Be Prepared

So many things to be prepared for. Girl Scouts didn’t really fully equip me for either economic depression or community disaster, so I’ll just hope that the Boy Scouts among us are better situated for life as it continues to surprise us. Listening to the bailout bill go down this morning in the House, I thought about how we sat around and listened, moment by moment that time when the news came from Texas, almost 45 years ago, now. A different kind of unbelievable moment, but just about as unbelievable. I used to work for the House of Representatives—in the 60’s—and one thing I learned from that period was how organized the House really was. People knew what was happening before it happened; there were no surprises. The whip knew how to count votes, and when something had to get done, it got done. Not so much anymore. Be prepared for almost anything, is my new watchword.

And continuing in that vein: someone wrote me today asking whether Point Roberts had a plan of preparedness for unexpected events. I’m not entirely sure that it’s right to say it has a plan, but it certainly has a group of people who are working on a plan: Point Roberts Emergency Preparedness, PREP. PREP has already arranged for special disaster preparedness training for some residents, has set up a hotline and a website, and is currently working on a residency database to establish who is likely to need what kind of help in the event of a community emergency. PREP meets the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Community Center, and everyone is welcome to attend, to get involved, to be prepared!

PREP’s main point is that, in the event of a real emergency (earthquake is surely the most likely, in my view), Point Roberts could be cut off and would need to provide its own help for some time. Even if the landbridge to Canada was unaffected, the Canadians might have some priorities ahead of us. According to the group’s information sheet, PREP thinks ‘we need to be prepared to go it alone for up to 3 weeks following a disaster.’

If you are not inclined to go to meetings, try this: Washington state has put out several informational packets, including a 44-page Emergency Resource Guide, as well as a quick little ‘Home Preparedness’ guide, and a ‘task of the month’ guide. I picked up copies at the post office, but they are also available at the Aydon Wellness Clinic. We went through the big L.A. earthquake in the 90’s and thus are somewhat more sensitive than many people may be to what can happen to a house in a big earthquake. When we moved up here, we were astonished to find that the house we bought had no structural earthquake protection: in the event of a big quake, it would have simply jumped right off the foundation. So one of our first ‘maintenance’ tasks was to get it bolted down. Neighbors we talked to were astonished: never heard of such a thing. I hope they never have to hear of it again, but I feel the better for knowing about it and knowing that it is done.

A Point Robert’s friend who also came from L.A. understands in a different context what happens in a significant earthquake. She has a large pottery collection and has been very careful about securing the contents of her cupboards. I’ve not done much about that because in the L.A. quake, nothing in my cupboards broke, although an apple pie I had made the night before did bounce off the counter and the glass pie pan broke, rendering the pie inedible, alas. So now, when I make a pie and leave the remains on the counter at night, I wonder whether it will be there in the morning for me. How's that for learning? We learn from our experience, but it would perhaps be better to augment that experience with others’ experiences as well as the information that is being made available to us. So get it, read it, do something about it. At least if you live in Point Roberts. If you live somewhere else, your mileage may vary.