A Sticky Situation

When you live in certain parts of the U.S. you assume inferred risks. It’s like how peanut butter and jelly (or for me Fluff) go together.

Some regions and states are synonymous with certain emergencies. Residents of Florida are as tacitly aware of hurricanes as Midwesterners are of tornados and Californians of earthquakes.

Still, as mindful as we are of these regional hazards, there are emergencies and disasters that blindside everyone and leave us asking “Did that really just happen?” That’s why all-h

azard preparedness—plan for the probable, prepare for possible and beware the preposterous (I’m trade marking that!), including the Zombie Apocalypse and any thought to a remake of the 1986 film Howard the Duck—is so important.

A good, real life example of a “preposterous” or unpredictable disaster would be, of course, the Great Molasses Flood. What’s that you say? You haven’t heard of the Great Molasses Flood? Well let me tell you, it was no joke.

The Great Molasses Flood happened on an unusually warm day in Boston. In those days, molasses not sugar was the prevailing sweetener, and it was fermented to make rum and ethyl alcohol and used in the production of munitions.

Just after noon on January 15, 1919, a tank 50 feet tall and 90 feet in diameter burst, unleashing, according to eyewitness accounts, an 8- to 15-foot torrent of molasses that tore through the surrounding neighborhoods at speeds of over 30 mph. The syrupy wave killed 21, injured 150 and covered some places in 2 to 3 feet of the viscous goo.

Responders from all across Boston rushed to the scene to find what The Boston Post described as a “scene almost indescribable in words. Molasses, waist deep, covered the street and

swirled and bubbled about the wreckage. Here and there struggled a form—whether it was animal or human being was impossible to tell. Horses died like so many flies on sticky fly paper.”

Afterwards there was rampant speculation as to the cause of the tank rupture. The company that owned the tank said anarchists had sabotaged the container; however, it was later learned that the tank had been leaking molasses since its construction four years early. Even more damning were reports of strange sounds and vibrations coming from the tank. Ultimately, the company was found culpable and ordered to pay $1,000,000 to the victims.

The point in all this is that some emergencies and disasters are unpredictable. We can track a hurricane

on weather radar and you may get away without ever making any preparedness arrangements. But remember that there are events (natural and man-made) for which there are no advance alert and warning systems, and it is in those moments that you may have to skedaddle and do it quickly.

So when we suggest you plan for the probable, prepare for possible and arrange for the preposterous, you might consider writing and rehearsing family communication and preparedness plans, and packing an emergency “go kit “with food, water and all the important things (e.g., medications, important documents, etc.) you might need. It’s unlikely there will ever be another Great Molasses Flood, but you won’t catch me saying “never.”

Preparedness By the Pound

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure--Ben Franklin

During summers in Arizona it can sometimes feel like the entire state is burning. Sometimes it actually is…

Over the past few weeks, we’ve become familiar with the names Bull, Greaterville, Inception, Locust, Picket and Horseshoe Two—all wildland fires that collectively caused road and trail closures, the opening of Red Cross shelters, evacuations and re-evacuations.

Most Arizonans are strangely accustomed to wildfire. They don’t wig out when they see a story about a fire in the news. That is not to say people don't care. Unfortunately, it's usually not their first exposure to images of thrashing flames and smoke plumes.

There have had some bona fide conflagrations in the Grand Canyon State’s history. Remember the Rodeo-Chediski Fire of June 2002? It burned over 460,000 acres, forced the evacuation of Northern Arizona communities, and cost something like $43 million.

But, again, that was in June. Historically, June is when Arizona sees most of its big fires—the Brins Fire (2006), the Cave Creek Complex (2005) and the original Horseshoe Fire (2010). (see Judy’s 2010 blog entry, A Few Anniversaries We Don’t Want to Repeat)

Granted we usually see a few fires in early to mid-May, but it’s been extraordinarily busy for this time of year for AzEIN; that’s to say nothing of the labors of the crews doing the actual firefighting day in, day out. What’s disconcerting is that fire season goes for another couple months.

What’s the deal?!

Like it or not (put me in the “Not Like” category), it’s getting warmer outside, the winds are picking up (i.e., Red Flag warnings) and the desert is parched, which means the grasses and shrubbery that make the Sonoran Desert a desert are dried out. Add low humidity to the mix and you’ve got a perfect storm conditions for wildfire.

