Hi all,

I always knew it would be tough to evacuate San Francisco in the event of a big earthquake. But, the havoc caused when folks tried to evacuate Houston really opened my eyes. There are only three ways of getting out of the city: north over the Golden Gate Bridge, east over the Bay Bridge and south through the peninsula. The drivers around here aren't the best. The first rain produces dozens of accidents and it only takes a couple to stop all traffic on the freeway. In additon, USGS predicts hundreds of road closures in the event of a major earthquake. So, I think trying to evacuate would be impractical for me (YMMV). Bay Area people outside San Francisco would have it easier, but it would be at least as bad as Houston during Rita.

Anyone given any thought to what you would do in an urban environment, in the event of a major earthquake, when your house in uninhabitable? Everyone's learned that going to a shelter is a BAD IDEA. I've thought about just grabbing my wife, dogs, food, water and backpacking gear, and camping out in Golden Gate Park.

BTW, it appears that almost all of the New Orleans reports of sniping, rapes and murders were wild rumors. People helped each other out as best they could. I know all my neighbors and people around here are pretty cool. I would need to be careful. Every place has bad guys!

Thanks!

I wouldn't think the park would be the best place, given it's likely the first choice of a few thousand stressed out strangers who'll get there ahead of you. No facilities. Eeeeyuw. Might be worse than a shelter.

I'd suggest making friends with your neighbors. Who has a courtyard or yard you all can share? Have you got a portapotty? :-> Set up a neighborhood group and get some gear for the group, store it in the open area, and be ready to set up in your own private campground. Group food, group kitchen, group childcare, group potties, group security.

If there's no courtyard, got an alley you can block off? A deadend? You can figure something out.

Phil

I live in Los Angeles and have concluded that evacuation will be near impossible after a quake since our freeways are gridlocked during a normal day. Collapsed overpasses will impede almost all freeways leaving only limited surface roads. And how could the surrounding areas absorb up to several million people?

Several years ago I purchased a large tent, about 10' x 15' on sale at Costco. Not a perfect solution, but it gives me the option of setting up a tent in my large back yard if my house collapses. You might consider buying a large tent from a hunting supplies catalogue. Not a perfect solution but an option.

Evacuation, or the popular phrase 'bugging out' implies A. ready egress and B. destination. S.F. will probably retain physical links through helicopter and limited marine traffic. Without knowing any plans, I would hazard the closed NAS Alameda would become a major staging area. I would begin by assembling a kit and setting up a block group among your nieghbors. A central phone number outside of the disaster area you can get through to should be used to assure any and all relatives and friends of your group about your status. Phone lines are going to be overtaxed also. Have you done a safety inventory of your residence? Are major appliances and furniture strapped down, a wrench to secure the gas handy? All preparations will be for naught if you are injured or worse in the initial quake.

Hi Chris,

All good suggestions. The Loma Prieta earthquake was my first wake-up call. Now the house is bolted to the foundation, wrench hanging near the gas shut-off valve, basic 5 day survival kit in place, etc. Before Katrina, I thought this is a big country with hugh resources, so the State and Federal government would come to our rescue. Like others in this group, I'm doing a major rethink. A lot of my assumptions were way off.

Lynn

Not only is there no chance of evacuating from the Bay Area due to the size of the population, there aren’t too many places to go to that could support the mass of unprepared people. I’m a long time resident, and the only sane plan is to shelter at home. My only “bug-out” type of preparation will be to insure that if I am stuck at work when the “Big One” hits, that I will have sufficient supplies to make it home somehow. I will probably keep a mountain bike locked up in the back of my truck. I always have basic supplies with me. I stay in good enough shape where I could walk home (25 miles) if I absolutely had to do so. Earthquakes are the only real threat where I live. Wind would carry any bad stuff to the East of where I live should there be a terrorist event. All of the refineries are East of my house. I am high enough where a Tsunami is extremely unlikely. Other than an Asteroid strike, Earthquakes are the only threat.

If you think it's bad in San Francisco, try living in the lower mainland of British Columbia. At least you guys have a military, Coast Guard and National Guard to help out in times of disaster. Here in Canada, we've neglected our military to the point that it's almost non-existent. Our Coast Guard is hopeless and we don't have anything like a National Guard. The only significant military presence in Canada is on the other side of the Rocky Mountains, so when the big one strikes here, we are truly on our own. Oh yea, I forgot to mention that we don't have any heavy air lift capability either.

The official plan is to actually truck troops and equipment across the Rockies to provide aid to British Columbia in the event of an earth quake. Nobody mentions what will happens if there's a blizzard in the mountains when the earth quake strikes BC.

Everyone out here knows that the first troops to arrive here won't be Canadian, they'll be American.

