The 7 core areas of preparedness

If you get a chance, go out and buy Backwoods Home magazine this month (Jan/Feb 2012). It's worth the $6 just to read Patrice Lewis' superb article on the 7 core areas of preparedness. There are lots of articles and guides out there that treat this subject trivially (as I've mentioned in one of my previous posts), but this one really nails the family preparedness steps you should be thinking about. Hopefully the article will come out on the Backwoods Home Website before long.

Three must-read books to help you prepare your family for disaster

We all know we should be better prepared for a disaster, but once we've put together our "disaster kit" and know how to switch off the gas supply, what comes next? Well these three books will help you take the next step in three different ways - through understanding the psychology of disaster survival, through a highly practical guide to disaster organization, and through understanding how you can make your life more self-sufficient - and thus more robust.

1. The Unthinkable - Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why. This book sets the stage for your whole approach to disasters and reveals some of the basic instincts that can affect your chances of survival. Through a series of stories, and interviews with experts in neurology and psychology, it gives you an understanding of what your brain thinks you need to do, what you really need to do, and how two switch from the former to the latter in a disaster (for example, our natural instinct is to freeze and look to see what others are doing,  rather than to lead and take action). Very readable and very helpful.



2. Organize for Disaster: Prepare your Family and your Home for Any Natural or Unnatural Disaster. This highly practical book written by a professional organizer is packed with useful tips on everything from where to keep your documents, preparing your house for disaster, what food supplies to have in and how to evacuate safely. For those who like checklists, the appendix has a pack of templates for things like a family communications plan and a home inventory.





3. The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Lead it. This book is to prepare you for the really big disasters - e.g. the ones that might knock out your power for months, or change our very way of life. But the gem of this book is in both dusting off some of the pearls of wisdom built up over generations (how to grow potatoes in a small space in your yard) and in some really innovative things that come from an author that has been doing this kind of thing all his life (like how to build an outdoor toilet that also makes compost!). Whether you want to set up a 1-acre farm or just learn how to grow a few vegetables on your deck, this nicely illustrated book is the one to go for.

Hurricane Katia Resources

Here are some resources for tracking Hurricane Katia. I will keep this page updated as the storm develops. Please also check out the dashboard and resources tabs on this site for more resources.

For those in the path of Katia, you can get official general forecasts from the National Hurricane Center, and local information from the NWS Hurricane Local Statements. You can also find twitter feeds of your local emergency management officials on the excellent Map of reliable twitter feeds which was originally set up for Hurricane Irene. General preparation advice can be found on the FEMA blog.

Check out this book and this book to help you prepare for the next disaster!

Tracking tools and general information sources

National Hurricane Center - official watches, warnings, advisories, probability cones, etc
Hurricane Local Statements - for specific areas

Stormpulse - Hurricane Katia - high quality maps and tracking tools

Weather Underground Katia Tracking Page - nice tracking resources
Weather.com Irene Tracking Page
VueToo Katia Situation Page - multiple concurrent maps of Katia's status
FEMA blog (weather updates) - updates and preparation information.
Hurricane Katia Wikipedia Page
Central Florida Hurricane Center (aggregates information relating to Florida)

Tampa Bay Online Hurricane Guide - with local resources for Florida
Florida Sun-Sentinel Hurricane Page

Social media tools

Google News on Irene- hits for Katia on Google News
Irene Twitter/Weather Map - shows radar image plus markers linking to twitter hashtags for locations
Map of reliable twitter feeds - shows feeds of local emergency management agencies, etc (originally for Irene)

Twitter updates for #hurricane OR #katia
Hurricane Katia Facebook page

Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker - blog with updates and discussion
ESRI Tweet Map - map with hurricane track and tweets
Red Cross Shelters on map

Other tools and information

Hurricane Watch Net - streaming audio during active events

Radio Reference Wiki Major Events - radio frequencies and such like for major disasters (should they happen)

Virginia Earthquake Resources

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake hit in Virginia August 31 at 1:51pm EST. No reports of injuries but buildings evacuated, and nuclear power plants shut down. Here are some resources on this:

USGS Information page for this earthquake
Google News search for earthquake virginia
Twitter search for #earthquake OR #equs OR #vaeq OR #dcquake
Washington Post blog entry
Virginia Seismic Zone on Wikipedia
Radioreference.com live scanner feeds
ESRI earthquake map (crowdsourced)

Hurricane Irene Resources

As of the 7PM EDT Saturday update, Irene was a Category 1 hurricane weakening slightly to maximum sustained winds of around 80 mph.  Here are some resources for tracking the storm. I will keep this page updated as the storm develops. Please also check out the dashboard and resources tabs on this site for more resources.

