I’m writing this post Tuesday because PG&G is turning off power at least until Thursday afternoon across California due to weather conditions and the fear of wildfires. They are saying to be prepared to be without power for longer. So either I’ll see you down below in comments or I won’t depending.
PG&E has been alerting California residents for months now to prepare for outages during the fire season which could extend for five days or more. After last year’s fire season, which bankrupted the utility company, they’re not taking any chances.
The 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire season ever recorded in California, with a total of 8,527 fires burning an area of 1,893,913 acres (766,439 ha), the largest area of burned acreage recorded in a fire season, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) and the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), as of December 21.
In November 2018, strong winds aggravated conditions in another round of large, destructive fires that occurred across the state. This new batch of wildfires included the Woolsey Fire and the Camp Fire, which killed at least 85 people en.wikipedia.org/...
Just that morning, I had emailed Sausalito Village to volunteer on their campaign to educate the community on disaster preparedness. I had also heard a blurb on the radio about a new movie on the Camp Fire. On a walk Sunday with a close friend, we had talked about last year’s fire season, recalling the brush fire that broke out alongside 101 in our town. She had been working from home and had watched as the helicopters dropped flame retardant and water, smelling the smoke, and wondering if she’d have to evacuate. I was getting my hair cut when that fire broke out and raced from the salon to get home to my dog. Everyone was anxious. Miles away from the active fires, air quality was unsafe for days. It felt like the world was on fire. Like there was no safe place.
Bay Area Power Outage Survival Guide
Here are some tips to help you and your family survive a power outage.
- Sign up for PG&E alerts so you can be quickly informed if a power outage is about to begin in your neighborhood
- On Tuesday evening before going to bed make sure to have all your electronic devices fully charged
- Fill up your gas tank on your way home from work — most gas pumps are electronic and will not work in an outage
- Stop by the ATM and withdraw cash — grocery store cash registers are electrically powered.
- If you have an automatic garage door opener make sure you know how to disengage it and open the door manually
- Prepare yourself for slow driving — traffic lights will not be functioning in the neighborhood impacted by the power outage
- Be a good neighbor — if you have elderly or infirm neighbors check on their well being
- If you use a generator — make sure it is at least 20 feet from your home with the engine exhaust directed away from windows and doors
- Talk with your building manager if you live or work in a building that has elevators or electronic key card access to understand how they will deal with a possible multi-day outage.
- Break out your earthquake survival kit to use
Had a fitful night sleeping and was up at five sending off texts to friends and to my daughter to make sure they knew of the warning. When I arrived at the gym at 8 and mentioned it to the receptionist, she told me our county is not on the list. By afternoon, that had changed.
I stocked up on water, got some extra cash, filled the car with gas, and picked up some power bars, dried fruit, almond butter, and rice cakes. Ordered a cheap sleeping bag and a small Coleman stove on Amazon. I already have one of those pre-packed disaster kits from some public radio fundraiser years ago.
Basic Elements of a Ready Neighborhood
- Know your neighbors. Share information among your neighbors so everyone knows who needs help and who can help. Neighborhood social events help build this sense of community.
- Build a safe response capability. Identify the resources that already exist in your neighborhood such as knowing who is medically trained, who is a CERT member, who has a generator, etc. to improve your response capability.
- Organize your neighborhood into groups of homes led by block captains. Whether by going door-to-door, social media or local events, organize your neighbors and build a response group.
- Get trained. The skill level and training of your neighborhood group will be critical after a disaster. Whether its a Get Ready class, CERT training or radio skills, the more your group knows, the more resilient you’ll be.
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