San Diego Black Out – Communication is Key

This really hit home with me. We learned rather quickly that when people panic they want to get in touch with the ones they love. At first it's more curiosity than panic. We start calling our kids and spouses to say "Did your power go out? Well, ours did..." Then, when we begin to realize how massive a deal this is; a little bit of a creepy feeling wells up inside. And it begins to spread as we realize how limited we are without power. And especially how that impacts our ability to communicate with those we care about.

Our phone system at work immediately went down. We realize cell phone calls aren’t going through, because thousands of other people are doing what were doing; trying to call their family; thus, the network is congested. So we try texting. Okay. A bit more luck with texting. As we learned in Preparedness 101: "Texts will often go through when phone calls won't. It's a different delivery system." Teach your kids how to text. (Like they don’t already know…) However, we also learned that texting was limited. Sometimes they went through, sometimes they did not. And some took 20 to 30 minutes, and finally went through.

The streets immediately fill up with traffic. Everyone wants to get home or to wherever they think their family will be; home, school, work? But do we really know where they will be? Did we ever talk about this like we wanted to? Do we have a family communication plan in case of emergency? Most likely not. The first thoughts that I had when I realized the magnitude of the situation were about my loved ones. Where are they? Are they OK? Phone lines were jammed and there was major difficulty sending text messages. Phone calls weren’t available at all some of the time. In the event of a major disaster, phone lines will be tied up to the point of virtual inaccessibility. So it really is important to have a communication plan with your family members in place. Each household should have radios and the plan should include what frequency to communicate on in the event of an emergency.

Not to mention communication with the outside world. How do we know what is really happening out there if your Internet is down; your cell phone doesn't work and you can't turn on the TV? My adult son told me every time he looked at the crank radio he had purchased last year he thought "what a waste of money". It turned out to be his most valuable possession last night during the San Diego black out. Here is what he thinks now:

"Our ARC radio sat around our house virtually untouched since I bought it six months ago. However, when a massive power outage struck the San Diego community where my wife and I live, it became our biggest asset. Television and Internet were out in many major areas, but our local radio station kept us updated with important and useful information which we were then able to pass along to our neighbors and loved ones. We had no batteries either, so the crank/solar power feature was key. I plan to keep a few of these in my 72 hour kit, even if I only end up using them once every few years during an emergency.

And so family communication has became my number one most glaring thing to do. Right away. And we have the emergency planning tools to do it easily; we just never took the time.

So, take a minute to look at the PrepareWell Family Safety Plan. It has a section on creating your Family Communication Plan. Clear and organized for everyone in your family to understand. Together with a complete family emergency plan; I am going to start today to do mine today. Even if I only work on it a little at a time, I now know my weak points and what made me feel most vulnerable. I know some preparedness is better than no preparedness. I am ready to begin to worry less and live better; like it says on our site.

Click the links below to find out what else we put on our top 10 list of things we need to do first:

1. Communication is Key
2. Always have gas in your tank
3. Solar lights are awesome
4. I need a battery operated phone charger!
5. Have cash on hand
6. If you have no other food storage; have some water!
7. Don't open that refrigerator door"!
8. Have extra food for your pets!
9. Fill up those propane tanks.
10. Don’t put off 'til tomorrow…