For those in the path of Irene, you can get official general forecasts from the National Hurricane Center, and local information from the NWS Hurricane Local Statements. You can also find twitter feeds of your local emergency management officials on the excellent Map of reliable twitter feeds. General preparation advice can be found on the FEMA blog.

Check out this book and this book to help you prepare for the next disaster!

Tracking tools & general information sources

National Hurricane Center - official watches, warnings, advisories, probability cones, etc
Hurricane Local Statements - for specific areas

Stormpulse - Hurricane Irene - high quality maps and tracking tools

Weather Underground Irene Tracking Page - nice tracking resources
Weather.com Irene Tracking Page
VueToo Irene Situation Page - multiple concurrent maps of Irene's status
FEMA blog (weather updates) - updates and preparation information.
Hurricane Irene Wikipedia Page
Central Florida Hurricane Center (aggregates information relating to Florida)

Tampa Bay Online Hurricane Guide - with local resources for Florida
Florida Sun-Sentinel Hurricane Page

Social media tools

Google News on Irene- hits for Irene on Google News
Google Map - Annotated with information about Irene (also below)
Irene Twitter/Weather Map - shows radar image plus markers linking to twitter hashtags for locations
Map of reliable twitter feeds - shows feeds of local emergency management agencies, etc
Project EPIC Tweak-the-Tweet map - categorized twitter posts plotted on a map
Google Crisis Response Map - a variety of information can be projected on a map

Twitter updates for #hurricane OR #irene

Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker - blog with updates and discussion
ESRI Tweet Map - map with hurricane track and tweets
Crisis Commons Wiki - lists of data sources for Irene
OASIS map with NYC evacuation centers
Red Cross Shelters on map

News reports & pictures
Pictures of Irene impact from Puerto Rico (Washington Post)
Video of Irene taken from International Space Station (NASA)

Other tools & information

Hurricane Watch Net - streaming audio during active events

Radio Reference Wiki Major Events - radio frequencies and such like for major disasters (should they happen)


View Hurricane Irene in a larger map

Strong geomagnetic solar storm hits earth

Last night's geomagnetic storm was classified as "strong" on the NOAA Space Weather scale, threatening to cause some disruptions in satellite communications, and possibly in power systems. At one point, the Kp index (a measure of the amount of geomagnetic disturbance - see my guide to solar weather)  hit "8" which is pretty impressive (see picture). As it happens, there don't seem to have been any really significant disruptive effects from this storm, but we should take this as a wake-up call. As we approach the 2013 solar sunspot maximum, NASA is predicting around four "extreme" events, and many severe events. As I discussed previously, such events could cause a widespread, long-lived power outage. Even a widespread outage of a few days could cause some big problems for nuclear power plants. Such a long term power outage really needs to be on our preparedness radar - both for individuals (e.g. by keeping a rolling food store) and for emergency managers.

Tropical Storm Emily Resources

As of 5PM Thursday, Tropical Storm Emily has been downgraded and is not expected to produce significant wind damage (although 2-4 inches of rainfall are expected). Here are some resources for tracking the storms. I will keep this page updated as the storm develops. Please also check out the dashboard and resources tabs on this site for more resources. 

National Hurricane Center - official, watches, warnings, advisories, probability cones, etc

Stormpulse Atlantic Tracker - high quality maps and tracking tools

Weather Underground Emily Tracking Page - nice tracking resources
Tropical Storm Emily Wikipedia Page

Tampa Bay Online Hurricane Guide - with local resources for Florida
Florida Sun-Sentinel Hurricane Page

Google News on Emily- hits for Emily on Google News

Twitter updates for #emily

Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker - blog with updates and discussion

Hurricane Watch Net - streaming audio during active events (not yet for Igor)

Radio Reference Wiki Major Events - radio frequencies and such like for major disasters (should they happen)