Leo's Disaster Blog

With the threat of mudslide and debris-flow from the Station Fire, and with this being earthquake preparedness week here in California, I have decided to bite the bullet and write an ongoing BLOG about my learning experience in preparing all our animals for the “big one,” or the little ones along the way.

This is not a commentary blog … because I don’t have time to monitor it daily. So it will be posts from me as I get time to write them.

If you have ideas or comments, email them to our general mailbox and they will come to me.

First off, I was just outside measuring the firewood pile for refilling it for the winter. We usually depend on gas, but if the gas lines are cut as they say they will be, during a big earthquake, we will not have heat.

We will also NOT have water or electricity from anywhere from two weeks to four months. (Watch the CalTech video on our site or read the power point presentation.)

So I measured the woodpile for a tarp. Then I will order firewood and cover it for emergency use only. Meanwhile we will have all our potbelly stoves, fireplaces and chimney’s serviced. We are especially looking for bird nests on top of the chimney mesh, which we will have to relocate.

If this disaster and loss of infrastructure happens in winter – we have coats, but the animals have only the bedding that we put down for them. Hence the fireplace idea. At our sanctuary we have rolls of mylar blankets for those animals who need them, and the cats will have blankets to crawl into.

We have already laid in sleeping bags at our sanctuary, for the staff, if they have to shelter in place. We also have a supply of food (MREs) to hold them for a few weeks.

Sleeping bags  … not a bad idea to get some for your family and pets! Keep them in storage until you need them, but once in a while take them out and rehearse!

If you only think about what you will do, and plan it, that is education but not training. Training is physically doing something over and over. That last thing you did, that last rehearsal, is what you will do in an emergency. NOT what you THINK you will do, but what you physically rehearsed.

If you did not train, you will be overwhelmed and you might just freeze up.

I was thinking of this just a few minutes ago as I was taking inventory of our two-months’ emergency cat and dog food ...

… do you want to run around in panic when a disaster hits or do you want to walk calmly NOW and have everything that you need in order, and at your fingertips?

When the fire hit our sanctuary on May 16, it was panic time! The flames were licking at our fences, our horses were stampeding in panic, the wind was fierce, and I was on scene in ten minutes. But the smoke was black and thick, I had to put on my fire gear and jump into the flames at high speed.

My heart was racing … but I acted calm and shouted orders to my staff so they wouldn’t panic.

They got the fire hose deployed and in five minutes I was in the flames knocking them down. It took the fire department assets another 20-minutes to fully arrive … and they fought the opposite flank, protecting our dogs while we protected our horses – who were in the more immediate danger.

This morning I strolled around calmly, like a golfer on the putting green, measuring, stacking supplies, writing notes to myself … “solar power for our water pumps, etc.”

Much better than NOT planning and having to race around wondering where everything is, or worse … why I don’t have something vital to our survival.

As I said, this is a learning experience for me too … and I will pass it on to you as I learn it.

Paramount is fire protection. In a huge earthquake (now “EQ”) over 1800 fires are predicted to break out. Fire resources will be restricted by road closures. So you will have to evacuate your animals and yourself if there is a fire near you.

If there are heavy winds during the EQ, and fires start … there could be another fire of the recent “Station Fire” proportions … but without RESOURCES being able to get to you, to save you or your animals. Including volunteer rescuers!

So if you have horses and livestock, YOU have to move them out on your own if there is a fire or flood. Do you have enough trailers? And help?

At one facility, our neighbors are doing an emergency exchange with us – they will show us where their dog food is, and their feed for their horses and llamas. In turn, we will show them where our burros’ feed is. So in case one of us is trapped by road closures, the other will feed for him.

You can use this site/blog to introduce your neighbors to this idea – and to introduce them to you if you haven’t met them yet! Then exchange schedules and make a plan for your animals.

And don’t forget aquariums!! Fish & turtles need air and filtration, besides food. If there is no power, how do you run their pumps? Do you have spare heaters for when your home heater is out and room temperature is the outside temperature?

I am looking into a solar panel on a stick (!) to run an inverter that I can plug all my fish tanks into. And while I’m at it, I will also plug the refrigerator and freezer into it too. Even an extension cord between them will save the day! I will report more on this as I research how to do this.

All this talk of survival and I’m hungry now! Time for breakfast. I will write more as this blog continues. Meanwhile, be the ant and prepare now … store food and supplies.

And beware of grasshoppers who will try to take what is yours when things are bad … even the government is telling you to beware of marauders and gangs! It will be like one of those sci-fi movies!!

For now, plan to order in food, water and supplies for your animals and yourself. And maybe some extra food for the strays who will be roaming the streets because their fences were knocked down.

And don’t forget water … you can get a 44-gallon drum and lid from Home Depot and fill it with water and ½ cup bleach, then sealed it. One gallon of water per person per day – and pets too. 44 gallons will go quickly. But plan now on storing it.