The following text has been copied from CEPS reports –
“The California Earthquake Preparedness Survey (CEPS) was conducted by the UCLA School of Public Health and Survey Research Center for the State of California. The objective was to provide baseline data describing how prepared California households are for earthquakes and where they get their information about preparedness and mitigation. Telephone interviews were conducted with a representative sample of 2,081 households in California between June 26 and December 18, 2008. The sample was stratified into: the ten northern California counties at greatest risk of earthquakes, the six southern California counties at greatest risk, and the remaining 42 lower-risk counties.”
Study Reveals Californians Need to Increase Earthquake Preparedness Efforts – Sacramento, Calif., March 5, 2010
State and Local Agencies are Better Prepared Today, but Weakest Link is Citizen Preparedness
* A majority of Californians have taken initial steps toward earthquake preparedness but more than 60 percent of Californians have not done enough to make their homes safer and guard their personal finances in preparation for an inevitable, large-scale earthquake, according to a recent California Earthquake Preparedness Survey.
* Although state and local public safety and emergency management agencies are better prepared than ever before, California residents have focused on easy preparedness activities such as collecting supplies and making back-up copies of important documents but they have not done more difficult and expensive activities such as securing the contents of their home or purchasing earthquake insurance, according to the survey.
Key findings of the survey were:
* Fewer than 20 percent of households have structurally reinforced their homes or had their homes inspected for earthquake resistance.
* Only 40 percent keep the recommended minimum of three gallons of water stored per person.
* Fewer than 20 percent of California households have purchased earthquake insurance.
* More than 80 percent of households have first aid kits, flashlights and batteries in their house but only 40 percent of Californians have made family disaster plans. (End of copied text.)
Now What?
Soon after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region in 2005, this blogger has been posting articles asking readers whether or not they and their neighbors were ready and prepared to survive and recover from a major disaster, like an earthquake. Over 100 of these blogs are listed in the index to the right, under the Emergency Preparedness category. Many of these blogs repeat earlier warnings; therefore, several of the more significant titles have been identified for your review.
EP #1 – We Are Not Alone (9-7-2006)
EP #3 – How Many Wake Up Calls Do We Need? (10-8-2006)
EP #5 – NERT Is On the Move! (10-25-2006)
EP #7 – It Might Happen Sooner Than We Thought (12-10-2006)
EP #12 – CERT + NERT + ALERT + STAR (3-5-2007)
EP #15 – It Could Happen Here … in Petaluma (4-17-2007)
EP #17 – Be Prepared! Get Ready Before It Happens (6-24-2007)
EP #21 – Six Years After 9/11 … What Have We Learned? (9-17-2007)
EP #24 – What Is Your RQ? (10-6-2007)
EP #27 – Emergency! Emergency! (10-23-2007)
Reading these suggested blogs will get you started. They were posted over five years ago (2006-2007). Many of the more recent blogs repeat the earlier messages; but ask the same basic question: Are you and your neighbors ready? If you believe that you and your neighbors are not prepared, please get together and take action now. The choice is yours. You are on your own. When the BIG ONE strikes, it will be too late to organize a planning meeting. Make your readiness plan NOW!
Check out “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” http://www.citizencorps.gov/getstarted/neighborshelpingneighbors.shtm