By Memorial Day most of the state, including state trust and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) lands, national forests and parks, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holdings and national wildlife refuges, will be under some degree of fire restrictions. In most cases, fire restrictions mean no fires outside of developed campgrounds, limitations on smoking and absolutely no fireworks. If you’ve got questions, call 877-864-6985.

And if you do build a campfire in one of those designated areas, knowing how to put it out is a must:

Consequently, we beg…we plead…we implore that you mind the fire danger where you live and when you visit public lands, heed legislated fire restrictions, and practice good fire sense. A good place to start is http://www.azein.gov

Practice Like You Play

My high school basketball coach liked to say “practice like you play,” a pearl of wisdom usually supplemented with yelling and a dozen wind sprints. The adage’s worldliness was, not surprisingly, lost on a 17-year-old kid saddled with a hatchback and sick with Senioritis.

“X” number of years later, the Senioritis has subsided and the notion of “practice like you play” has a professional implication. (Oh, how adult.) Last week our jobs got in the way of work. We had a rather large and involved federally-evaluated exercise to test our (the State’s) ability to respond to and recover from a notional emergency. It was a big to-do, involving three days of simulation and plenary discussion with our local, state, federal, and non-governmental partners.

Exercises are typical around here—by “here” I mean the Arizona Division of Emergency Management. We “play” in a few of varying sizes and scaling complexity every year. And despite the supposing of different scenarios, the end objective is the always the same–improve preparedness so that we can better protect the public safety. It’s a deceptively simple aspiration that requires public participation.

National Preparedness Month is held once a year in September, but getting and staying prepared takes a year-round effort. I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve heard this "call to action," and I rest assured it won’t be the last. We want you to “practice like you [would] play”…to be active participants in your preparedness by planning home evacuation drills, testing smoke detectors, and volunteering in your community.

Here are just a few recommendations to help you and your community get #Prepared365:

• The Southern Arizona and Grand Canyon chapters of the American Red Cross are hosting Save-a-Life Saturday events at various locations across the state on Saturday, March 19. For more information and to RSVP, visit http://bit.ly/ep6MfP or http://ht.ly/4ba2d

• Be a volunteer driver in the Point of Dispensing exercise on Saturday, April 2, at Mesquite High School in Gilbert. You can find more information on the Maricopa County Department of Public Health website, http://www.maricopa.gov/Public_Health/podexercise/

• Get involved with your local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. You’ll find a listing of and contact information for 23 Arizona chapters at http://1.usa.gov/fpVvHr

• Follow the Arizona Emergency Information Network (AzEIN) on Twitter at www.twitter.com/azein or “Like” AzEIN on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ArizEIN. Get Emergency Bulletin System (EBS) updates delivered to your phone by texting "Follow @AzEIN_EBS" to 40404.

An Emergency Car Kit? Did You Get a Gift Receipt?

Journey back with me to Christmas 2000. That year my paternal grandparents gifted me an emergency car kit--a hard yellow plastic container packed with work gloves, jumper cables, road flares, etc. As a broke 20-year-old student with a Plymouth Horizon parked out front, I was thrilled … as you can only imagine. Did you happen to get a gift receipt?

In hindsight, I should be thankful; I could have gotten pink bunny pajamas. That same year, my cousin unwrapped 10 packs of crew socks (a conservative estimate to be sure) and an almost comparable number of two-sizes-too-big packages of underwear all because he made a chance remark that he was “running low” on both.

Ten years later and a decade wiser, Christmas gift-giving has become less about getting “good stuff” and more practical. For instance, I wanted a dry erase board for Christmas. I’ll say it for you… NERD!

If you’re anything like me—someone who is “hard to shop for” (or so I’m told)—you have a wallet or purse fat with gift cards. Understandably, much of that money will go toward something you want or need—perhaps some snazzy New Year’s resolution workout stuff.

But what do you do with those few leftover dollars? The store won’t give you cash; they’ll hand back the gift card with $5.07 on it. Here are just a few suggestions on what to do with what’s left.

1. A manual can opener: Because when the electricity goes out, you’ll still want to eat even if it means cold beans straight from a can.

2.Duct tape: Let’s be honest, what can’t be fixed with the MacGyver-esque use of a roll or two. I’ve seen automobiles held together with nothing but.

3. A flashlight: Being able to see in the dark is overrated, right? Wrong. If you haven’t spent enough this holiday season, get one powered by a hand crank.

