El Nino: More than an excuse to buy new boots

Before I get to today's useful preparedness tips, I'd like to share a story.  You all know the story of Pavlov's famous experiments with dogs.  He rang a bell in anticipation of giving them food, and before long, the ring of a bell caused the dogs to salivate just in anticipation of their treats. [Actually, what he did to dogs was not even remotely so nice, so we are all best believing this version instead…] But it was conditioning.  Do something at a stimulus.  Well, last week, I had the pleasure of attending the taping of Dancing With The Stars.  And yes it was wonderful.  For the uninitiated, audience members at these gigs are expected to get involved in the excitement. For anyone who knows me, this is right up my alley.  When they say to show them you are excited, I did just that...Jump out of my seat, throw my arms up, give a big "woo-hoo!" and clap, and they want you to do this for pretty much anything that goes on during the show. Anything. So, during that nearly 3-hour show, I was up and woo-hoo-ing at nearly every intro and cute dance move, or anything else even remotely “amazing.” 

That was Monday afternoon.  Move forward about 36 hours to the American Red Cross Disaster Preparedness Academy -- A really pleasant affair at the Anaheim Convention Center with a few hundred like-minded people early Wednesday morning.  I was seated fairly near the front when a Red Cross representative stepped to the stage to welcome us.  As he turned to introduce the event’s Master of Ceremonies, Pavlov rang a bell in my head and I was up and out of my seat before you could holler “you’re not where you think you are.”  Fortunately, my senses kicked in just before the peak of my stance and before my arms shot up, and I realized that no one else was rising.  At all.  Immediately, I went to the “oh, I’m just standing a little to re-adjust my slacks,” mode with a slight smile, smoothing the back of my pants and nod to my fellow table mates before sitting back down, relieved that I caught it all before the woo-hoo kicked in, along my extreme embarrassment.

So, what does that have to do with today’s topic, El Niño? Perhaps not much, but the imagery is good…  El Niño forecasters are not 100% sure we will completely flood, but the conditions are out there for a pretty wet, albeit warm, winter.  And there are some important things to do NOW:

YOUR HOUSE:

Check your roof and clean out your gutters.  Make sure water does not pool near the base of any structure, so if you have slope issues, fix them.  Getting some sandbags and plastic sheeting are probably a good idea too.  Painting exposed wood will keep your structure strong and dry.  You thought you had ants before? HA!  The rains will really bring them in.  Caulk cracks and other entrances and maybe hire someone to help you with pest strategies.

YOUR CAR:

Go ahead and buy new wipers.  You probably need them anyway.  And check your headlights and tires.  All of those are important to safe driving in the rain.

YOUR GARDEN:

Help keep the water where you want it and loosen your soil as much as possible to allow rain to soak in.

INSURANCE:

Take photos of your house now.  It will help a lot with claims later.

SIGNUP:

Go to http://bos.ocgov.com/alertoc/alertoc.asp to sign up for county-wide alerts (Orange County, California--other counties/states have them too).  Know what is going on so you can prepare yourself and your family, especially if you are traveling.

Now once you have done all of that leap up and give yourself a hearty DWTS woo-hoo! You deserve it.

Be prepared, my friends. 

Water – Elusive Elixir and Unwelcome Invader

Over 12 million people are suffering from the worst drought in sixty years in an area known as the Horn of Africa – Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. The drought has severely impacted food supplies so that now around one million are facing starvation. Hundreds of people are dying every day, and nearly half of those are children.

In an almost surreal event, Vermont was hit by a hurricane last month. An astonishing one-and-a-half inches of rain fell every hour for a while, pushing river water to record levels. Homes were destroyed and many historic bridges and roads were washed away. Several towns were flooded in several feet of water and 5 million people were without power. In the end, the storm cost $45 billion dollars and the lives of 40 people. Recovery will take weeks to months, with many things lost forever.

Water is absolutely necessary for life. We need it to move nutritional elements and essential salts through our bodies. Blood is about 8% of our body weight and about 50% of that is plasma, which is mostly water. This vital fluid moves through our heart and kidneys and filters out the bad and unwanted material. As the amount of water in our body shrinks, the delicate balance of fluid composition is disrupted and the body becomes much more susceptible to infection and disease.

On the other hand, too much water can dilute your body’s electrolytic balance and neurons can no longer fire and cells miss important messages. While we are all sadly aware of drowning, a person can literally die from consuming too much water as well. This is extreme, to be sure, but it can and has happened.

Once water has seeped into your home, your carpets, and your walls, it often prepares a perfect spot to host undesirable elements such as mold, mildew and fungus. It is so difficult to rid of them that sometimes the wet objects (keepsakes to furniture to houses) can only be thrown away or completely replaced.

Water, so necessary and yet so dangerous. We cannot tell Mother Nature where to drop this life-giving/life-threatening elixir, but we can look at our own lives and think, “What if...” then “What can I do to protect this...”

For those who want to find some way to help those in need in the Horn of African, go to: http://www.wfp.org/stories/horn-africa-10-ways-you-can-help.