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What Kind of Emergencies Might We Face?
Major industrial accident
Terrorist attack
WMD
Earthquake
Flooding
Fire
Pandemic
Lawlessness
Weather-related disasters
Survival Supplies:
Water
Items for basic warmth/shelter
Food
First aid
Generators
Easy “to-do’s”:
Plan household escape routes for family ( in case of fire)
Plan outside meeting place for family
Plan an out-of-state third party contact
Community Emergency response Team (CERT):
For information about this program and how you can train to join this team, Information and course schedules are available at http://www.sanmateocert.org/
Links to more information:
Household Preparedness:
Plan for a Fire:
Get fire extinguishers rated A, B, C – these suppress ordinary, flammable liquid and electrical fires. The Fire Dept. suggests the 3A40BC model for best value. It can be found at Costco and Home Depot. Smaller models, such as the 2A40BC or 2A10BC versions are available but can cost more. Why? Because the latter is the minimum required for commercial buildings and so is in greater demand – with predictable effect on the price… But, most important, get a size you can handle.
Check your fire extinguisher’s pressure gauge to see that it remains properly charged. While you are at it, turn your extinguisher upside down and right side up again a few times: this keeps the active powder ingredients from compacting.
Think about where you keep your fire extinguisher.
Drinking Water:
Your household should plan for:
Two gallons of water per person per day
One gallon per pet per day
Minimum three day supply.
In a pinch, you can drain your water heater – assuming you can get to it.
Shut off the incoming valve.
Attach a hose to the drain faucet of your heater and drain. The bright yellow sticker with Emergency Shutdown Instructions that you should have on your water heater shows you how to do this.
(Don’t have one of these stickers? Call Affordable Water Heaters in San Mateo, 349-9002, and they’ll give you one – free.)
Safe Drinking Water
Boiling is the most effective way to disinfect water in an emergency. Cloudy, dirty water should be allowed to settle.
Filter the clearer water through clean cloths, and then bring to a rolling boil for 1 min.
Boiling not feasible? Add unscented, liquid chlorine bleach.
If water is clear, add 2 drops per quart, 8 drops (1/8 tsp.) per gallon.
If cloudy, settle and filter, as above, and add 4 drops per quart, 16 drops (1/4 tsp.) per gallon.
Water purification tablets – either chlorine or iodine – also are available at drug stores and sporting goods stores such as REI.
Don’t wait! After a disaster, supplies sell out rapidly.
Get your bleach or tablets now and store with your water supply.
Storing Water
Use clean tightly capped, food grade plastic containers.
Wash with soapy water and sanitized with a solution of 1 tsp. chlorine bleach per quart of water. Do not use milk jugs: they are hard to sanitize properly and easily grow bacteria.
Purchase water in sealed plastic containers. Keep it in a dark, cool, easily accessible place – such as a covered trash container in a shaded part of your yard. With your water, store some household bleach: make sure it is unscented, liquid chlorine bleach. This is for water purification – see below.
Print out 2 one-page instruction sheets, Keep Water Safe and Drink Safe Water, and keep these with your emergency water supply as well. Or print these instructions and store with your water.
Know How To Shut Off Your Gas
Single Family Homes
Do not shut off the gas unless you smell gas, hear gas escaping, see a broken gas line or if you suspect a gas leak.
If you shut off the gas, there may be a considerable delay before PG&E can turn your service on.
Once the gas is shut off at the meter, do not try to turn it back on yourself. If the gas service shutoff valve is closed, PG&E or another qualified professional should perform a safety inspection before the gas service is restored and the appliance pilots are lit.
In an emergency, your gas can be turned off at the main gas service shutoff valve normally located near your gas meter.
Using a 12 to 15 inch adjustable pipe or crescent-type wrench or other suitable tool, give the valve a quarter turn in either direction.
The valve is closed when the tang (the part you put the wrench on) is crosswise to the pipe.
Know where your main gas service shutoff valve is located.
Keep an adjustable pipe or crescent-type wrench available to turn off the gas in case of an emergency.
Know how to shut off the gas at the gas service shutoff valve.
Leave it off until service can be restored safely by PG&E or another qualified professional.
Multi-unit Buildings
If there are multiple meters serving gas to multiple units within a building, there are
individual gas service shutoff valves for each unit near each of the gas meters,
including a master valve for the entire building where the gas pipe comes out
of the ground.
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