Prepared or Not? Are you Ready?

Langara Summer SchoolJuly 12, 2011

Ann Pacey, Village Vancouver Transition Society

Welcome and introductions Emergency scenarios Community resilience Personal strategies Comprehensive preparation guides

Agenda

Effective preparation requires prioritizing based on likelihood and impact of events

Preparedness should be motivated more out of love than fear

Disaster – a calamitous event, especially one occurring suddenly and causing great loss of life, damage or hardship, such as an

earthquake, fire or terrorist attack

Types of Emergencies

Natural Earthquake Flood Severe weather Fire

Human related Pandemic Terrorism Contamination –

radioactive, chemical release

Energy and other resource shortages

Economic breakdown Personal financial disaster

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a plate-boundary fault stretching from Cape Mendocino to Vancouver Island. It spawns earthquakes and tsunamis as powerful as any on earth. Barely known 25 years ago, Cascadia is now the most thoroughly studied subduction zone on earth.

Cascadia has generated more than 40 earthquakes of Magnitude 8 or greater in the last 10,000 years. About 80% of the intervals between these 40 earthquakes appear to be shorter than 300 years.

The most recent rupture of the fault occurred January 26, 1700 – 311 years ago.  Geophysicists assess probabilities in a variety of ways, but their conclusions boil down to

“we are living on borrowed time.” The best-informed people expect the next Cascadia quake and tsunami in our lifetimes, certainly in our children’s lifetimes.

No aspect of our infrastructure has been built to withstand the shaking or the waves of this magnitude.

An earthquake of Magnitude 8 or greater on the Cascadia fault will not be “like the last earthquake, only bigger.” It may be more like a “four-minute war” whose impacts will be experienced simultaneously by millions of Northwesterners. It will fell bridges, topple power lines, silence cell networks, and collapse fuel storage tanks.

The quake and the tsunami will turn parts of the coast into an archipelago of isolated communities cut off from each other and from interior valleys.

Earthquakes

Climate change and the peaking of key resources like fossil fuels, will destabilize our current globalized economic system

Droughts and severe weather will affect our food supplies

Power outages will affect many aspects of our daily lives, while liquid fuel shortages will affect transport, access ro goods and services and individual mobility

Meanwhile, economic pressures are already causing budget cuts to emergency response and security services

Increasing Vulnerability

World wide, grass roots movement to strengthen community resilience in response to climate change, peak fossil fuel and economic instability

‘Transition’ means shifting from reliance on fossil fuels, to resilience in the face of future energy scarcity

VV is addressing a broad range of projects and activities to support a truly sustainable Vancouver, including emergency preparedness

Village Vancouver Transition Initiative

The Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness Program (NEPP) is responsible for community outreach, training and coordination

Since the Japanese earthquake, the number of neighbourhood training sessions increased with sold out demand, that interest is falling off now

In the event of an emergency, the community centre becomes the primary response centre in each community: Functions as reception and command centre for the neighbourhood with

connection to police, fire and other emergency response services. A volunteer with radio experience will set up radio contact in the CC.

Newer centres were constructed to earthquake code. In the event of an earthquake, older centres (like Dunbar) would need to be checked before being opened.

Each centre is supplied with one container containing around 100 cots and sufficient food for those cots.

Budget cuts have led to the closing of police and fire stations

What is Vancouver’s Emergency Preparedness Like?

Major disasters in developing countries, like Katrina, have raised awareness of the need for communities to take responsibility for themselves in the immediate aftermath of an emergency

Japanese citizen response to March earthquake greatly reduced death toll

Dunbar is implementing a neighbourhood program based on a community-first response partnership developed in Washington State – Map Your Neighbourhood

Strengthening Community Resilience

In a widespread serious emergency, traditional 9-1-1 and First Responder capabilities such as fire, police, medics, and utility personnel may be overwhelmed and unable to immediately assist individuals and families.

People may be largely on their own for at least the first several days following the disaster and perhaps for up to two weeks, depending on the emergency.

This fact often does not occur to many, so people live with a false sense of security as a result.

You’re On Your Own (YOYO)

Personal Emergency Preparedness is not enough. If you have already prepared yourself and your family for an emergency or disaster, then take the next step by helping to guide your neighbors to do what you have done and get themselves prepared.

Preparing your neighbourhood is vital. Neighbours will likely be the first ones to offer you assistance. Neighbours that are prepared are more effective in their response to a disaster and have an increased capacity to be self-sufficient for the first 72 hours after a disaster

if you have unprepared neighbors, whose house do you think they will come to in the aftermath of a disaster? Will you be willing or able to share all of your food and supplies with your neighbors?

Map Your Neighbourhood

You are safer and more likely to survive a serious disaster in a group of like minded individuals

A Disaster Preparedness network is more effective when members pool resources, supplies and skills

When a disaster event occurs, connect with network members to make sure everyone’s needs are met.

Creating a Network

Elderly Children People with disabilities or medical conditions Pregnant women Pets

Special Needs

How will school officials communicate with families during an emergency? What will they do if you are unreachable?

Does the school store food, water and other basic supplies?

Is the school prepared to shelter-in-place? What are their evacuation plans

Be hones with your kids; trust is very hard to regain once lost.Teach them not to panic.

Children

Many excellent resources are available free of charge and online to start your preparedness efforts (see resources at end of presentation)

Make an inventory of your present assets and skills and a list of priorities

Get started and work diligently. Find a friend or a circle of friends to work through the preparation efforts

Build skills

Getting started

Solidarity and cooperation Creativity and adaptability Proactivity Prudence, preparation and planning Responsibility Awareness of environment Holistic methodology

7 Habits of Personal and Community Resilience

Grow a food garden and learn basic permaculture skills Learn canning and other food preparation skills Plan and prepare meals from the foods you are storing Learn to sew and repair clothing. Learn to quilt, knit, crochet, weave,

spin and dye wool. Make and repair your own shoes and emergency footwear

Take the beginning and advanced first aid training Make your own soap and candles Learn how to repair and maintain your home (carpentry, plumbing,

electrical, masonry, woodworking) Cut your family’s hair Lear radio an communication. Understand police and fire codes and

CB lingo

Skill Building

Timely information is critical to making decisions Commercial, government services and internet will work

in some emergencies Every home should have a weather radio with backup

batteries or windup power Every home should have at least one hardwired phone

line Outgoing communication is important to

Request help from emergency services Contact family, friends and DP network members Relay first person updates from affected areas

Communication

Web sites http://vancouver.ca/emerg/NEPP/ http://www.getemergencyprepared.com/ http://www.l2020.org/index.php?page=emergency-preparedness-menu http://www.emd.wa.gov/myn/index.shtml http://www.chrismartenson.com/page/what-should-i-do http://www.wordpress.peakmoment.tv/conversations/?p=418 http://www.mvcommunitypreparedness.org/

Books Handbook to practical disaster preparedness for the family, Arthur Bradley Crisis preparedness handbook, Jack Spigarelli Long emergency, James Kunstler When technology fails, Matthew Stein The Secure Home, Joel Skousen The Resilient Gardener, Carol Deppe

Resources