4. A first aid kit: A good thing to have no matter what. It just makes good sense to have a stocked first aid kit.

5. A pack of batteries: These are for the emergency kit not your “dying” Xbox controller or the kids’ toys that came “batteries not included.”

6. A Fast Follow membership to AzEIN. Alright, alright. So, this is free. You can’t blame a guy for trying. (http://www.azein.gov/azein/AzEIN%20PIO/Fast%20Follow.aspx)

And by the way, only 50 shopping weeks till Christmas.

Have You Seen My Sandwich Come Through Here?

It’s my week to blog and my first thought was “I haven’t an idea what to write about.” That’s not to say things around the office aren’t moving at their normal “get it done yesterday” pace; they are.

From there I started thinking how I wanted a turkey sandwich like the ones I used to get at the diners back in Pennsylvania – one with turkey oven-roasted that day, lettuce, heirloom tomato and real mayo on fresh bread. And then … WHAMMO … REALITY CHECK! I live in Arizona and have leftover whole wheat spaghetti packed for lunch today.

Devastated, racked my brain for a silver lining – you get turkey on Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving is in November. Comforted by inductive reasoning, my mind turned to last November and how we (the ADEM PIOs) spent all of it downtown at the Department of Health Services (ADHS) helping with the H1N1 response. “I could write about that,” I said. I actually said it out loud. I sometimes talk to myself.

Coincidently, my morning sweep of the “Tech” page on CNN.com revealed an article about some cool needless injector that uses a “high-velocity liquid stream to deliver meds” in like 1/3 of a second. The article said that the devices were used to give seasonal and H1N1 shots at a smattering of clinics in New Jersey last year. Needle-free injectors aren’t new, but this one is plastic and priced for commercial use. Read the article at http://bit.ly/cZoJm5.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Getting a flu shot is one of the best ways to prevent … What? You say you have?

But do you know where to get a flu shot? Google and the Flu Vaccine Finder do. Plug in your ZIP and you’re redirected to a Google map dotted with nearby locations offering flu shots and/or nasal spray.

Flu prevention is also about good hygiene, which means washing your hands and doing the “Vampire Cough” (did you see last week's episode of The Office? … capital “C” Classic!). There’s lot of fine flu preparedness and prevention information on the ADHS and Flu.gov websites.

Flu.gov includes an extensive frequently asked questions section with information on everything from vaccine to bird flu, which brings me back to my original observation. Anyone have a suggestion on where to find a proper turkey sandwich?

What Wasn't Learned in Yosemite

I returned to the office yesterday after three days in Yosemite National Park, Calif., thinking I'd blog about some great emergency preparedness epiphany that I had had while hiking and biking among the Giant Sequoias. I bellied up to the keyboard and nothing. I sat there for a few minutes, the blinking cursor staring back.

And do you know why the page remained blank? It’s because I had had no epiphany about emergency preparedness. I was one of the most beautiful spots in the country. Why would I be thinking about work?!

Instead, let’s talk about another kind of epiphany. Let’s talk about invention and innovation and how they apply to the everyday.

Those of you who follow AzEIN on Twitter or Facebook or were good enough to add AzEIN.gov to your Internet bookmarks likely know that September is National Preparedness Month. In Arizona we celebrate with a poster contest, a Governor’s proclamation and some outreach events. We do some other things too, but that’s not really the point. The point is that we do all of this on a budget; that’s to say with $0.0 and our own creativity.

Creativity. Now there’s an interesting term. Dictionary.com says it’s the “ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc. ” Nowhere does it mention an associated price per pound or square inch. That’s of course because the ability to transcend is free. The cost is how much thought and action you yourself put into the idea.

Part of being creative is finding uses for free, Do-It-Yourself innovations. Take our flashlights for example. We didn’t invent Quick Response (QR) codes, but we’re using them to brand flashlights that we give away at public and corporate outreach events.

A QR Code is a homemade two-dimensional barcode that can be embedded with a link to just about anything - a website, a video or a business card. You can “read” QR Codes with a mobile application downloaded to your newer model camera phone.(You’ll find a list of some of the more popular QR Code readers at http://bit.ly/3XuYuc)

Naturally, the end objective is not to promote a make or model of a particular cell phone. Happy to say, our motives are more altruistic. We want you to easily find and use the information we have to share. And we do that by leveraging every available opportunity and technology.

While we come up with a good idea every so often, we know that our followers and fans are a creative bunch, and so we welcome your input. If you’ve got a clever and inexpensive idea how to promote emergency preparedness, we want to hear it. Post your ideas here or send them to azein@azdema.gov.

