Why would one live in an area...

[Devany]

Kathy and John,

My heart goes out to both of you, having lost all in fires. My dad was Fire Chief of LA County when I was growing up and I remember many times he came home with a heavy heart after devastating fires. It was most difficult when children were involved and of course when there was a loss of life. It is not so much the losing of valuables or furniture that hurts so much, it is the things that cannot be replaced and simply the complete loss of the one thing that anchors you, your home. John, I am glad to hear your cat made it through OK! I think I would run back into a burning building to get my dog if she was in there.

Kathy, that is very sad about losing your book club member in the Loma Priada Quake. We had friends in the Berkeley Hills who had to rebuild their home, but no loss of life.

I used to upload my pictures all of the time athy, and you just reminded me I should do so again. We put them (and scanned documents)on a hard drive in the safe and I try to make back up DVD's every few months too. (who knows if the hard drive might crash some day?). But putting them online is a very good idea too as a second back up and that means scanning the three big tubs of old family photos I have become the keeper of after my mother and grandmother died. Ack... what a task.

I agree with you, if we were downtown and a major earthquake hit that did cause a Tsunami, I would probably get out of my car and run for the hills! You really only have to go There would be gridlock and with all of the one way streets, it is especially a good idea to have an exit strategy "just in case". We even have mapped out different ways to get in and out of here if bridges are down or the highway is blocked, but we never know for sure if all of them might be impassable.

Obie, you are right, that a major storm, not even one that is named as a hurricane could do a lot of damage, especially with storm surge in low lying areas. Retrofitting one's house with hurricane shutters is one way to protect the house. Also retrofitting the pier and beam system with additional cables and braces can help in both an earthquake and hurricane winds/storm surge.

One thing that was brought to my attention was that a shipping container will float, so people that have them can use them for storage of valuables in an emergency. You learn something every day! I don't own one of course, but those people have two of them!

Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany

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