Earthquake Preparedness
After our little earthquake during the Christmas/New Year’s holiday, I thought a short little earthquake preparedness check list might be in order.
Most of us have the majority of these items ready in case we have a winter storm, but a few more items would not be a bad idea in your emergency kit.
- Drinking water for each person in your house. In case of an earthquake, you can also use the water that is in your hot water tank as a potable source and fill your bathtub with water if it’s still running.
- Plastic sheeting and duct tape for covering windows that may have been broken, to help keep weather out, and heat in.
- Hand crank NOAA radio
- Battery powered cell phone/electronic charger
- Flashlights, head lamp and or LED Lamp – extra batteries for flashlights etc.
- Nonperishable food
- Can opener
- Emergency tool for shutting off gas, water shut off key or street key for water main, hammer, wrench, screwdrivers and an axe.
- Having good shoes, warm clothes easily accessible.
- Fire extinguisher
- 1st Aid kit
- matches
Be sure to secure cabinets, book cases and tall dressers with L brackets, and use security straps for hot water tanks and wall mounted TV’s. Having a plan/meeting place that your family can follow if an earthquake happens and not everyone is home is a good way to keep confusion and worry to a minimum.
Here’s the Red Cross link to their Earthquake disaster site if you are looking for more information:
http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/earthquake
