Instant Disaster

I live in the San Francisco area, so my number one planning scenario is "The Big One", a major earthquake. One aspect that makes this challenging is that when the Big One hits we will go from normal to 20 million person regional disaster in seconds with no warning.

If I am at home, I am prepared for weeks. If I have my vehicle, I am prepared for ten days. If I have my computer bag, I'm prepared for 3 days. If I'm in the backcountry, I'm more than prepared to get back to my vehicle. Probably 95% of the time I'm prepared, but what about the other 5%?

One scenario is that I stop for gas in a sketchy area. The Big One hits and the canopy over the pumps falls on my vehicle. I'm left standing in the cold and rain a long way from home with literally nothing but what is in my pockets. Or I'm in a shopping center and the parking garage collapses. I rarely take BART or other mass transit without my computer case, but it does happen, so that's another possibility.

The DR PSK is a great resource. There's one in the EK in my now inaccessible vehicle. But I don't think it is exactly what I want in my pocket in this strictly urban/suburban situation.

Currently, I have the following in my pockets: folding knife, led micro light, Fox 40 whistle, cell phone, cash, wallet with credit cards, ID, etc. As we are in the rainy season, I have been experimenting with carrying a small AMK Heat Sheet. Since my footwear is likely to be suboptimal, I just realized I'm going to need blister pads. (My feet and dress footwear don't get along.)

So what would you folks carry to prepare for a huge, regional, urban/suburban disaster that hits in seconds without warning?

Risk avoidance

Top off your tank before driving into any sketchy or remote areas, find stores/shopping/malls which don't have garages.
If I'm driving to a park or soemhting I always try to top off the tank before I get off the highway so I'm not trying to find gas in a remote area.



Keep another pair of shows with you so that you only need to wear the dress shoes while actually at work. A small gym bag to carry them in and changing back into good walking shoes before leaving work won't look out of place as people will just thing your going to a gym afetrward.

A large trash bag make a good rain coat / shelter. Is compact, cheap, can even fit in a hip pocket. The bright blue ones for
recycling really stand out too if you need to be seen. The best
ones I've seen come from Staple's.

Wear Dr Martens shoes. They are the best for pavement walking and look ok with a suit. And you can't walk home if you don't know the way. You got a map in your pocket?
The Sock

I live in a rural area (woods) really the only "Instant" disaster would be a tornado in my area and only in certain times of the year and not very often.

Not living in that area I'm not sure if 5% is worth thinking about, it sounds like you are pretty well set up, at home, during the commute at the office, etc. There are going to be times you just can't bring it with you. Other than always carrying a backpack, or waist pack with supplies in it but that's not really practical.

your feet are the most important things at this point, if having to dress up for work try to find a pair of dress shoes that will stand up to a good hike, I have a pair I love, Columbia, I can hike miles in them and yet put them on in a suit with no second looks, the only problem is they are brown and don't go with everything I wear, so I either adjust what I wear to always have these shoes or try to find a color match. My black pair of dress shoes hurt my feet after a walk through the airport. Not a situation I want to find myself in if I have to hike my way out of some place.

Sounds like you are doing the best with what you have, which is probably better that most people.

Try to add another couple day's worth of stuff to your PC bag and keep it with you more often, and you should be in good shape.

At just 'bout any time, I will have Leatherman Wave, sharpening stick, keys with P-38 and Hot Spark, either Mini-Mag 3w led or Surefire G-2 with spare batteries, cell phone, credit cards, pocket change and cash, plus a couple hundred in hide-out-money, dogtag chain with micro light (brand unknown, it was a gift. Has three different levels of light, three speeds of flashing, and SOS flashing modes) and red dogtag with med info on it. Bandanna and a pocked pack or two of Kleenex. That is my bare minimum everyday stuff. I normally wear either low top "hiking" shoes or combat boots. If my other stuff gets squashed as you describe, depending on where I am, things are gonna get rough.

In your case, you really need to look for better footwear. I can't walk a few blocks in "dress" shoes...

One fact in life is that you can not plan for every event that might happen. It just bogs you down, OK.
Accepting your scenario at the sketchy gas station...
____________
S.T.O.P.


STOP - Take a deep breath, sit down if possible, calm yourself and recognize that whatever has happened to get you here is past and cannot be undone. You are now in a survival situation and that means . . .

