subject: How To Prepare For A Flood Or Other Disaster , And survive It [print this page] How To Prepare For A Flood Or Other Disaster , And survive It
My family lived in the Canyons of Southern California at the time of the 2007 wildfires. We got an automated phone call telling us our Canyon was to be evacuated immediately. At the time, it was only myself and my two younger brothers at home. Our Parents were trapped outside the Canyons and were kept from entering. It was the worst feeling I have ever had in my life.
It was around 9pm and we could see the red sky just on the other side of the hill nearest us. We only had a few minutes to round up all of our pets and our most important possessions. We grabbed every piece of paper that looked important and threw them in a trash bag to take with us. We got in 2 out of the 4 cars we owned (my youngest brother couldn't drive yet) and headed out.
I will never forget the sight. On the other side of the hill was the largest fire you could imagine. I have hundreds of memories from this specific hill, and to see it engulfed in flames was something I will ever forget. Our house was only a quarter mile away, as well as 300 other homes that seemed to be right in the fires path.
When I think about it now, I am extremely proud of how well myself and my brothers responded. Everything turned out alright, and our home, with the exception of a little ash, was untouched. My main wish looking back was that we were prepared for it. We spent 3 weeks in a Motel 6 waiting for the day we could go back home.
I keep thinking now, what if the road was destroyed and we were unable to leave the Canyon? Or, what if we weren't old enough to drive and were stuck there? The thing is, we were not prepared for it. The electricity was off, so most of the food in our fridge would have been bad in a day. The water was shut off as well.
It really scares me thinking about all these "what if" questions. But, it made my parents aware that even in Orange County, these things can still happen. After that whole ordeal you can bet we searched online for any info we could about surviving fires, floods, earthquakes, pretty much anything, and needless to say, we are more than prepared now:)
If you came to this page because you share the same worries, I urge you to start prepairing. You never know what might happen. With the type of news being shown on the Television and Internet today, it seems that something has to happen sooner or later.
My family now have what we call bug out packs. Basically they have everything we need to survive for around 3 weeks. If something were to happen now, we would simply grab them and head out, or stay put, depending on the situation. We have hundreds of little things in our packs already, and we are constantly thinking of new things to add to them all the time.
If you are interested in learning more about how to prepare, I suggest you head to the website: http://tinyurl.com/25bczk3 ... I couldn't believe all of the tips and tricks these people put together. By far one of the best investments I have ever made.
I hope this little article will help push you to learn more or at least help motivate you into starting to prepare for...anything.
