ALERT NEWSLETTER – August 2015

Hi everyone,

I hope all is well as we enter these late summer days. As you bake and broil in the sun, remember that fall is just a little over a month away, and eventually the heat and humidity will retreat back towards the tropical realms from whence it came.

Our next ALERT meeting will be on August 11. Dues are still due, so if you missed the July meeting, grab the piggy bank and come to the meeting.

I hope to see you there!

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Home Damage Control Kits

If one does much study of disaster preparedness, you will encounter many lists of suggested items for emergency kits. You will see BOB’s or “Bug Out Bags”, INCH Kits or “I’m Never Coming Home” kits, GHB’s or “Get Home Bags”, and SKMO Kits or “Spouse Kicked Me Out” kits. However, the one kit I never seem to see anything about is Home Damage Control Kits.

Disasters come in many shapes and sizes. From flooded basements due to a burst pipe to storms planting a tree in your roof or liking your roof so much that it just takes it with it.

Regardless of the causes one should have some means of making emergency repairs so your home can remain habitual or to prevent further damage.

So what should be included in a Damage Control Kit?

In addition to a sturdy ladder you should have:

1. An ABC fire extinguisher. These are good for small fires, defined as those not reaching the ceiling. Any, fires that are larger than you are, or one that threatens to cut off your escape route, presents a smoke inhalation danger or might lead to an explosion, is beyond your control – GET OUT and call 911!

An ABC extinguisher can combat: A – Solid combustibles, such as wood & paper, B – small amounts of liquids or gases (not tankers or barrels) & C – electrical fires.

Realize that fire extinguisher can only discharge for up to 10 seconds, that’s all. So, if a fire looks like 10 seconds probably is not going to be sufficient to extinguish the fire, DON’T TRY, get out and call 911.

Extinguishers are used using the “PASS” method:

PULL… Pull the pin. This will also break the tamper seal.
AIM… Aim low, pointing the extinguisher nozzle (or its horn or hose) at the base of the fire.
NOTE: Do not touch the plastic discharge horn on CO2 extinguishers, it gets very cold and may damage skin.
SQUEEZE… Squeeze the handle to release the extinguishing agent.
SWEEP… Sweep from side to side at the base of the fire until it appears to be out. Watch the area. If the fire re-ignites, aim again, squeeze and sweep again, assuming you haven’t exhausted the extinguisher.

If you have the slightest doubt about your ability to fight a fire, EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY and call 911.

What if 911 is unavailable? Don’t try to be a hero. You can always replace “things”. But you cannot replace your life.

2. You should have a set of tools. Once upon a time nearly every guy owned a tool set. You could repair your own cars and do simple or not so simple home repairs. Now that “help” is just a phone call away, the need for a tool set is not overly apparent, and many don’t go to the bother to have one.

A good tool set for Damage Control would include a small knife; please not some Rambo sized Bowie Knife, as they prove too unwieldy for small work.

“The Bowies and Hunting Knives usually kept on sale, are
thick, clumsy affairs, murderous looking, but of little use,
rather fitted to adorn the belt of “Billy The Kid” on a Dime
Store Novel, than the outfit of a Hunter. “
– George Washington “Nessmuk” Sears 1885

Admittedly they look macho, but it’s like trying to peel an apple with a Samurai sword.

Also include shears, heavy duty scissors, saws – a gas powered chainsaw, a large bow saw, and a small folding saw, a claw hammer, a hatchet, screw drivers – both slotted and Phillips head, nut drivers, crescent wrenches, a pipe wrench, including a non-conductive one for the gas main, vise grips, a cordless drill, pry bars, gloves, googles and a hard hat.

3. Screws and nails of various sizes, including roofing nails, for shoring up and patching. A hammer and screwdriver is of little use if you have no nails or screws.

4. Duct tape. There are multitudes of uses for this wonder of human technology. You can use it to repair rips, slips, clips and drips. The adhesive has antibiotic properties, making a decent bandage. You can even use a strip for a short term emergency candle. http://theweekendprepper.com/supplies/50-practical-uses-for-duct-tape/
This and the following suggestion is sometimes lovingly referred to as “the Redneck Tool Kit”.