THINK - Your most important asset is your brain. Use it! Don't Panic! Think first, so you have no regrets. Move with deliberate care. Take no action, even a foot step, until you have thought it through . . .

OBSERVE - Take a look around you. Assess your situation and options. Take stock of your supplies, equipment, surroundings and the capabilities of fellow survivors . . .

PLAN - Prioritize your immediate needs and develop a plan to systematically deal with the emergency. Make a plan. Follow your plan. Adjust your plan only as necessary to deal with changing circumstances.


PRIORITIES: 1. Medical Care
2. Shelter & Fire
3. Signaling & Communication
4. Sustenance


Equipped To Survive™ - Immediate Action Survival Plan™ - http://www.equipped.org/stop.htm
© 1997 Douglas S. Ritter - All rights reserved.
_________________
All right, lets look at the car at a sketchy gas station.
OK, you did a quick inventory of what is in your pockets, now what else have you got around you?
Is anybody hurt, do you need to do first aid on anybody? Is the store still standing?
Is the area safe to be in, or is their a risk of an explosion or electrocution from downed wires?
How about the risk of after shocks from the quake?

If you can go into the store is it a safe place to be out of the rain?
What kind of goodies do they have?
You have cash and can buy stuff if you need to, but you might not need to buy it...
Water, clothing, a rain coat, food, lighters, a working phone, toilet paper, you know, goodies?

Are the roads all closed? Are there other people you can get to give you a ride out?
Think about this part.
If you are still uninjured in your scenario then you are in very good shape in an area rich in resources.

Sometimes you have to adapt to the situation as it is to survive it.

There's no way you're going to live in the SF area, have the Big One hit, and be fully prepared. Personally, I would move.

Even if you were in the area with your undamaged vehicle, you won't be going anywhere. Nothing will be going in or out of there by ground for quite a while. I can't even visualize feeding, watering and medicating (by air) 16,000 people per square mile (well, the survivors, anyway).

Sue

That one-in-twenty time is the time you lose. *shrugs* Not really, but odds are the odds aren't that bad as you think they are. THere are things you can't prep for, and times you'll be caught with your pants down. All you can do then is roll and come up on your feet as best you can.

Edit: My odd, MUST have with item: work gloves.

Shoes are an issue. I choose shoes I can wear all day, but walking home after the Big One would be daunting. I should carry blister pads anyway as I do sometimes need them in non-emergency situations.

TheSock mentioned maps. That's something I haven't considered. I have maps in the EK, but not in my pocket. I do tend to explore rather than always driving the same route from A to B, so I know my way around pretty well. Still, a map would be nice. Trouble is a map with any detail would be too big to EDC. That might be one of the things I buy when needed.

Sue is right, I can't be fully prepared. It is a matter of balancing risks and rewards. I like where I live, so I do what I can to be prepared and hope I have some luck when the Big One happens. For sure transportation will be a nightmare for days or even weeks afterwards. If I'm near home I most likely will be ok.

One thing I need to think more about is "living off the land" so to speak. As scafool points out, at least in the immediate aftermath there will be lots of resources available. Having a pre-planned "shopping list" might be a good idea. That I can EDC.

"...Having a pre-planned "shopping list" might be a good idea..."

Keep in mind that in times like those, badguys go "shopping" too, so you might have to be badder then they are...

Good call.

You gotta be first in line too or you are not getting the things on top your list that EVERYONE will want.

Why not buy your items now? (Not you OBG)

If you are going to "live off the land" in the aftermath of an urban instant disaster, what is on your shopping list?

Shelter: garbage bags are good and readily available.
Water: bottled water also readily available in the immediate aftermath. Not so much even a few hours later.
Food: Jerky, power bars, candy bars are also available in the immediate aftermath and won't last long.
Maps are surprisingly hard to find, at least in my experience.
Baby wipes are good for hygiene. Sunscreen, bug juice, lip balm.

A second pair of shoes and/or clothes in a gym bag won't be out of place as many people change and go to the gym before or after work.

Have a PDA/Phone/PDAhone? I store electronic maps on mine as well as my handheld gps fits in my laptop bag during the week, it runs on a set of eneloop AA's so its always ready and I've ran over 16 hours on one set so far.

Also for those who have maps, keep them up to date. Earlier this afternoon, I had to go a business office and did the google map and paper map check. Both maps look the same so I printed the Google map as it has directions and off I go.

