mumbling. Once he was out of the wet clothes into dry. He used plastic bags, grocery sacks over the socks and stuck around his feet in his shoes and a big garbage bag over he head and around his body over his clothes and under his down coat. Commentator said it would help keep body heat in. They had him do jumping jacks to help create body heat. He also drank hot cocoa, not to warm him up but for the sugar that would rapidly get into his body and, again, create body heat.

Amazing how such simple things can save your life.. plastic grocery sacks, a black plastic garbage bag, a couple of screwdrivers and some sugar. I think you could put all of that in a gallon ziploc bag and stuff behind a truck/car seat.
Added to the usual sleeping bag, gallon of water and tools behind the truck seat.