5. Water Displacement, 40th formula also called WD40. I always was tempted to change my call sign to Whiskey Delta Four Oscar. There is the old saying “If it won’t open, use WD4O, if it won’t close use duct tape”. This gem has over 2000 uses http://wd40.com/files/wd40-2000.pdf and supposedly is edible, though I’ve never tried it. Though it has been said “Mark will eat anything”, I do have my limits

6. Cordage. 550 paracord is strong and handy for tying and securing items and people if needed (until the police arrive). Any strong cordage is better than none, however.

7. Zip ties. When one is afraid or shaken they, due to uncontrollable physiological reactions, may find their fine motor skills compromised, and loose the ability to perform complex manual tasks such as tying knots. With zip ties, you may be able to avoid that problem. Zip ties can allow you to tie small things without cutting your cordage, something you really don’t want to do.

8. Flashlights & spare batteries. Preferably a headlamp, as this will free your hands for other tasks.
Others I might recommend are Rayovac’s a small but bright handheld 14 LED flashlight with a glow in the dark handle that I like, as it tells you where it is in the dark. Harbor Freight has a 27 LED flashlight/work light with a hanger and magnet so you can position it where you want.

9. Tarps. I remember being in South Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Charlie. Though some weeks had passed since the landfall, house after house was still aglow with blue tarps covering holes and missing sections of roofs.

This brings up the fact that no matter where you are, who you are or what situation has occurred, it may, despite the best intentions or performance, take a considerable amount of time for “things” to get back to normal. Crying, cursing, pouting or protesting can’t change the fact that some things just take time, and that your neighborhood may not be the first one on the list, as a damaged hospital might be considered a higher priority. Cutting through the damage path to reach people takes time, and rebuilding an infrastructure that took years to build may take more than just a few hours, it may take days or even weeks if not months to accomplish.

That’s why preparation, both materially and mentally, is important.

10. Knowledge. Long before a disaster strikes you should study and learn emergency preparedness and survival, both urban and wilderness. Why wilderness survival, you may ask? Because in a major disaster the damage may be so severe that the landscape no longer resembles civilization, but a strange torn wilderness, where wilderness rules apply.

You should make emergency kits, both the type being discussed and one following the recommendations of the National Severe Storms Laboratory. The NSSL recommends you keep a disaster supply kit, including:

A 3-day supply of water (one gallon per person per day) and food that won’t spoil
One change of clothing and footwear per person
One blanket or sleeping bag per person
A first-aid kit, including prescription medicines
Emergency tools, including a battery-powered NOAA Weather Radio and a portable radio
A flashlight, and plenty of extra batteries
An extra set of car keys and a credit card or cash
Special items for infant, elderly, or disabled family members.

Which is basically the same list recommended by FEMA, the Canadian, Japanese and Israeli governments.

A FEMA Basic Preparedness Guide is available at:

Click to access basic_preparedness.pdf

To go a step further, I recommend IS22 “Are You Ready”, which is FEMA’s most comprehensive source on individual, family and community preparedness.

IS22 “Are You Ready” is available at http://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/areyouready_full.pdf

The old 1960’s (once required high school reading) Civil Defense book “SM 3-11 Personal And Family Survival” recommended a 21-day emergency supply. This is probably a more realistic goal, in that in anything other than an isolated neighborhood emergency; it is very likely that it would take in excess of 72 hours for the infrastructure to return to normal & for you to be back “on the grid”.

Katrina, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 2011 and the April 27, 2011 tornado outbreak all are good examples.

SM 3-11 Personal And Family Survival is available at http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ina22/+301/$301-text-Personal_and_Family_Survival.html

Not only need do you need to make emergency kits; you need to know how to use what is in them.
Just going out and buying a kit and never opening it or examining it is just buying a false sense of security.

Do you know how to cut off your water, to prevent flooding and protect your remaining water supply, such as that stored the hot water tank or piping from contamination? Can you cut off your power or gas supply to prevent a fire or explosion? Do you know how to make simple repairs? If not, learn now; don’t wait until an emergency occurs and you desperately need that knowledge, but it is too late.

Learn the threats and limitations unique to your location. Threats may include tornadoes, floods, and man-made threats such as industrial sites, chemical storage and transportation. Limitations include access to your neighborhood and transportation/evacuation routes. Are there any choke points where a single fallen tree could cut off rescue or escape?

