Posted on 07/17/2007 7:18:00 PM PDT by blam
Sydney residents 'must carry survival bags'
By Mark Chipperfield in Sydney
Last Updated: 2:12am BST 18/07/2007
The easy-going residents of Australia's biggest city are being urged to carry personal "survival bags" to help them cope with a future terrorist attack or natural disaster.
The Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, says citizens should pack a "Go Bag" containing such essentials as toilet paper, running shoes, spare keys, a torch, disposable gloves, adhesive tape, a transistor radio and sun cream before they leave home each day.
Miss Moore, who has yet to pack her own Go Bag, says it is her duty to warn Sydney's four million residents of the potential dangers that await them.
"Living through the hailstorm [in 1999], I realized how unprepared we were for a catastrophe of that sort," she said.
The city council is distributing 200,000 booklets advising Sydneysiders on how to cope with a terrorist attack, earthquake, flood or other natural disaster. The booklet suggests that people find an "emergency buddy", develop a personal emergency plan and create a contact number on their mobile phones in case they are injured and unable to talk to rescuers.
A council website suggests that in the event of a bombing, earthquake or flood residents should carry their cats in "a cotton pillow case".
The public education campaign, which has been co-funded by the Australian government, has been greeted with skepticism by most Sydneysiders - even from the deputy mayor Chris Harris. "It's purely sensationalist," he said.
"Where are we supposed to go with our Go Bags? With our current public transport system, the roads would be clogged within minutes."
Sydney has already been warned to be on high alert when world leaders arrive in September to attend the 2007 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. The latest announcement has only heightened the sense of fear surrounding that event.
...containing such essentials as toilet paper, running shoes, spare keys, a torch, disposable gloves, adhesive tape, a transistor radio and sun cream before they leave home each day.
Wow! You could have fun with all of that stuff without ever leaving the house!
Well, you could wear the running shoes....
Good Lord.
She sure has different ideas about essentials than I do.....
McGyver could turn that stuff into a small electric generator.
A council website suggests that in the event of a bombing, earthquake or flood residents should carry their cats in “a cotton pillow case”.
The council only included that suggestion to prove they really do have a sense of humor...
ping
UK English to US English translation:
torch = flashlight
No water?
Oh, yeah, that'll work real well! You're trying to flee from disaster (wearing those running shoes you packed in your Go Bag), while you're clinging to wiggling sacks of cats...(What if you've got more than one cat? Throw 'em all in one pillow case? Riiiiight!)
Sure, a survival bag to help you survive a terrorist attack, but that doesn’t contain a gun, is a useless bag.
UK English to US English translation:
torch = flashlight
May I pack an actual torch in my “Must Carry Survival Bag” if I really, really want to?
WOW! You haven’t had to do that since WWII.
Only if you carry a pitchfork at the same time.
I have a survival pack in my car. It has just about everything except water.
Guns and as much ammo as you can carry. If possible, keep plenty in your locker at work.
shoot, a fellah could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff....
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