I live in northern California, less than a mile from the mandatory evacuation area of The Redwood Complex fire which is still burning. Sunday night had brought on fierce Santa Ana winds which whipped up airborne fire storms. We woke to friends knocking on our door who had just fled their homes, some with scorched cars, one with a partly melted kayak still strapped to the roof from weekend activities. Many friends have lost their homes and businesses and we just found out that some lost their lives trying to escape.

All of these recent man-made and natural disasters had me thinking about prepping our home and community for random unforseen events. The news from Puerto Rico really stuck a cord, particularly thinking about access to communication, gas, food, water and cash. Last week one of my kids high school teachers required students to write a paper about what they would grab from the house if only given a moment's notice to evacuate. Early Monday, long before dawn, many of them had to.


I had just recently stocked up on food, batteries and water containers and had a stash of $500 in our safe. Within an hour of opening the local grocery stores were out of bottled water and many other supplies ran out within hours, gas was gone from all local stations by 4:pm. Thankfully one grocery store which also has a gas station has satellite internet and so was able to accept bank cards, all others were cash only. Now that phones and internet are restored and we can see beyond the next hill, we can take a breath. There are something like 17 wild fires which have hit Nor-Cal rural areas and cities alike, leaving firefighters spread thin. Although the winds have died down many of the fires are still considered 0% contained. The highways are open for now but if the winds pick up again all bets are off.

Some of my advice for being prepared:

* Have a plan, with several contingencies of how to find family members. Plan to contact friends or family in other areas so everyone can leave messages with a common person. Many people refused to leave without knowing knowing where family members were.

* Keep cash on hand. Bank cards can be worthless even with just a power outage.

* Keep at least a half tank of gas in your vehicles at all times. At the first sign of trouble fill it up. If you can't evacuate when you need to nothing else matters.

* Have large amounts of stored water and possibly a filtration system. Remember that a tank style hot water heater can hold many gallons which you can access through the drain valve if you need it.

* Keep emergency food. Non-perishables. Make sure you have things you can eat without any preparation as well as things that can be filling and warming with only adding hot water.

* Have a communication app like zello or whatsapp on your phone and make sure others in your family know how to access it. For 36 hours here the only connection most of us had was WiFi at the public library (satellite). I could not text or voice call by regular networks but apps and FaceTime worked pretty well.

* Have emergency lights. Flashlights or lanterns are great but a simple thing that can be very useful is those solar-powered landscape lights. Most of them can be brought inside once the sun has gone down. Some have off switches or simply pullout the batteries (after they are fully charged) so you can save them for when when you need them. When you need them they put out light similar to a candle but they are far safer than an open flame.

* Have a bug-out bag ready to go. Keep a change of clothes, toiletries, medicines and important papers ready to go at a moment's notice. In a worst case scenario a minute can mean life or death.

* Check in with elderly neighbors, make sure they have someone to help them out and that they have ways of keeping warm and fed. Regular caretakers may not be able to get to them.

* If things happen during work or school hours, check on neighbors kids. Parents may not be able to get home or in touch.

* Don't think it can't happen to you.

That sounds a bit close!
From the news it seems to be getting worse not better there.
Hope you're still ok McFate?

Hi Gannett,

Thanks. My family is safe, though the fires are still burning on the edge of town, as long as the winds don't kick up like last Sunday we'll be fine. Many of our friends were not so lucky, so many sad stories.

The family in the story below are just good folks. Their kids went to school with mine, my wife and the mom worked together for years. They had just got the last inspections signed off on their new home they spent years building. They loved the remote location but they couldn't get out fast enough.

www.pressdemocrat.com/news/7519520-181/m...n-14-dies?artslide=0

(There is a fund set up for them at generosity.com)

Others are still missing but many areas are still closed off until the fires are out. Praying for rain.

Tragic.
And it affects you even more when you have a personal connection to them.
Stay safe friend.