TSUNAMI!!!!!
This morning (1-23-18) at about 0130 AKST a magnitude 7.9 earthquake hit about 174 miles SE of Kodiak AK. And about 350 miles from Anchorage AK. So what is the preppared prepper supposed to do in this event?
This is what happened this morning at my house.
Felt the quake at about 0130. At 0135 the tsunami warning went off on my phone.
Turned on the ham radio and listened to the chatter.
0145 found out that it was 370 miles from me and went back to bed.
When I got up this morning for work at 5 I thought. CRAP!!!! I didn’t do a damn thing right after checking the news! My 2 meter radios haven’t been programed for the NOAA stations here. MUCH better information than most of news outlets. By not checking the NOAA radio I had no idea where the actual alert area was and if it even included Anchorage. I just guessed on it being 370 miles. I forgot that they can travel THOUSANDS of miles. I have just moved into my house so the only preps I have is a basic 72 hour bag. Nothing else. I do not know the geography of my area nor the roads. It was 6 degrees and snowing also.
HOLY UNPREPARED PREPPER BATMAN!!!! Start panic mode!!
Okay Panic mode over lets get to work. Where to start?? How about getting a REAL Disaster kit together. FEMA and DHS has their own list. The State of Alaska has a BETTER one. Alaska is WAY ahead of most of other states. They have lists and list and more lists. Of what you NEED for this ENVIRONMENT.
This came from the Municipality of Anchorage website and the State of Alaska Disaster Preparedness website. I added a few things to it
Water: store one gallon of water per person per day;
- Food: store at least a 5-7 day supply of non-perishables. And do not forget Manual Can Opener
- Basic first aid supplies: include non-prescription drugs;
- Sanitation items:toilet paper, soap, disinfectant, etc.
- Clothing: sturdy shoes, hats, gloves, mittens coats wet weather gear etc.
- Bedding: blankets, sleeping bags, etc.
- Tools; Hatchet folding saw, folding shovel etc.
- Pet emergency kit; food, water, leash, toys, etc.
- Emergency supplies; crank radio, water proof strike any where matches, butane lighters (Note may not work well below 0 degrees Fahrenheit) etc.
- 2 way radios for each person in your group/family. Include at least one extra battery set per radio
- GOOD flashlight for each member. Also include a headlight for each member
- Rocket Stove or its equivalent.
- Candles
- Sterno can
- Boy Scout or Army Mess kit per person.
- Compass and paper maps of your location and evacuation areas
- This is not on the list. But personal weapons. For the most part Alaskans are good people and will do what they can to help each other. The Evacuation of Kodiak shows that. But If the evacuation order comes in the spring summer or fall, Alaska has a lot of animals that find people tasty and it is up to you to protect yourself and family.
- This not a complete list. Use it as a guideline! .
So where did I stand on this list?About 35% Yup Big Bad Prepper and Survival instructor hit a .325 on disaster prep. And I am embarrassed to write this. But the way we learn is from our mistakes. If they do not kill you.
A lot of us have huge amount of preps in our homes. I did back home in New Mexico. I’ve dealt with the firestorms that are common in the west and southwest. Tornadoes Blizzards Haboobs that last for days. But I have never had to deal with a killer wave that will erase all signs of civilization. Earthquakes that will turn the cities to rubble. And continual sub zero temps that will freeze human flesh in minutes if not protected. We used to think in our home in NM that we would “Bug in” and wait out the disaster. YOU DO NOT WAIT OUT A TSUNAMI OR EARTHQUAKE!!!
So those “odd ball” preppers that wandered all over the country with a shovel, map, compass and a PVC pipe may not be as odd ball as we thought.
Lessons learned:
- Don’t keep everything in one place.
- Learn your area and evacuation routes IMMEDIATELY.
- Build your kit either as soon as you move in. Or ideally BRING IT WITH YOU!
- Have your radios programmed for your new area. I actually had this one. But I didn’t have the NOAA frequencies programmed in to them
- Local Frequencies for Ham radios and FRS/GMRS radios. On that note get your radios out and PRACTICE WITH THEM. Learn the REAL ranges of your radios. Get your frequencies right and written down. Know the other frequencies that preppers may be using. This site is a good starting point. I have used it in the past. Nothing in your area. START IT Prepper Survivalist and Milita 3-3-3 radio There are dozens more items that can be listed. But use this as a starting point ant build up on it So now we got our kit. Where do we go?
This news letter is not to share my knowledge. Its to show what I did wrong. No matter how good we think we are, there is always more to learn. More to practice and more to train on. And there is stuff that needs to be forgotten. Being prepared is not all about how much stuff you have. Or how well you know how to use it. Or even how well you teach it. Its being able to stop, take a step back and look at yourself and honestly say, “Chuck” (Or what ever you name is !
) you blew it. You did not do ABC right, your half assed D E and F. But got L M and N down pat. So look at your preps. PRACTICE your skills. DRIVE or WALK your routes. And hope like hell you get another practice run before the real thing happens.Well that is a hard one. In most places in the lower 48 the land can’t support a lot of people. Here in AK the land CAN support you but will also do its damnedest to kill you. Me. If I was in Talkeetna or Willow, Trapper Creek most places out side of Anchorage I would probably show up at the designated site. Anchorage. Hard one. But weather dependent head out into the Chugaiks and then work north or south. The main reason is not the “tough” people or the homeless. Its the metro sexual monster beard and flannel wearing vegen taco eating man things. There is a BOAT load in Anchorage. And like any human when they get hungry or cold or their kids are hungry and cold they will find their manhood and will try to take from the old slightly over weight gray headed guy trying to stay out of sight and out of mind. And to be bluntly honest I do not want to have shoot some poor SOB in front of his kids because he thought my preps were to be shared with him and his.