Posted on 09/13/2005 3:17:26 PM PDT by SmithL
SAN FRANCISCO - City residents should prepare to survive at least three days without help if disaster - from an earthquake to a terror attack - strikes, according to the city's Office of Emergency Services.
A city-sponsored Web site, http://www.72hours.org, includes lists of everything well-stocked San Franciscans should keep in their home and cars to be ready for the next big emergency when power, running water and telephones may be unavailable for days.
"If Hurricane Katrina didn't prove it to you, I don't know what will," Mayor Gavin Newsom said recently at a news conference unveiling a citywide public awareness campaign aimed at getting people ready for a major disaster. "I'm not waiting, in the event of an emergency, for Air Force One."
But some residents question how realistic it is to tuck away several gallons of water, plastic sheeting and extra food, clothes and rain gear in the city's tiny apartments.
"Living in a small apartment requires some ingenuity to find a good location where it doesn't take up your whole living room," said Linda Johnson, a nonprofit agency executive who lives with her husband in a one-bedroom apartment in the Mission District.
Her supplies are now scattered throughout her home, but Hurricane Katrina has helped her realize she needs to gather it in a central, easily accessible spot.
"I think it's really important for people to take advantage of this window of opportunity, when they're so aware of what disasters can do to families," she said.
San Francisco's Office of Emergency Services created the Web site earlier this year, according to director Anne Marie Conroy. It offers an exhaustive list of items for an emergency kit including: three gallons of water per person, food, flashlight and batteries, plastic sheeting and duct tape, first aid supplies, cash in small denominations, extra prescription eye wear and medications, warm clothes, a hat, rain gear and city map.
Newsom reminded residents last week that it might take several days before vital services are restored after a major earthquake, fire, storm, power outage or act of terrorism.
Jonathan Stein, an information technology consultant who lives in Oakland, believes that's good advice. He clipped the Web site's supply list from the newspaper.
"I never really expected there would be immediate support for people," he said. "Katrina's an eye opener that the government is not really looking out for us so much."
Longtime San Francisco resident Sue Weaver didn't need the checklist. Between her Toyota Corolla's trunk and a plastic bin of supplies in her garage, Weaver and her 7-year-old daughter could survive for "two weeks, maybe a month," she said.
In addition to food and 12 or 13 gallons of water, Weaver has just about everything on the list.
The city also is running an advertising campaign focusing on what's "nice to have" versus what you "need to have" in your home or car. One poster features sushi as "nice to have," but canned tuna and a can opener as a "need to have."
"We've worked very hard to make sure city government is prepared for a natural disaster. What we need to happen, as well, is for the citizens to be well prepared," said mayoral spokesman Peter Ragone.
Johnson said the Web site made her consider things that hadn't already occurred to her - like making sure she had a supply of medicine and extra food for her two cats.
"I think it is doable," she said. "It's just a matter of taking the time to get it done."
Spoken like a true socialist. Everything goes back to government.
Imagine what the pioneers who persevered to be the first Americans to settle in the SF area would think if they could see what a weenie roost it has become.
The bathhouses will run dry. Nobody will notice.
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