Learn your assets, such as the location of the nearest medical facilities, including “doc in a box” clinics, pharmacies, hospitals, fire and police stations.

Also, know yourself and your limitations, both physically and financially & have realistic goals and expectations. For instance, don’t think you can hike five miles during an emergency to the hardware store, if you can barely make it from the sofa to the refrigerator as it is. Whatever you can realistically do to strengthen yourself physically, even a little bit, do so. Your life could depend on it.

Financially speaking, you do not have to go broke “prepping”. Do a little at a time. This helps cushion the wallet, and has the added benefit of not overwhelming yourself with a moving van of “emergency stuff”. You get to know your equipment and preparations better and in a more personal way when you prepare slowly.

It seems redundant to say that the time to prepare for emergencies is before they occur, not after, but, in so many cases people, rather than being proactive in preparing for the safety of their families in advance of a threat, are reactive waiting until after a disaster has struck, and then desperately try to obtain supplies when the stores, if they still exist, have been stripped of inventory, due to everyone else trying to cope with the disaster.

The middle of a disaster is the worst time to think about preparing. On the other hand, if you already have these preparations on hand, and the knowledge of how to use them, you are way ahead in the game and can help yourself and others also.

One word of caution I will add is that if you do choose to make emergency preparations, be very quiet about it. Don’t advertise you preparations by talking about them or posting details about them on social media or even discussing them on the air for that matter. You really don’t want everyone to know what you may or may not have.

It seems to be human nature that the same people who will laugh and ridicule you for preparing, calling you a “loony, tin hatted, prepper-survivalist type, no code weather wacko”, will also be the first ones knocking on your door expecting you to do your duty and provide for them.

Though you might want to help them and probably will, it is not your responsibility. You don’t want the neighborhood to descend on you and eat up a month’s worth of supplies in a day and leave you with nothing.

Just as it isn’t the responsibility of FEMA, the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Baptist Disaster Relief, or
any other organization or person to make personal preparations for you or your family, it’s not your responsibility to prepare for others who are not willing to lift a finger in their own behalf.

Use wisdom. Help when you can, guide and advise if they will listen and are willing, but, ultimately you and your family must come first.

It’s not selfishness, its common sense.

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Mark’s Almanac

August was originally named “Sextilis”, the sixth Roman month. It was renamed August in honor of Caesar Augustus and lengthened to 31 days, to equal Julius Caesar’s month of July.

August is hot and humid and summer temperatures remain at or near their summer peak.

The rapid vegetation growth of spring is over, and, since conditions are now perfect for the growth of mold, fungi & germs, plants have a “used” look, which is enhanced if rainfall is scarce.

In August the choir of cicadas whine in the afternoon & towards the end of the month the big Yellow Sulphur Butterflies will begin heading to the South-Southeast, giving hints of their soon upcoming fall migration & cats will begin to hint of growing their winter coats.

Hurricane breeding grounds in August are the Atlantic, with Low Latitude storms forming off of Africa crossing the Ocean and either threatening the Eastern Seaboard or striking the Leeward Islands, entering the Caribbean and then striking the Yucatan, or the Western or Northern Gulf coast. Breeding grounds also include the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

21% of a year’s Hurricanes occur in August. 85 to 95% of land falling Hurricanes have not occurred by August 15.

Looking towards the sky, Mercury is hidden in the sunset.

Venus is dipping lower and lower towards the western horizon at sunset, look for her 20 to 30
minutes after sunset.

Mars is deep in the glow of dawn.

Jupiter is trailing Venus in the dusk sky, still close to each other, separated by 6 angular degrees, as they slowly sink into the western sky.

Saturn, shines in Scorpius in the south-southwest at sunset.

Uranus in Pisces is in the southern sky before the beginning of dawn.

Neptune in Aquarius is also in the southern sky before the first light of dawn.

Poor old demoted Pluto was successfully visited by the New Horizons spacecraft on July 14.

