Fan Girl Wannabe

September was National Emergency Preparedness Awareness Month.  I didn't hear a whole lot about it, so I'm not sure the message got out very well, but the good folks at the Red Cross have some tips on preparedness at their website.  You can get checklists and advice on disaster planning, and it's pretty good stuff. At least it makes you think about what might happen and how you might react.

First off, you're supposed to think about what kind of disasters could occur in your area, and what you should realistically prepare for.  Back in SC, tornadoes, hurricanes and subsequent flooding were the biggies, even though we were on the very edge of geographical likelihood.  Here in WI, it's possible a tornado would come this far - the front 3 houses of the subdivision were taken out by one about 20 yrs ago.  More likely, I think, is being snowed in without power for a chunk of time.

They advise two levels of preparedness.  1: Three-day evacuation kit and 2: Two-week shelter in place supplies.

So for #1 (tornado or the house burns down), we've never had anything specific pulled together.  We've talked about it before, but never got around to it.  But now I've got an actual list, and a plan for how I'd pack the go-bags, once I acquire them.  I figure one bag per person, and sure you'll have some duplication, but that's got to be better than missing something because you got separated or you lost a bag.

For #2 (trapped in place), we've also never had anything specific, but in reviewing what's here, we're actually in pretty good shape.  We use natural gas for heat, the stove, the water heater (and the dryer). they all need a spark to get started plus most require electricity to keep running.  We've got a great propane-fired grill, but we don't always keep propane on hand, so that will change.  We've always got at least two-weeks of people food on hand, so we just need to bump up the pet food/supplies we keep on hand, and make sure there is an appropriate quantity of B's meds here.  One thing that we don't do well is keep wood for the fireplace stockpiled.  Even if we got the furnace fired up, it wouldn't help without the fan to circulate the warm air, so fireplace heat would be required.  So not only do we need the woodpile for our decorative winter fires, we need enough to keep us from freezing for a 14 day stretch.  That's alotta wood.  We've discussed the order we would empty the refrigerator and the freezer for power loss both in warm weather and in winter.

The one thing that we fail on for both scenarios is our supply of fresh water.  And since we have a well, it's an issue.  We can't get water out of the well without electricity.  Red Cross advises 1 gallon per person per day (this covers all uses).  We've got 4 pets, so I'm assuming another gallon per day combined, based on the frequency we fill their water station.  If we get this in the 5-gallon bottles (we have a dispenser), that makes 3 bottles (~50 lb each) we'd have to load up to evacuate 3-4 people and the 4 animals.  Or, we could get purification supplies to carry with us.  But 14 days worth is a lot of water to store.  That's 56 gallons or 11 bottles on hand at all times.  That's a pretty big commitment.  I could see making space for 5-6 bottles, and hoping the disaster comes in winter so you can melt snow.  B says we can also drain down the pressure tank for some of the water.  I'm just not sure it's realistic to ask everyone to stockpile that much water.  A single person would only need 14 gallons or 3 bottles max, unless they had pets (and most of my single friends do). But most single people also occupy a limited space, so the ratio of space you'd have to commit to for this level of preparedness is similar.  And there's the practicality of keeping that much fresh water on hand.  You need to rotate the stock every 6 months or so, which will become time and energy consuming. 

All in all, I'm glad we live on the top of a hill in an area with few known natural disasters.  We've been lucky so far, but people just one town over got hit hard by tornadoes a couple of years ago, so we can't count on luck forever.  I don't really have the survivalist mindset, but it's good to think about these things from time to time.  That way, even if you havent' got your go-bag together, you'll at least know what to grab when the evacuation call comes.

Although I gave up my career in water damage restoration and mold remediation before I even started my LJ, I'm thinking this week's weather is a sign that I should talk about it now. So here is a quick and dirty FAQ for all my friends list dealing with water intrusions.

Number 1: When do I need a water restoration professional?
A: Call a professional as soon as you realize you cannot get fully dry by yourself within 24 hours. So, really, if you have more than a washing machine full of water on your floor, you probably need help.

Number 2: What should I do first?
A: Remove as much liquid water as possible. Mops, buckets, pumps, towels, siphons - whatever works on the amount of water you have. It is 100 times harder to evaporate standing liquid water than water that is trapped in building materials. Set up a dehumidifier. Do not set up fans unless you have a dehu. Fans will force evaporation, so drying will go faster, but only if you have a mechanism for removing the moisture from the air. No dehu means that evaporated water will invade your possessions and building materials.

Number 3: How do I know my "professional" is a professional?
A: Look at their tools. Do they have moisture meters? Are they taking humidity readings? Are the dehumidifiers the size of a kegerator and wrapped in stainless steel? (In this case you *can* judge a book by its cover because there is only one acceptable dehu on the industrial market. If your company's dehu is blue plastic, it's not really going to do the job as fast as you want it to.) Did the machine that extracted water from your carpet need two cords and did someone ride on it? Can they explain in english exactly what they're doing for you?

Number 4: If they don't have these kick-ass tools, am I screwed?
A: Probably. But not absolutely. If they can tell you *why* they're placing the number of fans and dehus in your house (you have xxx cubic feet requiring drying, therefore, I need xx fans and x dehus to get you dry in 36-48 hours). If they come back *every* day to check your progress, *and* they're checking your relative humidity to determine progress, it'll go slower, but they'll get you completely dry.

Number 5: Do I have to throw away everything that got wet? Tear out all my soggy carpet?
A: It depends. If the water damage comes from a broken supply line or rain that entered through a hole in your house (some kind of potable water), you can probably dry everything (including carpet) and be fine (books will look funny but you won't *have* to throw them away). If black water was the culprit - be prepared to get rid of EVERYTHING porous that the water touched.

Number 6: What is black water?
A: Anything that came from a drain or sewer line (poo). Anything that came out of a body of water or flowed over the ground (flood waters) before it entered your house.

Number 7: What is the definition of porous?
A: For our purposes, anything made of cloth, paper, or cardboard. Carpet & pad, laminate flooring, drywall, wallpaper, upholstered furniture, books, newspapers, particle board, stuffed animals, draperies - get the picture? Hardwood floors technically don't fall into this category, but they're so hard to dry correctly, you may as well tear them up too.

Number 8: What can I safely keep?
A: Anything non-porous can be cleaned and sanitized and kept. Glass, metal, plastic, finished hardwood furniture (your family antiques might need refinishing). The studs in your walls can be sanitized, dried, and sanded if necessary. Brick and block can be pressure washed and sanitized.

Number 9: What proactive things can I do to minimize damage?
A: Always respond to leaks and mysterious water appearances immediately. Store your stuff in waterproof bins and containers, or up on shelves. Never put cardboard boxes in contact with concrete or masonry. That means set them up on pallets or shelves, and leave an air gap all around. Even without an obvious flood, the moisture that is wicked into cardboard out of concrete is enough to allow mold to get a foothold and destroy the contents of those boxes. As soon as you open the boxes, you release the mold into your home and it finds new places to grow and cause problems.

Number 10: What do I say to my insurance company?
A: Always, ALWAYS say "I've got a water problem." Never lead with the word 'mold.' Most insurance companies are finding ways to not have to deal with mold. But if in the course of restoring your water loss, they find mold, or mold develops, it usually gets classed as part of the "water loss." If they get hinky, make sure you start talking about the health issues of your family members - allergies, respiratory illnesses are all impacted by water losses and mold. They don't want to be responsible for your medical care, so they're going to take better care of your house.