I get close, oh so close to where I need to be....but the roads have changed. I can see the building I need to get on the other side of a divided highway. Sizing up the traffic screaming by at maniacal speeds, there is no way I was going to park the car then make a mad run across that highway....no matter how good of shape I am in.

Pulled over then looked at the Google map I printed with directions on it and the paper map I always carry and double checked, yes once again they are the same, but the paper map is from 2007.

Long story short, I finally get to where I need to go after 10 minutes of no left turns allowed here, no right turns allowed here etc.

On the way home, I had to stop for gas anyway so I picked up a new map and....lo and behold, it shows the new changes and several others closer to home that I was not aware of.

Had this been in a more difficult situation, having outdated maps would of only added to the complications....

Have you thought about an EDC for when you shower? I'd imagine storing an EDC for in-shower use might have logistical complexities, but there's a time and place where you really don't have many (practical) places to store an EDC kit.

I wouldn't plan on driving home, even if your car survives the initial quake damage. The next time you commute, count the number of overpasses, underpasses, culverts, etc. that you pass. Then consider the likelihood of pavement breaks, collapses and upheavals, abandoned cars, debris in roadways, etc, that is likely to occur.

Is it possible possible for you to stash a cheap, used mountain bike at work, and use that to get home? Is there a friend's or co-worker's home nearby, and would they allow you to store a few essentials and stay there if necessary? Maybe you could pitch your employer to allow you to develop a Company Emergency Preparedness Plan, so you could make better arrangements for not only yourself but the whole team?

Jeff

Yup, and you might want them work gloves to be rubber too. You never know what you might have to handle.

The "shower kit" raises some real questions about the size limits of your "container" and the meaning of "carry".

If your car kit is inaccessible, thats a pretty bad situation. If I were wearing dress attire and was miles from home, loss of my car kit (extra shoes, etc) would be a major PITA. As Susan mentioned, if the roadways are impassable, walking might be the only way home. And then there's the fires from broken gas lines, etc, etc. After an instant disaster like a major earthquake, improvisation would be the word of the day.

Another suggestion for good dress-looking shoes that are extremely comfy: Blundstones. I have had a pair for over a year now, and love them. Mine are laceless (I cannot stand lace up shoes, a silly pet peeve, I know!), and look like dress shoes, but arecomfy like docs. They look quite smart, actually!
I have enough stuff in my jeep for an indefinite time away, minus food and water. Living in new england, water isnt really an issue; besides, I alsways have my water bottle with me. But, for EDC, I carry very little, barring two knives, and my keychain. However, it really isnt practical for me to carry gear with me. The worst we have to deal with is snow or ice storms, which, incidentally, my sisters family was without power for almost 2 weeks. My nephew cooked for his two younger siblings for the fist few days, on a soda can stove I helped him make. And, he had plenty of other gear to keep warm, until they got to a shelter. Needless to say, I was proud of him!! But, these types of storms are rare; and usually it is a sit & wait scenario.

Living in the NY Metro area, here's my EDC: A Spdyerco Delica, Leatherman Xe-6, Mcfeely Pocket Wrench, orange bandana, 2nd. orange bandana- hot ironed placed in a Gerber Breast Milk Bag with some flat rolled Gorilla tape secured to the bag, wallet with flat maganifier- 4 quarters- $400 in cash (a mix of bills)- credit cards- ID, Medic Alert necklace with: name- tel. no.-Blood Type - etc., keychain with 2 Photons- pill capsule- P-38- Bison whistle- BSA fire starter rod- Utili-Key- compass, and a box of small wood matches. I also try to have a larger GHB kit in a briefcase or small backpack, but that's for a different post.

Forgot to list my Blackberry.

I carry leather shells, wool liners, and two pairs of nitriles EDC. *laughs* Putting my fingers on stuff sharp/rough/dirty/cold/hot/slippery/icky is just part of normal planning.

It's not "if the roads are impassible", they WILL be impassible. That's an absolute guarantee. I lived in the Bay Area for six years and rode out a few 'inconsequential' shakes. I left on September 14, 1989 and a month later the Loma Prieta quake hit and, generally speaking, it was a minor quake, 6.9 and only 15 seconds long.

You can also count on the signposts being down, twisted or nonexistent, so if you have to go somewhere (like home) you'd best have a compass on your person, in addition to the maps, because the areas you know so well probably won't be all that recognizable.

