COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL March 9, 2016
9A
Are you ready?
D ISASTER P REPAREDNESS
Pets at Large
When preparing for a disas-
ter most folks have fi gured out
plans for themselves, their chil-
dren and some even prepare for
their neighbors. What some fail
to consider is man’s best friend.
An unspoken rule is that if we
take on the responsibility of
a pet, then they are just that; a
responsibility. We are charged
with feeding, sheltering and pro-
viding medical care, in sickness
and and in health. In good times
and bad. Sounds like marriage
vows. The reality is some folks
have the attitude that if every-
thing melts down, they can sim-
ply abandon their pets, grab the
kids and run for the hills.
The reality is in the after-
math of Hurricane Katrina thou-
sands of animals were rescued
and brought to animal shelters.
Boat captains and helicopter pi-
lots refused to load pets in or-
der to hold more people. As a
result, many refused to evacuate
without their pets. Some fi eld
hospitals allowed pets to enter
with their patients while those
who evacuated from the Super-
dome were not allowed to take
their pets with them.
One source reports the ani-
mals that didn’t die in Katrina
were left to fend for them-
selves. In the end, over 600,000
animals were either killed or
stranded in the aftermath. Sev-
eral years later, much of the city
looks as though it has not been
touched since the hurricane and
the abandoned sections of New
Orleans have been taken over by
weeds, blight and wild dogs.
One of the often overlooked
hazards following a disaster
is that of packs of wild dogs
roving the streets at will. Of-
ten unvaccinated, diseased and
starving, they pose a danger to
children, the elderly or anyone
not expecting to see a wild dog.
As a young Air Policeman in
Vietnam, we were faced with
the same issue at Tan Son Nhut
Air Base near Saigon. Our unit
assigned one person to “control”
the problem. The acceptable so-
lution for the time was a nico-
tine-laced dart gun. Similar to
a tranquilizer gun, the nicotine
poison provided an immedi-
ate solution. But then wartime
solutions are rarely acceptable
during peacetime. (No hate
mail please.)
In the case of Katrina, private
foundations set up shelters all
around the area in an attempt
to provide care for abandoned
pets. Unfortunately the problem
was larger than the ability to
house the animals and many un-
neutered, hungry feral animals
still prowl the streets and vacant
lots of the city.
Here are some suggestions of-
fered by petmd.com to prepare
your pet for a disaster. Get
your dog “chipped” with current
contact information. Be sure to
have extra dog food (or cat food)
on hand. Learn where your pet
likes to hide when frightened.
Make sure you have a pet carrier
for transportation. Carry a pic-
ture of your pet in the event you
are separated. Another good re-
source is www.redcross.org.
As always, please send your
questions and comments to di-
sasterprep.dave@gmail.com.
Previous columns can be found
on my blog at www.disaster-
prepdave.blogspot.com. Dave
Robinson is the Postmaster at
Bandon, Oregon, and the au-
thor of “Disaster Prep For The
Rest Of Us.” Available online at
Barnesandnoble.com and other
online booksellers.
E
R
O
T
S
R E
WINTER HOURS:
T HURSDAY , F RIDAY & S ATURDAY
10 AM -4 PM
For Drop-off appointments,
after hours, call the offi ce
We need volunteers for the
ReStore ~ a few hours
each month! Will you help?
Habitat Offi ce and Warehouse
2155 Getty Circle ~ Unit #1
in the Cottage Grove Industrial Park
South on Hwy 99 past the High School
S
N
O
I
T
A
DON
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Y
A
W
L
A
!
E
M
O
C
W EL
Call 541.767.0358
for more information
Email
info@habitatcg.org
How Earthquakes Affect Businesses
In general, many businesses
have invested in emergency man-
agement and continuity of oper-
ations planning. However, most
businesses have not conducted
earthquake mitigation measures
to protect their assets, staff and
business operations. During an
earthquake, buildings—or their
components or contents— can
be collapsed, toppled, broken
apart, tossed around, or ren-
dered inoperable or unusable.
The same can happen to lifeline
infrastructure systems and their
components, including those re-
lated to transportation, such as
roads, bridges, railways, ports,
and airports, and those related
to utilities, such as distribution
lines for water, wastewater,
electric power, telecommuni-
cations, natural gas, and liquid
fuels. Damage incurred from
these hazards, such as broken
gas or water pipes, can itself be
hazardous, generating further
damage by igniting res or ood-
ing buildings.
