This past weekend was good for staying inside an air-conditioned place. That wouldn't be our house, so I did the next best thing. I closed up the house early in the morning, turned on the fan, and sat in my rocker with an ice pack on my chest. That helped keep my body core cool. I also drank plenty of ice water.
Vic braved the elements and ventured out into the heat. He attended the emergency preparedness festival in front of the Huntington Beach Central Library on Saturday. This is National Preparedness Month. While we don't face hurricanes or winter ice and snowstorms here on the coast, we have other things to worry about.
A natural or man-made disaster could occur at any time. Earthquakes, fires, floods, tsunamis, heat waves or coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that disrupt power for extended periods of time could all occur here.
We should be prepared to evacuate our homes on short notice if needed, or shelter in place for up to two to three weeks if necessary. At the festival, the Huntington Beach Fire Department's CERT program distributed a list of suggested items to have on hand. I looked it over and discovered that, thanks to my extensive preparations last year, we're in pretty good shape.
