Emergency Preparation
January 28, 2010
The Haiti earthquake and the 15th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake both happened a couple of weeks ago. On top of that, there were several guests on Coast to Coast AM predicting quakes and other large scale “events” in the near future. These things combined has really put emergency preparation at the forefront of my thoughts this week.
Watching the footage on CNN from Haiti is really heartbreaking. Haiti was already a very impoverished country and having to deal with the aftermath of a huge quake must be terribly stressful. Living in the comforts of a developed country like Japan, I feel it is each person’s responsibility to prepare for these kinds of situations since we have the economic means to do so. Something tells me that international relief efforts would not be as strong for a country like Japan because there’s a sense that “Japan can handle it on its own”. I’m wondering though… can Japan really handle a big disaster?
Living in Japan, I would be a fool to not expect a big quake to hit at anytime. I’ve already experienced a few smaller quakes and I’ll have to admit swaying in a building was one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced. The quakes weren’t particularly strong. It’s just that I’m up on the 11th floor and when the building sways, I really feel it. It takes a few minutes before the swaying stops too and by that time, my equilibrium is shot and I feel like I’ve just stepped off of a yacht in choppy waters.
Hearing my students speak about the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995 is always interesting. Everyone has a different story to tell: where were they, what were they doing, how did they react, etc. The commonality is that most peoples’ homes suffered some damage. Most people just had furniture shift around and dishes and cups come crashing down.
I read somewhere that it took 9 days for power and water to be restored in Kobe after the big earthquake. I’m using that as a target. Can I survive for 9 days if power, water, and gas went out and it was impossible to get food at stores? Can I defend myself if people go apeshit and random acts of violence occur?
(If there’s any country where people would be more civil during times of dire stress, I would imagine it would be Japan. People are a lot more passive here and guns are almost non-existent. Phew. My Wing Chun will suffice.)
Assuming I would be able to return to my apartment, I currently have enough food for about a week and I’m looking into storing some dehydrated food. I’m looking at about 3-4 weeks’ worth of food. It wouldn’t just be for the wifey and I. I imagine I’d have to help her family and others. It wouldn’t be much food but it would hopefully last us 9 days. I also have a whole cupboard worth of tea and coffee, some dried pasta, and some canned goods that I cycle through and try to keep stocked.
For heat, we have a small butane stove and I am really trying to find places to store more gas canisters. Having a small apartment really sucks for storage.
I have flashlights and a couple of lighters strategically placed around the house. I’m used to the big Toyoko Inn sign that is literally across the street now. My apartment is never pitch black at night because of this stupid sign. But if the power goes out, I’ll have my darkness once again.
My only worry is water. I have about 18 liters stored in a big tempered glass jar but I don’t imagine it would last long even if we only used it for drinking water. Even though it’s a fairly tough glass jar, it could shatter if someone big fell on it. There’s always the water at the back of the toilet but there isn’t much in there and it always feels gross. I’ll need to look at another source of water.
A nice tip in the event of foreseen disasters (e.g. hurricanes, typhoons, quarantines): fill your bathtub with water as soon as possible. In case water pipes get damaged, you’ll at least have all that water ready.
I think this whole emergency preparation will be stuck in my mind, at least, until the next big news stories grips CNN and the internet news sources.
