Keep the Horse Wagons Hitched!

The recent fires have been devastating -- bigger, quicker and sooner than we have seen in our lifetimes.  But along with tales of sadness come a few notes of hope.  An elderly couple were rescued in the nick of time by brave fire crews and someone’s cat was found unharmed in the some smoldering debris.  But what struck me were those who did not have to evacuate, but were ready to do so.  Maybe it was the imagery, but when I heard of horse owners who keep their horse trailers always hitched to a truck in fire season, that seemed so smart.  They understand where they were vulnerable, then prepared for it.

The world has seen its share of disasters so far this year…Enormous snowfalls in the Atlantic Northeast in January, Floods in Louisiana (again!) and West Virginia, fires in many parts of California, deadly earthquakes in Ecuador, Italy and Japan.  Between the natural disasters and the manmade ones, one can get pretty discouraged, so I thought I’d bring you a few photos and short stories about things that make us feel that we can survive and survive well.

In 1999, a tornado hit Oklahoma, the likes they had never experienced before.  The force was so great that a 10-month old girl was literally ripped from her mother’s arms and out the window.  Even as the mother was later being taken to the emergency room, she begged authorities to look for her baby.  To everyone’s amazement, the child was found in the mud more than 100 feet from the house, alive and unharmed. [Oklahoma’s Own, February 23, 2012.]

In May 2013, a tornado hit Moore, Oklahoma.  This woman was prepared and knew what to do.  She was stunned but resolved that the storm had taken everything from her.  Then “the love of her life” was found.  Maybe you have seen this video, but it is worth viewing again:

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/okla-tornado-survivor-finds-dog-buried-alive-under-rubble/?lumiereId=50147264&videoId=17c05109-3644-11e3-8ce8-047d7b15b92e&cbsId=50147264&site=cbsnews

This is a great photo, too.

In the flooding after Hurricane Katrina, some people who lost their homes refused to be rescued unless they were allowed to bring their pets with them.

From pbs.org.  Human Society Volunteer rescuing dogs after Hurricane Katrina.

From ifrc.org.  Rescuers help elderly woman from flood waters in India.

From: www.telegraph.co.uk.  Japan Rescue Dog Association looks for survivors of the Japanese earthquake in February 2011.

Be prepared, my friends.

If you are short on time (sorry, I just can’t help but tell a long story), just remember this: PREPARING for disasters will not prevent a disaster from happening, but it will make going through them a heck of a lot EASIER.

By now, we have all probably stopped writing 2015 and gotten used to 2016. Or at least the 5s are fairly easy to make into 6s.  But, I wanted to share some information now that really hit a chord with me. I recently heard a presentation about a survey of people’s fears.  Surprisingly or not, “politics” was the greatest fear of the 1500 or so American surveyed across the U.S.  I’ll have to plead “no comment” on that at the moment and focus on their subsequent fears – man-made and natural disasters.

The crazy thing is – even knowing what they fear -- an overwhelming number of people refused to do anything to prepare for them:  “If I don’t admit it exists, then it doesn’t exist. Oh, and please don’t touch my candy house and unicorns…”

Fortunately, we have little to fear from tornadoes, hurricanes and tsunamis, but our troubles will come from Ma Earth giving us a good shake, an extended drought causing wildfires, or El Nino creating floods and mudslides (no, really, we ARE getting rain…one of these days).  And while these are typically big and rarely occurring events, we are “bugged” constantly by something else…skeeters.

Infections of the West Nile Virus is at a low right now, but the Zika virus, spread by the day-time biting Aedes species mosquito, is gaining a foothold here in Orange County. Mosquitoes carrying these viruses can cause tremendous harm to certain individuals, so take their presence seriously.  Do not allow ANY STANDING WATER in which they can breed… patio plant saucers, bird baths, anything that holds even a drop of water. Cover rain barrels with mosquito netting too.  Go to the OC Vector control site for some tips: http://www.ocvcd.org/

I suffered a tremendous loss on January 4, when I lost my mother.  She was 96, and plagued by memory loss, but she was cheerful every day and always saw the best in everyone and everything. Even when confronted with something she didn’t like, she just uttered a deadpan, “whoopee” and moved on.  I think she feared nothing. Or maybe forgot that she did.  In any case, she greeted every day with determination and spunk – and I miss her dearly.

So, there is stuff to fear, but I am confident we can all do something: Put supplies in your house and car and make family and work disaster plans.  It may not always be fun to do, but just give it a “whoopee” and move on.  You’ll be fine.