When disaster strikes (and it will)…are you ready?

Find a neighbor you trust. Give them a key to your house, or tell them where you have a key hidden, for example under a flower pot in the back yard.  In the event of a disaster, have them check on you and agree you will check on them.  If help is needed by either of you, ensure you flip the sign to the “Help Needed” in the front window (If you don’t have the “OK” and “Help Needed” sign, get them from Lodge attendant.)  This sign will alert your CERT Street Captain so resources can be directed properly,

Local officials tell us to plan that Four Seasons will not get help for two weeks after a major disaster.

1. 10 gallons of water/person
2. 14 days of nonperishable food/person
3. First aid kit.
4. Flashlight and batteries
5. $500-$1000 cash (Stores & Motels will only take cash)
6. Cell phone with extra charged power banks
7. 14 days of prescription medicine
8. OTC medicine (Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen, anti-diarrhea, antacid, etc.)
9. Pet food for your pet
10. Air mattress, sleeping bag, or blanket/person so you can sleep on the Plaza
11. Complete changes of clothing: long sleeves, long pants, sturdy closed-toe shoes.
12. ½ tank of gas or more in the car.
13. If you have electric dependent health equipment, e.g., oxygen concentrator, or nebulizer, you must have a generator and fuel to run it for fourteen days.
14. Battery operated radio with batteries for fourteen  days.
15. Butane lighter
16. Personal hygiene supplies
17. Notebook and pen.
18. Whistle
19. N-95 dust mask
20. Can opener, bottle opener
21. Plastic/paper plates, forks, knives.
22. Utility knife, duct tape, monkey wrench
23. Local maps

Use technology so you needn’t try to gather up those photos, insurance policies, medicare card, insurance ID,  and other documents when disaster strikes.  If you have a computer, all-in-one printer, or scanner,  scan your photos and documents and copy them either to a USB Flash Drive that you can take with you, or upload them to one of the many free cloud storage facilities such as Google Drive, One Drive, or Dropbox. You should compress and encrypt the files with a free program like 7-ZIP (for Windows) or I-Zip (for Mac).

If you don’t have scanning abilities, buy some pastries, and bribe a neighbor to let you use their device. Alternatively, if you have a cell phone, you can take a picture and most phones will automatically upload it to the cloud; however, you should compress and encrypt the important files as noted above.

While having a copy of some documents is great, you should ALSO have your original drivers license, passport, and credit cards.

If your home or the area in or around Four Seasons becomes uninhabitable, make a plan of where to go. If you have friends or relatives outside the disaster area that will host you, make those agreements now. Tell members of your family where you’re likely to go in the event of a disaster. If you need to meet up with household members who were not at home when disaster struck, agree on a meet-up place. If you have a smart phone, download maps of Hemet and surrounding areas so you can use them offline. Have a friend or relative out-of-state act as  a phone message center where family members can call to determine the status and location of other family members. Think. Plan. Survive.

Your street captain is part of a team that co-ordinates light search and rescue, first-aid, and other activities in your neighborhood until fire department and other first-responders arrive. The more information she/he has the more effective the response will be.

The street captain assigned to your home should be informed if a household member has disabilities that affect  mobility, e.g., wheel-chair bound, walker needed, etc.  If someone is oxygen dependent, how long  without resupply or electricity can they go.  If there are other special needs, inform your street captain. If you have a generator, please inform your street captain.

Information  provided to the Street Captain will be held confidential, and only released during a emergency to appropriate emergency responders.

 

If you have a medical emergency such as heart attack, stroke, injury from falling, or difficulty breathing, DO NOT DRIVE TO THE HOSPITAL…CALL 911.  Paramedics can sometimes provide medications  to help you. They can notify the hospital so the hospital has a team ready for you when you arrive.

We provide a form for your convenience so you can provide legible information to medical personnel in an emergency. This is necessary so the hospital doesn’t apply medications or procedures that interact with your current medications or condition that may have an unpleasant side-effect like death.

To protect your privacy, the content you enter is NOT saved. After you print the form, the information is erased. When complete, print the document, fold in half, insert into a one gallon zip-lock bag and set on top of your refrigerator.  Fill it out NOW. You can find the form here

 

The County of Riverside provides free emergency notification services via email, text, and voice. Know of the nature of the emergency, what-to-do, where-to-go, and more. Sign up now.

Register for Riverside emergency notification

The city of Hemet also has an emergency notification service”

https://www.hemetca.gov/544/Community-Alert-System