Preparing You and Your Family for Natural & Manmade Disasters

1. Preparing You and Your Family for Natural & Manmade Disasters Tony Varamo

2. Tony’s Bio • 20 years experience in emergency and disaster response • Emergency Contingency Planner** • Hazardous materials releases • Oil spill cleanups • Fires • Hurricanes • Floods • Accidents

3. Tony’s bio (con’td) • Volunteer groups • Community Emergency Response Team • Medical Reserve Corps – East Metro District Health District – Operations Officer • American Red Cross • NC Emergency Mgt Office • Brunswick NC Nuclear Power Plant Emergency Response Community Watch

4. Why worry about preparing ourselves? Won’t the government take care of us? • 10-11 – Pres Bush created USA Freedom Corps to coordinate volunteers (Citizens Corps) • Katrina – communication problems between city, state, and feds • Tornadoes and Alabama • Floods in Iowa/North Dakota, LA • Prepare for self preservation for 3 days

5. Topics to be discussed • Definition of a disaster or “event” • Disasters/Events in the past • Common “reactions” to disasters or events • Common problems during disasters • Minimize “reactions” by planning • Prepare yourself for disasters and events • Resources

6. Definition of Disaster • A disaster is a natural or man-madehazard resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment. (Wiki) • A crisis situation causing widespread damage which far exceeds your ability to recover • When an event outstrips your resources

7. Past world Disasters • Black Death – 1330’s–1340’s (up to 100 Mil dead, including 1/3 of Europe’s population) • Burma Cyclone Nargis – 2008 (138K+dead) • Spanish Flu Epidemic – 1918 (20-40 Mil dead) • North China Drought – 1920 (500K+dead) • China Famine – 1960 (20 Mil dead) • Bangladesh cyclone – 1970 (500K dead) • South Asia Earthquake – 2005 (50K dead) • Haiti earthquake – 2010 (220K dead)

8. US Disasters • Trail of Tears – 1838 (over 4K dead) • Galveston Hurricane – 1900 (6-12K dead) • San Francisco Earthquake – 1906 (3K dead) • Spanish Flu Epidemic – 1918 (500K-675K dead) • Texas City Explosion – 1947 (581 dead) • AA DC-10 Crash – 1979 (272 dead) • Mt St Helen – 1980 (9 dead) • Exxon Valdez Spill - 1990 (250K+ dead animals) • Hurricane Andrew – 1992 (34 dead) • World Trade Centers – 2001 (2,992 dead) • Hurricane Katrina – 2005 (1,833 dead)

9. Georgia Disasters • Sea Islands Hurricane - 1893 (3K dead) • SS Central America – 1857 (400 dead) • Woodbine Explosion – 1971 (29 dead) • Sugar ref – Ft Wentworth 2008 (14 dead) • Tornado (AL-GA) – 2011 (43 dead) • 36 major disaster declarations sine 1953

10. Common Reactions to Disasters • Panic • Shock • Disbelief • Disorientation • Stress/Despair • Psychological effects • 72 “Disaster Reactions” from Katrina

11. Common problems during disasters • Being in harm’s way and medical emergencies • Physical shock/few medical supplies/morgue • Inadequate fresh water supply/food supply • Inadequate refuse disposal, sanitation & bathing • No identifying documents • No medications • No food/meds or facilities for animals • Lack of A/C or heat • No lighting during hours of darkness • Lack of communications

12. Minimize problems by Planning • Learn how to take care of yourself during a disaster or event by taking courses (classroom and online) from emergency response organizations • Community Emergency Response Team-CERT • GA Emergency Management Agency - GEMA • Federal Emergency Mgt Agency - FEMA

13. Minimize problems by Planning • Make a plan – plenty of templates on web for each type of disaster but most require the same type actions • See www.fema.gov/hazard • See www.ready.gov/america/beinformed • Keep battery operated radio handy for openings of disaster recovery shelters

14. Minimize problems by Planning • Make a survival kit with the essentials required to keep you self-sufficient for at least three days (plenty of web sites willing to sell you a kit) • See Ready America “Get a Kit • Water • Food • Radio, etc

15. Citizens Corps Volunteer groups • Join a volunteer group • Community Emergency Response Team (Atlanta, Macon, Americus) • Medical Reserve Corps (Atlanta, Macon, Columbus, Albany) • Volunteers in Police Service (Atlanta, Warner Robbins, Columbus, Albany) • Fire Corps (Atlanta, Macon, Columbus, Albany) • USA On-Watch (you can register one)

16. References • www.fema.gov** (good stuff) • www.ready.gov/america/getakit ** • www.72hours.org ** • www.redcross.org ** • www.citizenscorps.gov • www.gema.state.ga.gov • www.pueblo.gsa.gov • www.health.state.ga.us • www.aspca.org

17. www.fema.gov/areyouready

18. www.72hours.org (SF, CA)

19. www.ready.gov/america/getakit

20. ww.redcross.org

21. www.citizenscorps.gov

22. Creating a Disaster Kit Exercise • Break up into equal-sized groups • Read the scenario assigned • Have a discussion on what supplies are needed and why • Review the results

23. Thanks for your time!