Living off the land in that particular scenario will be impossible, no matter how you meant it, with so many unprepared people so close. Any store that is still accessible will be empty of useful items by the time you get there. You will be lucky to survive a foot trip, and the more you look like a homeless person, the better. The Brooks Brothers suit, Italian shoes, good haircut and laptop case will scream 'PREY!"

The Anchorage earthquake (1964) had a moment magnitude of 9.2 and registered 8.4 on the Richter scale. There were vertical land displacements of up to 38 feet, and tsunamis up to 70 feet high.

Can you imagine if anything similar hit the Bay area? There would probably be major quake liquification of all the areas that are built on fill (like Foster City), and maybe much of the shoreline, too. SF is 52'above sea level, San Mateo, 43', Burlingame, 25', E. Palo Alto, 24', Oakland, 42', Alameda, 30', San Leandro, 49', Hayward, 32'. Add a tidal wave to that...

I never loitered on the Golden Gate or the Bay/Oakland bridges, either.

Just the idea gives me the shudders.

Sue

I have little to offer to the many good replies but this; MAKE FRIENDS!
I've been 3 decades out of San Francisco.I still keep in touch with a chinese kid i did a rather off the record favour for in bootcamp.
The people in Herman's deli on Geary remember me, as does the owner of Cable Car Clothiers and City Lights Bookstore.
The ladies on lake Mac Arthrur have probably all passed, but the black jazz club still sends me fliers for concerts.
When the Mafia Don I met at a deli passed away I sent a condolence card- and a thankyou note from his bodyguard!
You're in a unique, multicultural city within small geographical boundaries, the ones our grandparents grew up in back east.
So make friends there. In a disaster a known face is worth more than all the bartering bricks of .22s money can buy.

Sounds like a good way to get shot for looting.

Can't travel!
Can't sit still!
So what are you going to do?
Are you going to just lie down and die?

REMEMBER!
Attitude is everything!

If you are still standing after the quake you are in good shape.
Other people are already dying because medical services can't get to them.

The stuff in the car is just stuff.
Nothing magical.

It might be nice stuff, but it is still just stuff, and it can likely be replaced with or substituted by other stuff.

What is in your head matters much more.
Having the survivor's attitude matters much more.
Being able to take an inventory of your situation and figure out a rational plan of action is of far greater value than a few trinkets in a bag.

Have you got a phone? Maybe you are still lucky.
I bet you might like to phone somebody and let them know you are OK and where you are, and where you are heading to.
A roadmap from that shelf full of them inside the gas station might be a nice thing to have too.

But be careful and don't risk injury by going into unstable areas.
Even if on foot you should be able to do ten miles a day fairly easy, if there are no really bad patches you might be able to do 30 miles a day.
If pressed that means you can travel between one hundred and three hundred miles in ten days if you really, really need to.
But if you break a leg now you are stuck where you are.

Yes your shoes might be a problem to walk in, but if there is a lot of broken glass you will need something to protect your feet. You can find boots or wrap your feet with rags if you really can not walk in those shoes.
But it is better to have a few blisters than a foot full of broken glass.

Water? Yes, grab a few bottles now.
Water is much more important than food.
Maybe you should grab some coffee filters and a small jug of bleach.
It only takes a few drops of bleach in a water bottle to sterilize it if you filter the crud out of it first.
Even if the water is not really clean you are better to get sick from it than to die of dehydration.


Food? Yeah it is good, but you are not going to start starving to death for ten days.

However, if you are standing in the cold rain you could start to die of hypothermia in a few hours.
Staying warm and dry matters more than food or water right at this moment.
So you should figure out a solution to that problem right away before your body temperature drops and you become unable to think clearly.

I've only scanned the responses to your post so I may be repeating what someone else already said but here is my advice:

1. Keep a high-quality multitool on you at all times.

2. Learn to improvise. An urban environment is filled with stuff that can be turned nto shelter, carry water or lit on fire. During your daily travels look around and imagine what you could do with the stuff you see around you. Wildman has a good thread on doing this from several years ago.

-Blast

We solved that problem weeks ago: the DRPSK subcutaneous implant-gotta choose a place on your body that will reach your mouth so that you can gnaw through the skin to get to it. Might want to call it the coyote option...

I actually thought through the shower scenario. Getting out of the house will be a problem due to broken glass, but once out, I'm fine. Even if the house and garage burn to the ground, all the emergency gear will be safe and available. Experience says finding shoes in the bathroom after a quake will be tough, so towels wrapped around feet may have to do.

