Hurricane/Earthquake/Volcano/Flood - My house is gone!

[Tripitaka of AA]

Outdoor and Survival Skills... but in a former domestic setting.

What will I need to do if my house falls down?
Who should I contact first? Where are the water and Gas stopcocks? What are the most common mistakes that people make?

[Ramirez]

I am at work right now so can't post long, but if you can shut off the water and gas. If you live in an earthquake area, keep the gear outside the house in a garden shed or some other simple structure, I'll post a list of supplies later but tents, camping stoves, food, blankets, sleeping bags etc basically everything you need to live in the backyard.

Inside the house , the usual emergency gear, multitool, flashlight , knives, if there is a chance of the house falling down keep an axe or crowbar on each floor to dig your way out should the house collapse on top of you.

I don't know much about floods, I actually have no idea on how to prepare for a situation like what happened in Brisbane. I'll need to research that.

[Webmaster]

We have had a number of members who have been in just the circumstances you ask about. Most of the info/equipment that Mark has listed is good and I am sure that others will list some items, but one thing I absolutely recommend... a brass wrench for turning off the gas. Brass will not spark if you bang the wrench on something, and it could keep an already bad situation from becoming... explosive. There are also a number of other materials that will not spark, so be sure to get one as part of your emergency kit.

[Tripitaka of AA]

Great start, I think. Also, I was wondering about the more mundane aspects, perhaps more related to urban dwellers, like;
I guess I should know the location of my local church hall/sports centre/school that is likely to become an evacuation centre. Perhaps I should know which department of local government is going to help rebuild my street, or which grocery stores have depots outside the flood zone/disaster area.

The angle I'm looking at is this; in martial arts training, the emphasis of most training is toward becoming a "great fighter", whereas useful self-defence might be better served by developing good communication skills, or becoming better at describing a suspect's appearance. The TV star "Outdoorsman" might be able to live for a week on three twigs and a witchety grub, but for useful knowledge, the librarian might be better equipped. What do you reckon?

[Abbax8]

David,

Contact the local Red Cross (I believe there in the U.K.) and inquire about their Disaster Relief Department. They probably have some literature that would be very helpful. They may also invite you to some training as a volunteer.

Dennis

[Michael J. Bray]

:bow: Not quite as easy of a question as it sounds. First, where is your house? Is it city, country, woods, mountains? What disaster made the house fall? Tornado (we see too many of those in Ohio), hurricane, flood, earthquake? Are there neighbors nearby or all you and your family totally alone? All things to consider. In order of importance are water, medications and first aid supplies, food, safety and shelter. You will need communication. Protection may be in order unless the area you are in is relatively safe from the predators (looting, insanity)... The fact that you ask the question BEFORE your house falls down shows that you are thinking about preparation. That puts you FAR ahead of most of the pack. :bow:

[Cliff Hargrave]

After a big disaster like that you probably will not have to worry about shutting your water off, because the municipal supply will probably be down also. Gas is a another thing though. It's fairly easy to plug up a gas line to your house because it's only about 1/2 pound of pressure from the meter to the house. The company side of the meter is very pressured and that is where the problems will happen. After Hurricane Rita we had many main gas line broke from toppled tree roots. There is absolutely nothing you can do about until someone from the company turns off a main supply somewhere. It's loud, scary and will burn some things up real quick. I had to check a lot of houses for survivors and had to walk through a lot of yards with that hissing sound.

I have cut off valves outside the house for both gas and water.