Tag Archives: Emergency Preparedness

Show Your Cards for Disaster Preparedness on November 16th!

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Each year in November, RSCA promotes safety preparedness with the Emergency Preparedness Month. You can read this month’s issue of The PILOT for a number of tips and recommendations to ready your home and your family in case of a sudden disaster. 
 
As part of Emergency Preparedness Month, RSCA also provides all homes and businesses in Redwood Shores with a RED/GREEN Disaster Signal Card designed to help emergency responders quickly assess who needs immediate help and who is OK, in a disaster scenario, and for use in drills occasionally.  This year, it was printed in the center page of The PILOT, so you can tear it out and keep it (…and hopefully never need the red side). Please keep this card where you can locate it quickly. Also keep tape nearby so that you can quickly put it where it can be seen clearly from the street. This may be in a front window or on your front or garage door depending on the layout of your particular neighborhood. If you need assistance, this card will help get the quickest response. The card should not be displayed year-round.
 
“Show Your Cards” Drill on November 16th!
On Saturday, November 16th, RSCA and local volunteers will be running a drill to practice home checks of card use.

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Show Your Cards on November 13th!

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Each year, RSCA provides all homes and businesses in Redwood Shores with a RED/GREEN Disaster Signal Card designed to help emergency responders quickly assess who needs immediate help and who is OK, in a disaster scenario, and for use in drills occasionally.  This year, it was printed in the center page of this PILOT, so you can tear it out and keep it (and hopefully never need the red side). Please keep this card where you can locate it quickly. Also keep tape nearby so that you can quickly put it where it can be seen clearly from the street. This may be in a front window or on your front or garage door depending on the layout of your particular neighborhood. If you need assistance, this card will help get the quickest response. The card should not be displayed year-round.

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Show Your Cards on Disaster Preparedness Day

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Sunday, November 24th

For our third year in a row, the Redwood City Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) in co-operation with Redwood Shores Community Association (RSCA) will be conducting a Emergency Drill on Sunday, November 24th.

On that day, we ask residents to display the RED/GREEN signal cards that were distributed each of the past two years to every household via the Pilot. CERT teams will survey all of Redwood and Belmont Shores looking for those cards.

The Disaster Signal Card allows residents to signal for help when landline telephone, cell phone and online communications are not working. This tool for Redwood Shores will improve the ability of first responders such as fire and police departments as well as our Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) to quickly identify homes in need of help.

Redwood Shores Disaster Signal Card

Redwood Shores Disaster Signal Card

The CERT teams are made up of Redwood City volunteers who have been trained in First Aid and Disaster Procedures. In an actual disaster, those teams would be looking for homes in distress. Homes that displayed a green card would be helping by allowing the teams to quickly move on.

Please help to prepare for a disaster by showing your card so that we can help you. Put them in your front window so they are visible from the street!

If you are new to Redwood Shores this year, you can request a Disaster Signal Card by sending an email to with your name and address. Please include the date that you moved into your new home.

Disaster Signal Card Drill

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Inside the November issue of The Pilot you will find a Disaster Signal Card — green on one side and red on the other. KEEP THIS CARD WHERE YOU CAN GET TO IT EASILY!

Everyone who lives in Redwood Shores knows that the possibility of a major disaster is real. Although there are several possible causes of a future disaster, the greatest threat is from an earthquake. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was a once in a hundred year quake which means that we are now overdue for another major quake. Although there is nothing we can do to prevent an earthquake, you CAN prepare your home and family for one. To help us prepare for such a disaster, the Redwood Shores Community Association (RSCA) has decided to is devoting this issue of our monthly The PILOT to Disaster Preparedness.

In The Pilot this month, you will find information on:

  • Making a family disaster plan.
  • Getting Information during a disaster
  • Preparing your home for a big Shake
  • Creating a Go Bag
  • Creating an Emergency Supply Kit
  • Preparing pets for a disaster
  • Preparedness at our schools
  • Instructions on when and how to turn off your gas

In addition to these informative articles dealing with preparedness, RSCA is providing a new Disaster Signal Card which will allow residents to signal for help when landline telephone, cell phone and online communications are not working. This tool for Redwood Shores will improve the ability of first responders such as fire and police departments as well as our Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) to quickly identify homes in need of help.

Redwood Shores Disaster Signal Card

Redwood Shores Disaster Signal Card

Look for this card in your November 2011 issue of The Pilot. If you did not receive your card, please email

Please remove the Signal Card from the magazine and read the instructions for its use. On Saturday, November 12th and Sunday, November 13th, Redwood Shores CERT will hold a Disaster Signal Card drill. Residents are asked to ‘Show Your Cards’ (GREEN side ony!) that day so they can be seen from the street. On that day CERT teams will practice surveying our neighborhoods. We urge all residents to cooperate with this local disaster drill.

