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Earthquake in Japan

Started by lancaster lady, March 11, 2011, 01:12:28 AM

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Tara

This is not the article sent to me mentioned above, but something from the news that doesn't minimize.

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/03/15/could-japans-radiation-make-it-here/



Pooh

I wish I could give you some truths, but right now, it depends on who you are speaking to, what the truth is.  I have been watching it as well, and although there is definitely a possibility that if they experience a total meltdown, the US could be affected.  It is the amount of radiation exposure that is up for debate.  Trustful sources will tell you that we could see some radiation levels, other trusted sources will say that after traveling airborne, for 7,000 miles, it will disperse to the point where it will not be harmful.

I am a firm believer, that the best thing you can do is have a backup plan for anything.  If you have relatives or friends in other places, give them a shout and assure them that although you are not panicking, you just want to know if anything ever caused you to have to leave your home, would you be welcome?  Not just this situation, but anything?  Also, everyone should have an emergency kit in their home.  My favorite one to put together is one endorsed by FEMA, and one I use.  Again, I am biased towards it because I was a TEMA director for awhile, so look on line and find one you like and agree with.    I also have a ready kit, because of being on the TERT team for packing and going somewhere quickly.  So I have extra supplies in there I could use at home if needed.

Now, in my world...I can't panic, so during things like this, I don't.  I arm myself with knowledge and have a plan in place.  In reading the last few days, you will see that the levels of radiation that people are experiencing in Japan (not in the plant or immediate vicinity) is less than what we get with an MRI.  I had 4 MRI's last year....my level of exposure was actually 4X greater than what is being registered in most areas within a few miles of the plant.  I'm not downplaying what is going on, but I am a realist.  With limited exposure, people could be asked to shelter in place and not go outside.  It's almost like if you have a big issue with pollen, on days that are high, you don't need to be outside much.  The pollen may still bother you, but not as bad as if you went outside.  If the levels are there but not considered dangerous, that is what usually happens for precautionary measures.  If the reactor does meltdown?  That will be a different story.  This episode aside, who's to say that an earthquake, tornado or a truck carrying harmful chemicals wrecks near your home, will not cause you to evacuate tomorrow?  Or shelter in place?  So that is why I am a big advocate of having an emergency kit anyway.

As far as 9/11 goes, if you talk to Firemen and Officers, they will tell you that they will rush into a burning building right now, to save a life and worry if it had asbestos later.  They place themselves in danger every day, and do their best to use the right protective equipment, but they get exposed to bad things.  I would hate to see 20 years from now, what the effects of Meth lab cleanup is going to do to these guys.  I hope nothing, but that's some volatile exposure even with protective gear.

Tara, if I was in those areas, I would have an emergency kit, and a backup plan if the need to evacuate arose.  And I would keep watching the news and reading as new information becomes available.  What I would not do is panic (as I am seeing the iodine tablets causing major panic in California right now) or obsess about it.  I believe in cases of 9/11 and things we deal with here, the government is not always transparent, but many times that is to not panic people and cause even more chaos than the actual event is causing.  If you have those things in place, you will know what to do.

Sorry this was so long, but I didn't want you to think I could tell you accurately, but still offer my suggestions.  This is all just based on what knowledge I do have from past experience.

This is the emergency kit I like, but anything like it is good, and customizable to you.  http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/

This the the link to my TERT ready kit.  Now some of it is specific for deployment, but if you read through it, many things could be applied to everyone:  http://www.tn-tert.com/Updater5/Information/PhysicalPrep2.pfg.pdf

I hope this helps.
We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. -
Joseph Campbell

Pen

I agree about being prepared. My DH is not an alarmist so I have to do it myself; I'd rather be the prepared fool than the unprepared fool, IYKWIM.

A friend of mine is in constant contact with a former exchange student whose parents are inside the "stay in your house" zone. She cannot go in and get her aging parents, all the roads are blocked. She says that news is spordic and designed to minimize panic, but as citizens are communicating with the outside world they are taking it upon themselves to get out however they can. On the face of it, she says, people are being orderly and respectful of one another and following orders. Behind the scenes is a different matter.

It breaks my heart to see people walking around with surgical masks on. They may be wearing them for other reasons, but my first thought was that it was all they could do to try and prevent exposure to radiation, a sort of "ghost dance (North American Native American ritual.)

I'm watching a variety of news from a variety of sources. Right now I tend to trust the sources that are not bankrolled by the nuclear power industry. I'm just sayin.'
Respect ... is appreciation of the separateness of the other person, of the ways in which he or she is unique.
-- Annie Gottlieb

Pooh

And that Pen, is what makes you a very intelligent person.  I never listen to the sources on anything that have a stake in it.
We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. -
Joseph Campbell

Pen

Why thank you, Pooh...now tell my SM, LOL. She thinks I'm a moron.
Respect ... is appreciation of the separateness of the other person, of the ways in which he or she is unique.
-- Annie Gottlieb

Pooh

I will tell her...what's her number?   ;)
We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. -
Joseph Campbell

LaurieS

You know that these people have to be living a realistic fear of contamination.  But the mask.. that is not an indicator of anything.. they wear those mask ALL the time.. we went to help my son move from his apt and his Japanese gf had on a mask... My son was like.. would you please take off that darn thing, you are frightening people.

