are you prepared? www.uwa.edu/muse
allen pilkington
You are in a bad weather situation. You can hear the wind blowing outside. The rain hammers down on the roof of your home or dorm. All of a sudden, you hear what sounds like the world’s largest freight train. A tornado has touched down and is closing in on your home. Do you know what to do in order to survive the impact? Do you have a plan in place to deal with the aftermath? If the power is out, do you have enough food to last? If you said no to any of those questions, reading the rest of this article can save your life. 72 hour bag One of the first things
15 september 2011
you need to do is organize a 72 hour bag. A 72 hour bag should contain enough non-perishable food items and water to last you a minimum of 72 hours. This bag should also contain as the bare minimum a flashlight, batteries, a radio, cash, clothes, an emergency blanket, a book of matches or a lighter, dryer lint for starting a fire, a poncho, power bar protein snacks, and a first aid kit. If a disaster were to happen and shut off the power, water, and other amenities that you are used to having, this kit will be your lifeline for at least three days. As you assemble your 72 hour
bag, remember that what you put in the bag may provide everything your friends and family need to survive on You have your bag made; the sirens are going off outside your window, and everyone is in a state of panic. What do you do? The first step to surviving is to remain calm. Assess your situation and come up with a plan. If you are in a dorm on campus, seek designated disaster areas. If you live in Speith or Selden, take the stairs down to the basement. If you are in Reed, Hoover, or Patterson, make your way to the bottom of the SUB as fast as you can. On
hurricane irene elise keller
muse: to ponder; to be absorbed in deep thought
your way out the door, be sure to grab your 72 hour bag and take it with you. There is no use in making it up and then leaving it in your room when it comes time to actually use it. If you live in Sisk or Stickney gather on the first floor of the building where your RA tells you to wait. If you live off campus, find either a bathroom or closet and get inside it and hide. If you have a basement, go there immediately. Use your kit radio to listen for updates on the weather. Sit in your safe zone until someone gives you the “all-clear” to leave.
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to flood and cities went days without power. The Hurricane dissipated around Sunday night but left many houses ruined and high wind speeds. As with any other hurricane, with high winds come disastrous tornadoes. Irene and the tornadoes killed 18 people, causing an estimated $3 billion in damage. More than 4 million homes and businesses lost power. Many have begun community services to piece the torn eastern states back together in an effort to allow the people whom evacuated and lost their homes to come back. All over the country, people have begun to gather together in hopes of assisting their brethren on the eastern coast.
You have been given the all clear, and you are making your way outside. The tornado has landed right on top of where you are. All you can see is destruction everywhere. Power is not coming back on anytime soon, and it is unknown if the water supply has been compromised. This is what you have been preparing for. Grab your 72 hour bag and find immediate shelter. If necessary, debris can be used to construct a
makeshift shelter. Use the supplies in your bag to keep yourself comfortable, ration the nonperishable food in your bag, and conserve your water supply. The end objective is to be able to support yourself until Red Cross or FEMA arrives and can render aid. These tips, if followed correctly, will help ensure that you are ready to survive any disaster and also support yourself in the wake of the disaster.
six years later
One of the worst natural disasters in history occurred six long years ago, Hurricane Katrina. This storm swept through parts of Alabama and Mississippi but caused the most horrific damage in New Orleans, La. Katrina claimed over 1,800 lives and caused at least 80 to 100 billion dollars in property damages. More than 80 percent of New Orleans, La., was immersed underwater, and over 100,000 people were evacuated and eventually had to rebuild their lives in other places. Now, years later, homes are still boarded up, and small communities have yet to rebuild. Seventy percent of New Orleans residents are still homeless. Most displaced residents have settled into lives in other parts of the country. Most feel that the physical, emotional and economic
distress Katrina caused will never truly be overcome and forgotten. Katrina will forever be a scar on Louisiana’s history. Approximately 110.000 fewer people now reside in New Orleans because of this catastrophic natural disaster. This storm motivated our fellow Americans to pull together and help Louisiana’s distressed citizens. Television programs solicited donations; many people volunteered to help clean up the rubbish. Funds were raised from small towns. Many people sent supplies down by the bus loads. Americans from all over gave their hard earned money and precious time to help Katrina victims get back on their feet. Six years later, Louisiana residents are rebuilding, one house at a time, with faith that their communities will be restored.
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several feet of water on its roads. Irene began to move back into the ocean after its destructive expedition in North Carolina but ventured back up the East Coast into Virginia at 5:00 p.m. Richmond was flooded and blocked by downed trees and power lines, leaving many cities on the East Coast without power. Irene did not waste time traveling faster up to Maryland, Delaware, and Washington area. Millions of households were without power, and mandatory evacuations spread throughout Delaware. Soon, Irene trampled over the New Jersey and New York areas. The storm stirred even more evacuations as towns began
after the storm
katrina: lakedra rodgers
Aug. 27, 2011, was a tense day as the East Coast prepared for the oncoming Hurricane. Hurricane Irene began in the Atlantic Ocean as a tropical wave pushed off of the West African border. Its pressure began to lessen as it pushed closer to the States but intensified as it neared the Caribbean, making the East Coast begin to feel uneasy. Irene crashed in North Carolina at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday Aug. 27, 2011. It landed at Cape Lookout as a Category 1 storm with wind speed at 74-95 mph and a storm surge at 4-5 feet above normal. The Bogue Inlet Pier and the pier at Atlantic Beach collapsed, and the town was reported to have
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