As I contemplate the sudden and disastrous fires in California - November 2018 so many thoughts race through my mind:
* It's fall, not summer. There shouldn't be forest fires in the fall.
* Where did the fires come from? Usually these things grow over time and are covered by the media long in advance. Giving time to evacuate.
* Fires didn't just burn an occasional home or cabin, these were whole communities wiped out.
Can there be lessons learned?
1. The warning time given of an impending natural disaster is decreasing while the severity of disasters are increasing.
2. Disaster strikes even the most prepared.
3. Evacuation happens at the pace of the slowest car.
4. Warn your neighbors, even when there's been an official government announcement, not everyone gets the word, no fault of their own. How often has everyone else known something and you were last to hear. Communication is always the first thing to go out in an emergency.
5. Sometimes the disaster is much closer than we think but is hidden behind hills. Even if the disaster isn't immediately forcing us to evacuate at that moment, it may prevent us from evacuating along our usual shortest route.
6. Don't worry about scraping the paint on your car or ruining the tires, get out of there.
7. Call family and friends to let them know you are safe, where you are, and how to reach you.
8. Have insurance.
9. Be hopeful and optimistic, and it's good to morn.
10. Be still and know that I am God.
When you are evacuating you may think, "my neighbors aren't leaving. I look foolish. I will disrupt my family. My neighbors will probably mock me."
Yes, maybe you will get lucky and the hurricane will miss your house or it may fizzle out and your neighbors may make fun of you, that they stayed behind with electricity, watching evacuees on TV while you hustled your family away, sleept in a hotel or with family far away. But if the disaster or a tsunami or hurricane or fire or flood strikes or suddenly intensifies and those people who stayed behind become trapped either in the disaster or the evacuation, how much is your peace of mind worth knowing you, your family, and your pets are safe.
There is something called the "herd mentality." We like to stare at something that is unusual and uncommon to try to understand it. We all do something called "confirmation bias." This is where we look to others to see what their actions will be before we take our own action. Just like a herd of spooked cattle or horses, everyone runs in the same direction at the same time.
The only way to break this cycle is to (speaking in metaphors) when we are gazelles and we see a lion, we shouldn't wait until it's close before we bolt.
And as a last thought. #10. Be still and know that I am God. We don't understand disasters. We don't understand why they happen to us. There will be a million things going through our mind when a disaster strikes us personally.
Stop, pause, breath. Don't try to figure out everything all at once. Rarely does life go as planned. Trust in God. Take it a day at a time, sometimes an hour at a time. Sometimes a breath at a time. If you get the chance, watch the sun rise and thank God for another day.
Good video to watch on the Paradise Fire. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxt7L4x_NQo
Take-aways:
1. Don't wait for social media, neighbors, friends or family evacuation confirmation. If you have to ask if you should evacuate, it's time to evacuate.
2. Know how your community issues information and evacuation. (social media, phone calls, phone alerts, door-to-door, air raid sirens?)
3. Disaster evacuation is like the difference between leaving before 7am and 7:05am to miss rush hour traffic. The longer you delay, the worse the traffic jam becomes and the possibility of the escape window closes.
4. Sometimes you have to trust your gut (instinct). You may not have received notice to evacuate but if your gut tells you something isn't right, go with it and evacuate.
5. Make sure you check message boards (to make sure your name isn't on the missing list) during a disaster and communicate with family and friends to make sure they know where you are and how to reach you.
* It's fall, not summer. There shouldn't be forest fires in the fall.
* Where did the fires come from? Usually these things grow over time and are covered by the media long in advance. Giving time to evacuate.
* Fires didn't just burn an occasional home or cabin, these were whole communities wiped out.
Can there be lessons learned?
1. The warning time given of an impending natural disaster is decreasing while the severity of disasters are increasing.
2. Disaster strikes even the most prepared.
3. Evacuation happens at the pace of the slowest car.
4. Warn your neighbors, even when there's been an official government announcement, not everyone gets the word, no fault of their own. How often has everyone else known something and you were last to hear. Communication is always the first thing to go out in an emergency.
5. Sometimes the disaster is much closer than we think but is hidden behind hills. Even if the disaster isn't immediately forcing us to evacuate at that moment, it may prevent us from evacuating along our usual shortest route.
6. Don't worry about scraping the paint on your car or ruining the tires, get out of there.
7. Call family and friends to let them know you are safe, where you are, and how to reach you.
8. Have insurance.
9. Be hopeful and optimistic, and it's good to morn.
10. Be still and know that I am God.
When you are evacuating you may think, "my neighbors aren't leaving. I look foolish. I will disrupt my family. My neighbors will probably mock me."
Yes, maybe you will get lucky and the hurricane will miss your house or it may fizzle out and your neighbors may make fun of you, that they stayed behind with electricity, watching evacuees on TV while you hustled your family away, sleept in a hotel or with family far away. But if the disaster or a tsunami or hurricane or fire or flood strikes or suddenly intensifies and those people who stayed behind become trapped either in the disaster or the evacuation, how much is your peace of mind worth knowing you, your family, and your pets are safe.
There is something called the "herd mentality." We like to stare at something that is unusual and uncommon to try to understand it. We all do something called "confirmation bias." This is where we look to others to see what their actions will be before we take our own action. Just like a herd of spooked cattle or horses, everyone runs in the same direction at the same time.
The only way to break this cycle is to (speaking in metaphors) when we are gazelles and we see a lion, we shouldn't wait until it's close before we bolt.
And as a last thought. #10. Be still and know that I am God. We don't understand disasters. We don't understand why they happen to us. There will be a million things going through our mind when a disaster strikes us personally.
Stop, pause, breath. Don't try to figure out everything all at once. Rarely does life go as planned. Trust in God. Take it a day at a time, sometimes an hour at a time. Sometimes a breath at a time. If you get the chance, watch the sun rise and thank God for another day.
Good video to watch on the Paradise Fire. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxt7L4x_NQo
Take-aways:
1. Don't wait for social media, neighbors, friends or family evacuation confirmation. If you have to ask if you should evacuate, it's time to evacuate.
2. Know how your community issues information and evacuation. (social media, phone calls, phone alerts, door-to-door, air raid sirens?)
3. Disaster evacuation is like the difference between leaving before 7am and 7:05am to miss rush hour traffic. The longer you delay, the worse the traffic jam becomes and the possibility of the escape window closes.
4. Sometimes you have to trust your gut (instinct). You may not have received notice to evacuate but if your gut tells you something isn't right, go with it and evacuate.
5. Make sure you check message boards (to make sure your name isn't on the missing list) during a disaster and communicate with family and friends to make sure they know where you are and how to reach you.
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