Drip ... Drip ... Downpour

Fact. The light from a star is years old by the time it reaches us on Earth. The Sun excluded.

More on how this applies to preparedness later.

On a less ambiguous note, you probably heard how The Monsoon was causing flooding in Flagstaff. The communities of Timberline and Doney Park and others saw the “worst” of it on July 20 when flooding and debris flows damaged homes and roads and closed Hwy 89.

I went north to help film and photograph the damage, the recovery and mitigation efforts.

Click … a home encircled by battlements of stacked sandbags.

Click … volunteer firefighters filling and stacking sandbags on pallets.

Click … a plastic chair stuck in three feet of mud.

That last photo got me in trouble. In the time it took to snap the picture, a gentle drizzle turned to rain. And at that moment, I thought about the stars and light.

The same rule that applies to stars also goes for flash flooding.

It's raining where you stand? Who cares. It’s about where that rain was before and how long ago.

Sooner or later it dawned on me to get outta there, and I hurried to get out ahead of flow coming down the mountainside. I lost the race.

Can’t go that way.

That direction’s no good either.

I think maybe I stayed too long.

I sat sandwiched between two flows of rushing water for the better part of an hour and thought I know better. And I did.

I was fine in the end, but the take home lesson is to know better too. Know how disasters like floods start. Know the signs and the basic “science” why something happens the way it does.

Equal parts common sense, instinct and being informed can keep you out of an emergency predicament. It’ll keep you safe, and would have kept me dry.

"Say Cheese!"

Since the start of this blog many months ago, I’ve had one real lament and one enduring complaint. The lament is that we haven’t seen a whole lot of reader comments … throw us a bone here people! :)

The problem is my profile picture. It’s plain bad.

At the risk of sounding vain, it’s not what I’d call a fair or flattering depiction. Listen, Brad Pitt I am not, but I’ve had greater photogenic moments.

This objection does have something to do with emergency preparedness. It has to do with an item you that may not think belongs in an emergency “go kit” – family pictures.

Photos are powerful investigative tools that can help reunite families and reconnect lost relatives. Law enforcement has used images to track and apprehend lawbreakers on the lamb since before photography.

Conversely, today’s Internet, smartphones and Social Media are connecting people and leaching into many aspects of emergency management and education.

Sites like Facebook and Twitter are proving their metal when it comes to public information and incident reconnaissance. As well, the "social" act of snapping, uploading and tagging a photo with keywords and GPS coordinates from a smartphone or computer could also hasten family reunification.

In terms of disaster preparedness, recent and accurate family photos (keep those of Dad costumed as the Phoenix Sun’s Gorilla for Halloween tucked away) are important pieces of an evacuation kit and a family communication plan. Good examples of photos to use might include this year’s school picture(s) or a team snapshot.

Keep your photos in a watertight pouch or portfolio along with dittos of your driver’s license and/or social security card, banking and home ownership documents, birth and marriage certificates, and insurance paperwork.

Pet owners. It’s good to pull snapshots of Fluffy or Fido for the same reasons. That Christmas card with the picture of the dog wearing reindeer antlers will do.

While we continue to marvel at new and unexpected uses of all things wired, I too will have to let go of the past, or maybe I'll just get off my keister and take a new profile picture.

I’ll Have Flood Preparedness, Á la Mode

March 14 is celebrated by TI-82 calculators, compass makers, Archimedes’ devotees alike as “Pi Day.” That’s Pi (π) as in 3.14159265, as in the reason for high-school night terrors and cold sweats.

The significance, never mind the existence, of Pi Day would be lost on a past English major like I were it not for the curious custom of eating actual pie, a tradition that catapulted Pi Day to among my favorite quasi “holidays” right after End of the Middle Ages Day on May 29.

Comparatively, Flood Safety Awareness Week (March 15 to 21) is decidedly less delicious. It’s unfortunate, but Flood Safety Awareness Week shares no titular likeness with anything in the dessert case. Rather, Flood Safety Awareness Week centers on the risks of and truths about flooding.

What Flood Safety Awareness Week does serve is actionable information on flood preparedness and identifying neighborhood flood hazards, the value of flood insurance, and tips for safe and responsible driving.

This year, the National Flood Insurance Program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) collaborated on an interactive website, www.floodsmart.gov/noaa, with information about the financial costs of flooding, how to get a policy and how to best recover after a flood.