Never occurred to me to loot. Only to have enough cash and a planned list of things to buy in the immediate aftermath. Yes, things will disappear fast, but my goal would to be one of the first in the nearest store and to get all I need. Once stores are stripped that opportunity is gone. Having thought through this scenario increases the probability of success.

I don't expect the phone to work, but experience with Katrina and Ike is that text messaging will work even when voice is overloaded, assuming the phone system is working at all.

Standing in the rain in business clothes with nothing but what is in my pockets, would suck, but based on this discussion I'll be better prepared. I'm going work at finding some kind of EDC shelter for the rainy season. Trash bag, Heat Sheet, something. I'll have a map marked with the homes and businesses of my friends. And I'll be mentally prepared to purchase the needfuls ASAP.

Somehow I just don't have the multitool gene. I have carried them, but never for long because I never really found them useful. I can't stand to be without a knife, though. I'm sure that's a separate thread.

It seems to me that when you're standing on the street after an earthquake has done the max in the bay area, your EDC is very much something to discuss; it may be all you have.

The cheap (under $1.50) disposable ponchos will fold smaller than a trash bag and can easily fit a small coat pocket, inside a briefcase or a EDC pack. IMHO, they are far better than a trash bag for weather protection or emergency shelter.

A healthy supply of mindfulness and situational awareness.

Be careful with trying to prepare for every contingency, it'll drive you nuts (been there, still do that).

Pick the most likely scenarios.
Prep to cover that.
Have a back up plan.
Stay flexible.
Don't panic.

That should cover most things.

Agree. Living in SOCAL but not in LA, I prepare for the big one to strike somewhere else. We will still feel big quakes from elsewhere, but they shouldn't be knocking down buildings. That said, our water supply comes from up there. Roads to here cross the faults.

The thin plastic ponchos, while larger, are weaker than a good trash
bag. In high winds only the trash bag will survive.

in really nasty weather, I've been know to wear a disposable poncho under the outer layer of my clothes to protect the poncho.
Not the most ideal way to wear them, but it protects them from the wind.

Grahund-
I'm near you in the San Fran area, my office is in Nob Hill but my home is in the East Bay (I needed somewhere to keep the motorhome, the 150 gallons of water, and the various other preparedness items, along with all my other junk!). So for me, getting trapped in the City has me thinking of a few responses-

1) I can hole up in my office until the smoke clears, if the building has survived. If it hasn't, I have a contingency plan for alternate housing and an evac plan as a worst case scenario. Think open water (hint).

2) I try to plan for every eventuality, but there is an inherent risk in being in SF from a population density perspective. That being said, who you know will make a difference in how you make out, as stated above.

Always cracks me up when someone responds to those of us living in California that we should "move"- I love this state, and the risk of calamity is everywhere.
When I lived in North Carolina, our house was ravaged by Hurricane Gloria. When I lived in Ohio, we had 96 hours of a below zero no power blizzard in '78. Hawaii- Iniki hit. Tucson-the Rillito overflowed it's banks, Mt. Lemmon burned up, and killer bees ate my dog. New Mexico- ice, fires, plague carrying Ebert's squirrels, avian flu carrying crows. And hot chile. Really hot chile. Danger lurks everywhere.

And so do geese- beware.

Dude, California...

You should move. Ha, Ha

As long as you have planned ahead, and can accept the risk as nominal who cares??

It just wouldn't be for me. But then you probably wouldn't enjoy tornado season here in Texas.

Please don't move anywhere near me, You seem to attract disasters

"...I love this state..."

I used to also, having lived in CA all my life (except when Uncle Sam moved me around). But CA has changed, and not for the good. We are here visiting and recouping, gotta be here another month or so, and we can not wait to get outta here!!!

SBRaider, I may be the catalyst!

If a big one hits, it's my fault, guys and gals, so sorry.

OBG, I hear you, as a wise man said, you can never go home again, that's why I keep moving (plus the fed wit protect program doesn't work as they advertised).

I was born and reared in Houston. Lived most of my life in Houston and Austin. Only moved to San Francisco 12 years ago. Gotta admit, I prefer Northern California to Texas, but I do prefer hurricanes to earthquakes. You get at least 24 hours warning.

The bad neighborhood you might be in will probably be on fire. Gangs? meh. They'll be running in circles wishing they hadn't pissed off all the fire and police officers for the past 20 years. I second good no GREAT shoes.