Lessons Learned
Well, I guess yesterday’s earthquake was certainly a wake up call as to how vulnerable we are here in Hawaii. I mean when a major disaster strikes, we are completely cut off from the rest of the world. This is something that has been in the back of my mind for some time and I think is pretty much what led to my interest in learning utilitarian skills. If worse comes to worse, I know how to make soap and candles with the right supplies. I can sort of knit and want to learn how to crocret too. I can also garden to some extent.
For the sake of emergency preparedness, it’s always good to have these things around.
- Bottled water
- Enough canned food to last for a few days at least.
- A manual can opener
- A portable radio that either runs on batteries or is one of those new fangled hand cranked ones.
- A first aid kit
- Flashlights and candles/lanterns.
- Batteries
- A portable cooking device - like a hibachi or a camp stove.
- A phone that plugs directly into the wall - ie not a cordless phone since cordless phones are useless during a power outage.
The last time I went through something like this though was over 20 years ago when Hurricane Iwa hit the islands. I remember we didn’t have power for at least 3 days, but we were fortunate in that we had a gas stove so we were able to cook. Since everyone knew it was coming, we were able to get some supplies together before it hit.
Gosh, yesterday also made me think about what it must be like to be in Iraq. I don’t know if the electrical status has improved or not, but I remember reading where they would only have electricity either 2 to 3 hours a day, or 5 to 6 hours a day. So, the no power thing really wasn’t something I would complain about especially since we all knew that it would be coming on eventually.
Add comment October 16th, 2006