Per usual, the all-hazard readiness messages of “Prepare a Plan,” “Make a Kit” and “Be Informed” are also applicable when talking flood preparedness.

As it relates to floods, part of emergency planning is having the insurance to cover losses caused by flooding. Because most homeowners’ insurance policies don’t cover flood damage, FEMA recommends looking into flood insurance for your home and belongings.

There’s plenty more information available on what it means to be ready for flooding. You can start with visits to the Arizona Emergency Information Network (AzEIN) at www.azein.gov and FloodSmart at www.floodsmart.gov/noaa.

Preparedness information doesn’t dazzle the taste buds like a slice of coconut cream pie, but, when applied, it can make a big difference in the event of a flood.

So, let’s give Flood Safety Awareness Week its due, and hope against hope that someone, somewhere, sometime thinks of a baked good accompaniment.

Preparedness is Only Part of the Game

We here at the AzEIN sweatshop have been diligently endeavoring to bring you the latest in future news.

It’s a tricky business, predicting the future. The truth is neither I, nor Judy nor Ethan are psychic. In fact, a TV weatherman will likely be more accurate at telling the future considering all the high technology at his disposal.

But a big slice of our work pie involves delivering information on being prepared: Know what you should do in the event of a fire, or a flood, or if a wall of dust appears before you on the Beeline Highway. Be sure to have three days worth of food and water in your disaster supplies kit. There’s more. Lots more.

All good information that bears repeating, even for those of us who regularly wade through these particular waters (but not in a flash flood, since even a car will begin to lose control in only 6 inches of water.)

Since the weather generally doesn’t take special requests, we’re at the whim of Mother Nature to ply our trade, although she often treats us to the exact opposite of what we expect from her. We waited breathlessly for a robust fire season this summer, and instead got an early monsoon season. Now that the monsoon season is officially here, we are being treated to extreme heat.

And just when we think we have a message on the tip of our tongue for whatever season we think is coming down the pike, she throws an earthquake at us.

We handle these curve balls the best we can. No one here ever hopes for a disaster to take place; our training and preparation will be tested enough in due time. But I can sure appreciate how someone might be itching to get off the bench and put their skills to use.

Take my nephew, Glenn. After joining the Army about a year ago and going through endless training in preparation for deployment to the sandbox, he got stationed at Fort Lewis near Seattle. His unit, a Stryker Unit of the 3rd Brigade in the 2nd Infantry Division, got word that it would be sent to Iraq in early August (not the first time he’d heard that, I think.) He got so antsy, he volunteered to go early and arrived last week.

As an old Navy guy, I hope I rendered the description of his Army unit accurately. In any case, I have no doubt the U.S. Army is sending one of its best-prepared soldiers to a place where the unexpected has been known to happen, a place no one wants to go – unless, of course, you’re young and want to get off the bench and get in the game.

It's Not Earth-shattering, Just Earth-shaking

If you’ve spent hours soldered to your computer while monitoring the Twitterverse for breaking news like me, then you’ve scrolled past dozens of headlines about things you would not think impact you. I know I have.

Only so many hours in the day, right? Staying informed can be a full-time job in itself. And when it comes to poring over a Web page, my attention gravitates to flashy and fun, not serious.

Then I tripped across a page by the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management: QuakeQuizSF. It’s the online equivalent of Life cereal—fun to play and good for you, too! The graphic representations of San Fran folk show you what to do if you feel the earth move under your feet at home, on your way to work, while dining out, and other places. (Check out the sewer rat in the subway.)

This isn’t wasted time. I live in Phoenix (#phx) and I haven’t visited the Bay area since my Navy days long ago, but Arizona is hardly immune to earthquakes. According to the Arizona Earthquake Information Center Web site at Northern Arizona University, high-intensity quakes have occurred as recently as the early 1990s, and the whole state has hosted some level of earth-shaking activity.

(When I attended NAU years ago, I would occasionally kill time between classes in the geography building staring at a working seismograph on display there. A paper-bound cylinder recorded seismic activity from a site somewhere in northern Arizona and the occasional chem student jumping up and down in front of the display case.)

I took all the quizzes on the San Francisco site and was a little surprised to not ace the test. I won’t spoil it for you, but the question I missed truly surprised me. It made me wonder if I would survive a 6-plus Richter Scale event, much less get out unscathed, like the one that hit my hometown less than 20 years ago.

Staying informed can indeed be a full-time job in itself.