Among the interesting findings, which are and will be trickling in for the next 16 months, at 1 KBPS,
is the lack of cratering on Pluto and his primary moon Charon. Scientists expected a heavily cratered surface, similar to Jupiter’s moon Callisto or the southern region of our moon, instead, we see that while there are some craters, there are not very many, which means both objects are geologically active and resurfacing themselves.

The only other objects that does that is the Earth, due to geologic and weathering processes, Jupiter’s moon Europa, which because of the tidal action of Jupiter, is believed to possess an ice covered ocean and is as smooth as an bowling ball and Jupiter’s moon Io, which is so volcanically active that it’s sulfur volcanos are constantly resurfacing the landscape.

To do that both objects would have to have hot cores, and at that distance neither one should, and should have very heavily cratered surfaces, but doesn’t. So that has them wondering.

Pluto and Charon are gravitationally locked, that is that they always present the same faces to each other, similarly to how our moon only shows one face to the Earth.

Charon doesn’t rotate around Pluto. Since Charon is 1/4 the size of Pluto, it actually orbits the barycenter or a common center of gravity located between it and Pluto, like figure skaters circling holding hands.

The pair could almost be considered a double planet, if he hadn’t been demoted from planet status, due to his supposed dwarfish ways.

The poor old boy can’t win for losing.

If you want to see meteors, August is your month, as the Perseid Meteor Shower peaks on the night of August 12 & 13, with 50 to 60 meteors per hour. This shower, produce by debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, ranks as the best of the best, famous for producing bright meteors. With only a thin crescent moon, there will be little interference, and if you can get away from city lights you should have a good show.

The moon will disappear from the sky, its night side facing Earth, when New Moon occurs August 14 at 9:53 PM CDT.

August’s full moon is “Fruit Moon” in Cherokee Folklore, “Women’s Moon” among the Choctaw, “Sturgeon Moon” by the Algonquin and at one time was called “Dog Days Moon” by the Colonial Americans. This will occur August 29 at 1:35 PM CDT.

It is the first of three “Supermoons” occurring in 2015. The moon will be at its closest approach and may appear slightly larger and brighter than normal.

Don’t be surprised if the media, if both broadcast and especially social media herald the event as having some special, if not prophetic significance.

The truth is that they are not uncommon, and that it will be only slightly larger and brighter than normal, and most people are not actually able to tell the difference between it and an ordinary full moon.

Should you miss this Supermoon, you will also have opportunities at the Supermoons occurring at Harvest Moon on September 28 and at Hunter’s Moon on October 27.

1879 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of July 23, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/.

Among those 1879 planets is planet Kepler 452-B, orbiting star Kepler 452, 1400 light years away in the constellation Cygnus.

This planet orbits a class G2V star very similar to, though older than the Sun. Its 385 day orbit lies within the “circumstellar habitable zone” or as some call the “Goldilocks zone” of the star. That is, it’s not too hot or too cold for planets large enough to have sufficient atmospheric pressure to have liquid water on the surface.

This planet, if the rough estimates are correct, is 60% larger than Earth and has twice the gravity of Earth.

Assuming it is an Earth-like planet, having a rocky core, instead of a small gas planet; it is believed it has many active volcanoes due to its higher mass and density. The clouds on the planet would be thick and misty, covering much of the surface as viewed from space. It’s “Sun”, Kepler-452 would look almost identical to our Sun as viewed from the surface of Kepler-452.

It is not clear if Kepler-452b offers habitable environments. Its parent star, like the Sun, has nearly the same temperature and mass, but is 20% more luminous. However, the star is six billion years old, making it 1.5 billion years older than the Sun. At this point in its star’s life, Kepler-452b is receiving 10% more energy from its parent star than Earth is currently receiving from the Sun. If Kepler-452b is a rocky planet, it may be in a runaway greenhouse effect, similar to that seen on Venus.

If creatures on Kepler-452b were able to view life on Earth, they would see Earth as it was in the seventh century AD. And, if a ship from Earth were to travel there at the speed of the New Horizons spacecraft, it would take 26 million years to reach that world.

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This month’s meeting will be on August 11 at 7PM at the National Weather Service Forecast office at the Shelby County Airport.

If for some reason you cannot attend the meeting in person, you can still participate via telephone. The teleconference number is 1-877-951-0997 & and the participant code is 741083.
Hope to see you there!
Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter

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