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Point to Need for Local Disaster Preparation

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While the tragic earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan have not had a significant effect on the west coast or the interior shoreline of San Francisco Bay, this event serves as a blunt reminder to the Bay Area that a disaster can strike quickly, without warning, and with devastating consequences. The Redwood City Fire Department wants to remind our community that preparing one’s family and home for a possible disaster – earthquake, flood, or fire, for example – can make a life-or-death difference.

The Redwood City Fire Department offers information and tips for disaster preparedness on its web page located at www.redwoodcity.org/fire. In the event of a major disaster, homes, neighborhoods, or entire areas may be without basic services like water, gas, electricity, and telephones, or access to stores and other services for several hours or days. While public safety personnel will be on the scene after a disaster, they cannot reach everyone right away. Therefore, the best way to ensure the safety of family and home is to be well-prepared before disaster strikes.

The Fire Department encourages Redwood City residents and businesses to do their part to prepare for disaster – and offers these links to get started (all of these are also on the Fire Department’s website):

And, even though the tsunami resulting from the Japan earthquake has not significantly affected the waters here in the Bay Area, it’s important for anyone living near our coastline to have information about tsunamis.

Visit Redwood City’s award-winning website at www.redwoodcity.org for information about the City and its services, the community, recreation programs, education, and local business. Subscribe to Redwood City’s email newsletter and other City documents by visiting www.redwoodcity.org/egov .

Power Restored in Redwood Shores After Outage

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Redwood Shores has experienced a massive power outage that has affected communities including residents of Marlin Shores, Dolphin Park, Mariner Park, and the Sunrise and Hastings complexes, as well as the Nob Hill shopping center.

 

UPDATE: As of 9PM on Friday the 25th, PG&E has restored power

to all 2,000 affected homes in Redwood Shores.

Those who have questions about the safety of defrosted food in the fridge

should call the USDA at 1-888-674-6854 for advisement.

 

PREVIOUS INFO (as of Friday at 9AM:)

Power was lost on Thursday night at approximately 10PM. PG&E is currently working on the situation but does not have an expected time of repair at this time. Redwood City has been alerted to the situation, and RSCA will also be following up with the city as far as the unexpected outage of street lamp and stoplights in the neighborhood.

For more information please call PG&E’s automated power outage phone service at 1-800-743-5002. The main PG&E phoneline is 1-800-743-5000.

PREVIOUS INFO (as of Friday at 11AM:)

  • PG&E’s automated service says that the outage was caused by damaged equipment.
  • Some neighborhoods have had power restored as of Thursday night; others are out as of Friday morning.
  • Due to the location of power transformers and distribution boxes in Redwood Shores, services such as Comcast cable and internet may be out even in neighborhoods that have power restored.
  • Nob Hill shopping center is back online with power and is now open as of Friday the 25th.

Disaster Preparedness Tips for February

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This month’s focus is on the Big Turn-Off: knowing where your utility boxes are and how to shut them off in case of an emergency.


UTILITY SHUT-OFFS

LOCATE YOUR GAS AND WATER SHUTOFF VALVES AND THE ELECTRIC FUSE BOX. The gas and water shutoffs are usually outside and the fuse box will be in the garage or inside a closet.

KNOW HOW TO TURN OFF THE GAS AND WATER. In general, the water shutoff will be a round handle like the handle for the garden hose.. Turn it clockwise to turn the water supply for the house off. The gas valve will require a wrench. A quarter turn will close it off. Note that the water and/or gas valves may be housed in a cool dark place frequented by spiders and other nasties, so WEAR HEAVY GLOVES when working in those spaces.

IF YOU CANNOT LOCATE YOUR UTILITY SHUTOFFS OR DO NOT KNOW HOW TO TURN THEM OFF, contact your homeowner’s association if you have one.

DO NOT TURN OFF THE GAS UTILITY UNLESS YOU SMELL GAS OR HAVE REASONS TO SUSPECT A LINE IS BROKEN. Once the gas is turned off, you will need to contact PG&E to turn it back on and that could take several days.

KEEP A WRENCH ENCLOSED IN A PLASTIC BAG NEXT TO THE GAS VALVE. As the valve tends to freeze over time, a longer wrench will give you a better chance of closing it off.

TOOLS AND CLOTHING

KEEP A PAIR OF STURDY (heavy rubber soled) SHOES BESIDE YOUR BED. Quakes can occur at night and most of us sleep barefoot! Include a warm sweater/jacket, rain gear (vinyl parka), heavy gloves and a change or clothes for each household member in your quake supplies.

INCLUDE A CROWBAR, PICK, HAMMER, ROPE AND LOTS OF FLASHLIGHTS in your list of tools and hardware to have on hand. Keep flashlights everywhere – each room and vehicle. Also, have at least one battery operated radio near by. Check the batteries in flashlights and radios often. Keep extra batteries on hand at all times.

