To Fail to Plan is to Plan to Fail

While friends across the country describe horrible weather on their Facebook walls, Mother Nature has been unusually generous to Pleasanton.

But you never know when she’s going to turn on us – just like she has in much of the nation this winter.

North Carolina is glistening with black ice. Roofs and gutters and airport hangars are collapsing under heavy snow near Boston. Hundreds of cars and buses are sitting abandoned in the snowdrifts on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive. Dallas is blanketed in snow, and a friend in Connecticut jokingly wishes the morbid mentality of “Lord of the Flies” would take over children who’ve been cooped up, fighting with each other for eight snow days.

Meanwhile in Pleasanton, we’re wearing shorts and flip flops after receiving an extended taste of spring about six weeks early. The daffodils in front of my house popped up so early this year that I almost mistook them for weeds.

While this beautiful winter may seem deliciously unfair, the respite from cool, rainy weather gives us all kinds of opportunities to plan for less desirable conditions – of both the meteorological and geological varieties.

Eight years ago, I boasted to friends about the emergency kit I assembled for our household.

Now, however, the non-perishables and paper products in the bin have been replaced by Christmas decorations. The outdated water bottles have long since been poured on potted plants, the first-aid supplies were used up when our kids learned to ride two-wheelers in 2005 and 2006 and the food was consumed when trips to the grocery store seemed too much to manage.

Not smart. I know, especially after the reminder I received from Genevieve Pastor-Cohen, emergency preparedness coordinator for the .

“We’re in earthquake territory, Cameron!” she said.

Pastor-Cohen is revitalizing the LPFD’s “Together We Prepare” program, which bridges Neighborhood Watch efforts with those of Community Emergency Response Training (CERT).

None of us can be certain, for instance, that an earthquake larger than the typical 2.9-magnitudes from the Hayward or Calaveras faults won’t shake us up this year. Nor can we guarantee that excessive heat won’t strike this summer.

Have you stored a supply of water — one gallon per household member for at least three days? Do you have a separate stash of first-aid supplies, non-perishable foods, paper towels, blankets, battery-operated radios and flashlights with extra batteries, a supply of large plastic garbage bags, and personal hygiene items, plus two weeks worth of medicines needed daily? Do you have these items in a spot designated for emergency use only?

Neither do we. Time for a stupidity-elimination program in the house, by way of the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department's Family Disaster Preparedness program.

Pastor-Cohen outlined the four pillars of the program:

• Make your emergency preparedness kits for home, car and work
• Make a plan for family communication and evacuation
• Learn what items in your house might be hazardous in a disaster
• Get involved by joining or starting a neighborhood emergency team. "The county just came out with a program about mapping your neighborhood,” said Pastor-Cohen. “It’s a great way to get to know your neighbors, have a barbecue and find out what their needs are” and designate a buddy system.      

Given that most of us find it easy to postpone the process of preparedness, Pastor-Cohen directed me to a “shake map” at www.abag.ca.gov/bayarea/eqmaps/pickcity.html.

The map shows that the Calaveras Fault, which is right under I-680, is prone to violent shaking.

“You never know what’s in store,” said Pastor-Cohen.

The Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department offers free, one-hour disaster preparedness courses for neighborhoods, schools and workplaces (minimum 20 participants required per workshop). The talk covers the basics of preparedness and provides attendees with a how-to guide. To schedule, call Pastor-Cohen at 925-454-3217.

Mother Nature acts in curious ways, so it's best to embrace a motto used by the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department: “To fail to plan is to plan to fail.”

Cameron Sullivan is the author of the blog Candid Cameron.