My son who is in Tottori, is bent on heading north to help... I'm trying to convince him that he would be part of the problem not the solution at this point.  Hearts are in the right place but...  What I find is sad is the fear of the unknown is overshadowing the plight of the tsunami victims.  These people are now facing starvation and dehydration, not to mention sanitation issues.  There is still a chance that they may still save human lives in the mountains of refuge, but they are not getting the manpower or the supplies needed.  I'd love to see the people of Japan face what they can help with and pray for what is outside of their power at this point.

holliberri

I think it's quite common to wear masks when you're in a shelter. It won't protect you from radiation, but it does protect you from some germs. Truth: I wear a mask overseas. It has cutdown tremendously on my sinus infections and other things I seem to get when I fly.

I think it's best to err on the side of safety. I don't think anyone knows now. There is a discrepancy between Japan's evacuation radius and the radius that the U.S. and other countries have suggested for those living there. I can't help but think that Japan is trying to deal with mass exodus at the moment. Yes, the radiation is a problem, but for the government, so is more displaced people.

They have no idea what will happen b/c they just have no idea how bad it can get. I think you should always have an evacuation plan in place. Tara, I evacuated a few times myself during wildfires in Cali in 2008. I just simply left and went somewhere away from fire. I'd like to think my plan would be the same here, I would just probably be willing to travel a little further. Isn't it sad that I see more predictability from a wildfire than radioactive particles?

I understand why Japan doesn't want to widen the radius; they don't want more displaced people. I see U.S. doing the same thing just so panic doesn't ensue here. But, best case scenarios aren't helpful when preparing for your safety.

Tara, my mother was a cadaver search volunteer along with her canine partner. She was not at ground zero, but she was at the landfills. Our canine was inolved in a study at UPenn to predict long term effects for workers in NYC after 9/11. He died of a rare cancer in 2003. Several other canines developed skin conditions and other disorders. I do have a bit of bias here, and the study is still ongoing, but I've made up my mind about it; I do expect my mom to have some side effects from working up there. None of knew then, or were likely even thinking about, what the impact on her and her team members would be.

I think it is much the same here, except in this instance, we do have advance time to prepare for the "what ifs."

You just come here if you need a place to stay. : )


luise.volta

We are all wondering. Especially about Hawaii and Kirk and Sandy as well as Washington. We are right on the west side on Puget Sound.
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. Dalai Lama

Tara

Pooh,  thank you, I printed out those lists.  We have been prepared when we lived in the bay area due to earthquakes, but
don't have that much of that stuff left anymore.

Holliberry, thank you  8)

Luise,  my understanding is that your area might be at risk, My dh and I were looking at the map and and given the info we had
it looked like the thinking would be that the radiation would sweep right up the coast from california, oregon, wa, canada, about
Hawaii, don't know. 

Laurie,  I hope your ds listens to your sage advice, keep us posted about how he is doing.

Pen, I'm with you, dh is less likely to 'panic' but I sat down with him and we talked and I asked him to not to minimize but just
think of options and he was very open to discussion and contingency planning.

Maybe we can keep each other posted here if we see an potentially useful article? 

I will post an article sent to me, its from a 'natural health' doctor, but/and I think it was well written.



holliberri

Tara,

I read your article; I think those are good things to have always, no matter the emergency. I have an emergency kit packed in both of our cars, I just renew the supplies once in awhile. I hadn't thought of a place to get to if cell phones aren't working. That's a very good idea.

Also, it is good to know that the Pacific Coast, in the event of a meltdown, has 2-3 days to leave. I think being ready to hit the road upon the word "meltdown" would be best.

I wish they would just solve this crisis now; good people are working so hard to contain it, it doesn't seem fair that it would be uncontainable. And, those people in Japan have suffered more than enough.

I wanted to donate to the Red Cross, but they only donated like 5% of the money they've had this past week to Japan. I know it's a good organization and it is helping people in a lot of different areas of the world, but I wasn't comfortable with the overhead. Does anyone know of a smaller, but effective organization perhaps in Japan that I could donate too? I've been trying to do research on my own, and I'm not having much luck. I don't often send money overseas.

LaurieS

Even Japan has said to donate to the Red Cross.. meanwhile Red Cross claims that .91 of every dollar goes to the intended use.. but not if they aren't releasing funds fast enough.. Wasn't it Red Cross that went under fire for holding funds during 9/11...  If I'm not mistaken they only released funds after FOX News went public with the story

luise.volta

i donate to Doctors without Borders since they won the Nobel Peace Prize.

www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. Dalai Lama

Pooh

And I will tell you that I found most of my supplies at an Army surplus store, if you have one.  They were less expensive and had most of hard-to-find things like waterproof matches, MREs, etc.  There is one thing I would recommend, that is different than the lists and our EMA personnel here had us get.  Instead of using bleach for an emergency to make drinking water safe, they had us get the tablets that you drop in.  Keep in mind, if I get deployed like I did last May for anything, usually the water is contaminated.  I found those tablets at the Army surplus store as well.
We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. -
Joseph Campbell