Hazards such as structure
failure, falling, collapsing or
airborne objects, earthquake-
induced res or ooding, and oth-
ers can also cause serious casu-
alties. In addition to casualties,
individuals can incur direct eco-
nomic losses, either personal or
business- related, resulting from
damage to existing property.
Businesses can temporarily lose
the ability to generate income,
due to other business and em-
ployment interruptions or termi-
nations brought about by dam-
age to private property or public
infrastructure.
What Businesses Can Do
Many businesses understand
the concept of emergency man-
agement and continuity plan-
ning. But these could be com-
plex issues depending on their
particular industry, size and
scope as well as their level of
risks from natural and man-
made hazards. All businesses
must account for all of their ex-
posed, relevant hazards in order
to reasonably stay in business.
Guidance to all-hazards, busi-
ness preparedness, and continu-
ity exist via Ready.gov, Open
for Business®, and Disaster Re-
sistant Business (DRB).
As part of addressing all-haz-
ards, it is critical for businesses
to also incorporate actionable
earthquake mitigation solutions
into their planning and business
decisions. By doing so, busi-
nesses protect the organization’s
assets (people, property, opera-
tions); sustain the capability to
provide goods and/or services
to customers and/or its supply
chain; maintain cash ow; pre-
serve competitive advantage
and reputation; and provide the
ability to meet legal, regulatory,
nancial and contractual obliga-
tions.
How QuakeSmart Can Help
Congress established the
National Earthquake Hazards
Reduction Program (NEHRP)
in 1977, which brings together
four agencies: FEMA, the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS), the
National Science Foundation
(NSF), and the National Insti-
tute for Standards and Technol-
ogy (NIST) in order to coordi-
nate their earthquake-related
activities. Under the program,
it is FEMA’s responsibility to
implement earthquake aware-
ness and outreach programs that
ultimately reduces seismic risks
and improves community resil-
ience from earthquake events.
Over the years, FEMA has ac-
complished numerous initiatives
particularly in disaster resilient
building codes, training, guid-
ance development, planning
support, and others. To further
advance this partnership with
the private sector, FEMA NEH-
RP introduced QuakeSmart in
2008 to collaborate with busi-
nesses on earthquake awareness
and mitigation implementation.
DID YOU KNOW?
Mitigating your earthquake
risk mean getting back to busi-
ness and resuming your opera-
tions faster after an earthquake,
which allows you to:
Lower the risk of employee
and customer injury;
Gain a competitive advan-
tage;
Protect your inventory;
Potentially reduce insurance
premiums;
Reap the goodwill of your
customers, suppliers, employ-
ees, and grateful community.
How QuakeSmart Can Help
What is Earthquake Mitiga-
tion?
Earthquake Mitigation is any
action taken to reduce dam-
ages or losses to your business,
employees, building and its
contents should an earthquake
occur. In addition to basic pre-
paredness activities such as
creating and exercising disaster
plans, preparing disaster supply
kits, and knowing how to Drop,
Cover, and Hold On, the private
sector must complement these
by implementing mitigation ac-
tions to reduce earthquake risks
and further minimize disrup-
tions, damages, and losses.
According to the United States
Geological Survey (USGS),
earthquakes are one of the cost-
liest natural hazards faced by
the nation, posing a signi cant
risk to 75 million Americans in
39 states. According to FEMA
366: HAZUS-MH Estimated
Annualized Earthquake Losses
for the United States, estimat-
ing the varying degree of earth-
quake risk throughout the Unit-
ed States is useful for informed
decision- making on mitigation
policies, priorities, strategies,
and funding levels in the pub-
lic and private sectors. For ex-
ample, potential losses to new
buildings may be reduced by
applying seismic building codes
and using specialized construc-
tion techniques. While there is
a good understanding of earth-
quakes and what they can do in
high risk areas such as Los An-
geles, there is also growing rec-
ognition that while other regions
may have a moderate earth-
quake hazard risk, they are still
at high risk of signi cant damage
and loss. This high-risk level re
ects the dense concentrations of
buildings and infrastructure in
these areas constructed without
the bene t of modern seismic de-
sign provisions.