SF Emergency Services Preparedness Site
http://www.72hours.org

TNR Article on SF
(pay article, it's from 2 weeks ago, check your library)
https://ssl.tnr.com/p/docsub.mhtml?i=20050926&s=mcgray092605

SFWall discussion on disaster prep
http://p209.ezboard.com/fabledartsbathroomwallfrm21.showMessage?topicID=454.topic

I attended a seminar which included Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd. A canadian marine fisheries representative tried to belittle his competence to command a large vessel, which Watson is indeed well qualified under canadian maritime regulations. The withering retort listing his campaigns against pirate whalers and fishing vessels against canadian navy and coast guard efforts was almost funny were it not so sad. Hang in there Paul. Just open a Molsen and play Stan Rodgers 'Rise Again' in hopes of a better future <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

If you're in SF, what about putting out to sea? There are plenty of boats and such in the bay, and I have to think that once clear of the entrance, you could scurry up or down the coast and escape a major portion of the exodus. Yeah, I am sure there are pitfalls with that idea too. If you don't happen to own a boat, I am sure comandeering one from some unprepared party wouldn't be too hard, given that the gen pop there has been duly disarmed.

Then again, there's that darned Airscooter. Anyone got a spare $55K? What a handy way to get 250 miles away from the zone of desperation.

If there's an SF earthquake I don't see the point of evacuating afterwards. Evacuating /before/ would be great, except unlike hurricanes, they're not predictable. SF weather is not very severe even in the wintertime. I'd say people whose homes are still standing and not at risk of collapse should just stay put. Those whose homes or neighborhoods are crashed should either seek shelter or get by outside (it can get chilly at night but no one will freeze). Main thing they should do is put ample supplies of fresh water or desalination equipment (pacific ocean) in place.

San Francisco suffers from deferred maintenance in all of its infrastructure, including and most notably the water sytem.

I keep a 7 day supply of water.

The bridges were built because the excellent ferry system was allready overtaxed. San Francisco Bay is one of the most underrated dangerous bodies of water, both inside the gates and out. If a truly 'big one' hits outlying areas, especially the PCH may also be damaged. The last thing I'd want to see are neophyte sailors becoming great white brunches off the Farallons. My great grandmother was in the 1906 earthquake. She jumped under the massive oak desk I am working at with a Bisley Colt. For our survival gun contingent I think it was a .38-40 backed up by a long hatpin.

Maybe you should start making friends with these guys. They might be the first ones on site in the event of a disaster...

Reserve Army Units in the Province of British Columbia

I was surprised to see there are no regular army units in BC ! You can look up Navy & Air Force units in your Blue Pages .

For that Chris, I'll raise a Molson Canadian to your grandmother. Which was more dangerous, the gun or the hat pin?

BC used to be home to the Canadian Army Engineers. The base in Chilliwack would have provided exactly the type of assistance required after an earthquake. It was far enough away from an urban centre that it would have fared very well itself in an earthquake, but close enough to get assistance to Vancouver and surrounding suburbs. The base was a major economic contributor to the town and there were some very angry British Columbians when it was closed. Of all the places in the country most in need of military engineers, we were it.

Well, watching the feeding frenzy could be entertaining. Still, it might be just as big a hassle trying to get outta the bay as it would be overland.

Looks like that airscooter is about the only choice.

I also was thinking along these lines. But you have to be well prepared. Get a no frills sturdy boat. Know it inside out. Practice navigating in all weather conditions, fog / night-time... A GPS is great for these situations. Track a number of escape routes and navigate them using your maps (paper) compass & GPS. Fuel will be an issue, especially in inclement weather. Where will you go? What will you do when you get there? There are many questions to answer and there is a lot of work to do to prepare, but it could prove to be your only option if staying put in an untenable situation or navigating to safety are your only choices. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I used to live in the south Bay area. Personally, if a major quake hit the area, near the coast would be one of the LAST places I would want to be. There could be a tsunami, or not, but standing on the waterfront waiting to see which doesn't sound like the smartest move I could make.

Besides, aren't many of the communities around the bay (like Foster City), built on fill? The general consensus when I was there was that housing built on fill on the edge of a large body of water that was then shaken would quickly resemble something like a pit of quicksand.

As to leaving by boat... you may pirate a boat from shore, but what if you are out-pirated by meaner &/or better-equipped pirate dudes than yourselves? Walking the plank with a bullet in your chest sounds.... a bit iffy?

Sue

You know, that airscooter is sounding better and better...

Evacuating for an earthquake makes no sense. People evacuated Houston & NO to get out of the way of an impending destructive force. In the case of earthquake, there will be no warning to evacuate. Your plans should center around remaining in place.