INVOLVE ALL HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS IN QUAKE PREPARATION!

— Mike Mancusi

—  Mike Mancusi

Disaster Preparedness Tips for January

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WATER: Following a disaster our water supply could be shut off. Are you prepared?

YOU SHOULD HAVE ONE GALLON PER PERSON PER DAY, MINIMUM. FEMA RECOMMENDS A THREE DAY SUPPLY.

Make sure water is stored in the proper containers, away from sunlight and contaminates, and in as spill-proof a location as possible. Use opaque, not clear, containers. Store on the floor, not on a shelf

YOU MAY BE ABLE TO GET WATER FROM THE TOILET TANK. (only if not treated chemically – blue tank water, “2000 Flushes”, etc.).

You may need to filter for glass particles or purify when water is obtained from those sources. DO NOT DEPEND ON THIS WATER SOURCE! Never use water from the toilet bowl and do not use from the tank if toilet has been flushed after the quake (broken sewer lines may have contaminated the water).

YOU MAY ALSO USE CANNED OR “BOXED” JUICES AND THE LIQUID FROM CANNED GOODS AS AN ALTERNATE SOURCE FOR VARIATION.

YOU MAY BE ABLE TO GET WATER FROM YOUR WATER PIPES. Turn off the water supply to your house. Open the faucets of your second story bath. Then open a downstairs faucet with a collecting pail beneath it.

USE MELTED ICE FROM THE FREEZER. it’s another small but usable source..

COLLECT RAIN WATER IN CLEAN CONTAINERS AFTER A QUAKE. Dirty containers can be lined with clean plastic bags, when needed.

CONSERVE, CONSERVE, CONSERVE! Use water only for drinking, washing hands and cooking after the quake.

BUY A WATER FILTRATIONIPURIFYING SYSTEM AND/OR TABLETS. You can find out about these at most full-line camping supply retailers (REI, Redwood Trading Post…)

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

  • DON’T FORGET FOOD AND WATER FOR PETS. Pets may consume large quantities of water when under stress, so make sure you’ve included water supplies for them. Keeping an extra bag of dry food will take care of the pet’s short term nutritional needs and is easy to store for most pets.
  • MORE IS ALWAYS BETTER!! There is a good chance that more than a three day supply will be needed if freeway overpasses collapse, blocking access roads, or if neighbors are not prepared or their supply is destroyed.
  • KEEP BACKPACKS AROUND TO CARRY FOOD IN, should we need to hike out of the area.

—  Mike Mancusi

Storms Coming — Sandbags Available for Redwood City Residents

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A significant set of storms is predicted to come in starting late tonight or tomorrow, Friday, December 17, along with high tides on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings.

If you are in a flood-prone area of Redwood City, you’ll want to know that sandbags are available – these are for Redwood City residents only and there is a limit of 24 sandbags per household. You can pick up sandbags in the parking lot of Redwood City’s Public Works Services building, 1400 Broadway (between Chestnut and Woodside).

Our Public Works Services and public safety staff will of course be monitoring the storm conditions closely. You can help by making sure the storm drains on your street are clear of leaves and other debris. Please work with your neighbors and identify those that will take the responsibility to clean any debris and leaves that may be covering catch basins or inlets before the storms start, and then keep an eye on them through the weekend and clear them out if they become blocked.

City crews are right now out inspecting and checking channels, creeks and storm drain inlets, but your help is needed throughout this series of storms. If you notice significant problems during the storms, you can contact Redwood City Public Works Services at (650) 780-7464.

Again, the sandbags at Redwood City’s Public Works Services Department are for Redwood City residents only, and there is a limit of 24 per household. For residents of unincorporated areas of San Mateo County, the County provides other sandbag pickup locations (best to call first):

  • Grant Corporation Yard, 752 Chestnut, Redwood City – (650) 363-4103
  • Princeton Corporation Yard, 203 Cornell Avenue, Half Moon Bay – (650) 728-7993
  • Pescadero High School, 350 Butano Cut-Off Road, Pescadero
  • La Honda Corporation Yard, 59 Entrada Way, La Honda – (650) 747-0341

Here are sandbag locations for some other Peninsula cities. If you live in one of these cities, be sure to contact your local public works department to confirm availability of sandbags, locations, and limitations.

  • San Carlos – 100 Bransten Road, San Carlos
  • Belmont – 110 Sem Lane , Belmont
  • Palo Alto – 600 E. Meadow Drive
  • Palo Alto – Palo Alto Airport
  • City of San Mateo – 1949 Pacific Blvd. San Mateo
  • Menlo Park – Alma Street and Burgess Drive
  • Menlo Park – Pope Street and Laurel Ave.
  • Mountain View – 231 N. Whisman Road, Mountain View