In addition to potential struc-
tural damages, non-structural
components (such as contents,
furnishings, architectural ele-
ments, etc.) signi cantly con-
tribute to earthquake costs and
damages and could impact
safe evacuation, continued op-
erations, and rapid recovery for
many businesses. If businesses
cannot operate immediately af-
ter an earthquake due to damag-
es or employee loss, this greatly
affects the community, its econ-
omy, and its ability to recover
after an earthquake. When busi-
nesses mitigate their earthquake
risks, communities can recover
and rebuild faster and stronger.
Ultimately, mitigation is what
would ensure that your staff,
facility and contents could with-
stand the earthquake and enable
you to continue operations or
rapidly recover. If you want to
stay in business and save your
investment during an earth-
quake, mitigation is right for
you. Working together with oth-
er local businesses to mitigate is
also essential for a quick recov-
ery for your business as well as
the community.
Typically, 80 percent of a
building’s value lies in its non-
structural elements, components
and contents. Therefore, if you
are a building owner, why not
spend your mitigation resources
on your biggest investment?
What is QuakeSmart?
QuakeSmart is a FEMA
NEHRP initiative to help busi-
nesses in at-risk earthquake
communities implement earth-
quake mitigation actions.
QuakeSmart is a 3-step miti-
gation process that businesses
can easily integrate in their ex-
isting or future disaster plans
and business decisions:
Step 1: Identify Your Risk
When identifying your risks,
the initial step is to determine if
your business is at risk for earth-
quakes. This includes identify-
ing if your facility is in an earth-
quake hazard area. Then you
identify your potential vulner-
abilities: structure, non- struc-
tural components, and contents
(hazard + vulnerability = risks).
Structural risks include col-
lapse-prone structure types such
as non-ductile (brittle) concrete
buildings; unreinforced mason-
ry (brick, block, or adobe); plan
irregularity
(non-rectangular
buildings); and soft story con
guration (weak rst story). Non-
structural risk sources include
unreinforced brick parapets,
brick chimneys, and ornamental
siding, suspended ceilings, light
xtures, and gas- red equipment
and the presence of hazardous
materials. At-risk contents may
include tall or heavy furniture,
storage racks, other furnish-
ings and equipment prone to
fall over, and items that may
fall or slide and block exits. Ac-
tions taken under this step will
help you and your organization
comprehensively identify and
prioritize your overall level of
earthquake risks.
Step 2: Make a Plan
Based on your earthquake
risks, this step allows you to
start planning your mitigation
projects to address those risks.
Making a mitigation project
plan means de ning a scope of
work, budgeting funds to pay
for it, and then scheduling the
time to get it done. Depending
on your earthquake risks and
funding, sometimes the budget
or schedule will prompt you to
reduce or increase the scope. It
is part of the planning process
to think about your options and
make sure you’re spending your
resources effectively. Your plan
doesn’t have to be complicated.
Its sole purpose is to help you
go from thinking about your
risk to mitigating it.
Step 3: Take Action
Finally, implement your miti-
gation project plan and solu-
tions. Nonstructural solutions
might be taking the simple step
of anchoring a bookshelf or le
cabinet to the wall, as well as
adding removable straps to se-
cure the shelf’s contents, and a
safety latch to prevent the cabi-
nets from opening during shak-
ing. Other solutions include
securing ceiling fans with cable
supports, storing heavy items on
oors, installing exible gas lines
to space heaters or propane
tanks, installing hook and loop
straps to desk-mounted comput-
ers, and securing table lamps or
fragile collectibles on shelves
with museum wax or putty.
Make sure all the pieces are in place to render you and your family prepared in the event of a natural disaster.
• Listen to radio or television newscasts for the latest weather information, and follow all evacuation directions and suggestions.
• Keep a stock of non-perishable food items as well as bottled water on hand inside your home.
• Keep a 72 Hour Kit on hand inside your home that is easy to get to in the event of a disaster.
For more information and tips on disaster response and preparedness, contact your local emergency services center.
South Lane Fire & Rescue • 233 Harrison Ave, Cottage Grove 541-942-4493 • 55 South 1st Street, Creswell 541-895-2506
Twitter: @southlanei re
Facebook: southlanecountyi reandrescue