On Sunday evening after many hours of studying, I decided to retire for the evening. As I lay in bed drifting off to sleep I never imagined that I would be awakened by an earthquake that was a 4.1 magnitude here in Arizona. It was surprising and shocking and even in my sleep I knew what I was feeling. Having been born and raised in California, I am no stranger to the effects of an earthquake and can quickly recognize the feeling immediately. At first I thought I was dreaming because I was still in a half awake state but it felt like the building was swaying. I live in a two story condo so the higher up you are, the more you feel it. The bed was shaking, the windows were rattling and the mirrored closet doors in my room at the foot of my bed were rattling and shaking too. I almost panicked, actually I did because it was in that moment that I realized Arizona is no longer utopia. I'm not free from earthquakes and the dangers they present and I didn't have an emergency preparedness kit. I laid there until the tremors stopped scared and in disbelief. The next day I decided to put together and emergency kit and an evacuation action plan for my family.
I started looking online for a list of things I needed to put together in an earthquake preparedness kit, in the hopes that this would benefit me and my children should we be stuck in an earthquake or any other natural disaster. Here's a list of things I came up with and put in a package that can easily be grabbed and we can start our lives all over again quickly. First I got water, canned foods and dry foods, a standard first aid kit, some tools and supplies like candles, matches, flash light, batteries, knife, utensils, change of clothes and copies of all pertinent document like birth certificates, social security cards, ID's, cash, credit card info. I also sat with my children and we made an escape plan to exit our building and agreed on a safe meeting place should we get separated. It is never to early to put a plan in place and in fact it works best to do so that way everyone can be protected and stay safe.
Family Emergency Preparedness.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your blog I decided to act upon my own preparation for any future emergency that might happen here in Arizona. I realized after reading your blogging that my family’s preparedness is non-existence for any emergency. This is an extremely important issue that should be addressed.
I scanned all my legal documents, credit cards and debit cards, passports, social security card, driver's licenses for Arizona and Tonga, permanent residence card, birth certificate, all my diplomas and emailed them to myself and my sister who lives in Tonga. I also informed my father and my sister to do the same for my family in Tonga. I have received all the pdf files for my dad, my three sisters and all my nieces and nephews. At least we have copies of these saved on pdf files on my email and cloud.
Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention as it is important to prepare for the inevitability. I am thankful that you shared this experience to help me with my preparation. Thank you so much for sharing for it sure helped me out tremendously.