Tornado Damage in a Few Alabama Areas~ Rainbow City, Moody, Pell City
All photos taken by: Bella W.Benefield Copyright protected.
A few more updated photos of the tornado damages are provided above. The death toll has climbed to over 250 and over 300+ across the Southeastern states. Tuscaloosa, Al is still missing over 300+ residents. Volunteers are still needed. Donations centers are set up through out the affected areas, so please donate anything that you do not need. Some of these areas lost everything, literally. So, jump in and help out as much as you can. If you want to volunteer your time, then go to: http://www.servealabama.gov, http://www.handsonbirmingham.org, or http://www.redcross.org. You can also dial “211″ to volunteer your help with FEMA.
Contact Information for Disaster Assistance for Alabama Tornadoes 2011
For more information on disaster assistance please contact:
FEMA: 1-800-621-3362 (FEMA)
Website: http://www.disasterassistance.gov
SMARTphone: m.fema.gov
If you have a cell phone, no matter what your location is you can dial “211″ and you will automatically be connected with FEMA for disaster assistance
If you would like to help disaster victims by volunteering, then go to this website:
http://www.handsonbirmingham.org.
Update ~ Tornado Damage in Alabama April 28, 2011
All photos taken by: Bella W. Benefield. Copyright protected.
There is good news and bad news with any disaster. I’ll start with the good news. Severe weather warnings assisted in the survival of over 300,000 residents living in the path of the multiple storms, which included 66 tornadoes yesterday. Emergency response was quick and assisted in the rescue of over 400 injured survivors, statewide. Emergency communications, even when interrupted briefly in St. Clair County, were back up and operational for more oncoming storms and tornadoes throughout the day. Shelters were opened in affected areas to assist victims. Governor Robert Bentley rapidly declared a State of Emergency for Alabama and followed up with a request for a Major Disaster Declaration for federal assistance. There is probably more good news, but this is what I have for now.
Okay, so now the bad news. Unfortunately, the death toll is climbing. Residents are still missing and the number is unknown. The media stations are requesting that family members look for loved ones on social media sites and by posting photos of missing loved ones on the websites provided by the media stations such as, www.MyFoxAl.com. Current fatalities are at 158. DHS hospital in Tuscaloosa has treated over 600 injured residents as a result of the tornadoes. Multiple homes, apartments, businesses, and schools have been destroyed in the state. Alabama is looking at another long term recovery period right after working on recovery efforts related to the Gulf Oil Spill from last year.
Alabama Statewide Emergency ~ April 27, 2011
All photos taken by: Bella W. Benefield. Copyright protected.
Today, residents of Alabama were subject to multiple tornado watches and warnings. The Governor, Robert Bentley, declared Alabama as a State of Emergency and activated 1400 National Guard soldiers to assist with areas affected by the severe weather. The current estimates are: an unknown amount of citizens injured , fatalities currently at 45, all schools in affected areas will be closed until Monday, and over 375,000 citizens will be without power as late as Saturday. Cullman, Tuscaloosa, Pleasant Grove, Fultondale, Pell City, Odenville, Anniston, Oxford and many other cities that I’ve not heard about yet, suffered major damages. I lost cable connectivity around 8:30p.m., so I’m not current on the latest affected areas in Alabama.
If you are looking for loved ones, please do not over task 911 and the local EMA’s. One of the best resources to use is your social media networks (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and your non-profit organizations such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, local churches, and others.
If you need assistance with food, water, and lodging, contact your local Red Cross, Salvation Army, or local churches. These are some of the best resources available for displaced disaster victims. The Red Cross is trained to set up shelters that provide for disaster victims and local churches tend to provide resources for the Red Cross. The Salvation Army also has assistance available. Please call these non-profit organizations for some assistance if you need help. This is their area of expertise.
Calhoun County Red Cross: 401 Noble Street, Anniston, AL 36201-5618
(256) 236-0391
Cullman County Red Cross: 424 3rd Avenue Southeast, Cullman, AL 35055-3530, (256) 734-0921
Jefferson County Red Cross : 950 22nd St N. 750, Birmingham, Al (205) 458-8282
St. Clair County Red Cross: 1616 Cogswell Avenue, Pell City, AL 35125
(205) 884-1221
Talladega County Red Cross: 140 Court Street North, Talladega, Al (256) 362-2061
Tuscaloosa County Red Cross: 1100 Veterans Memorial Parkway, Tuscaloosa, Al (205) 758-3608
For more information on the website for the Red Cross go to:
For more information on the website for the Salvation Army go to:
Tornado Damage in Pell City, AL ~ April 27, 2011
All photos taken by: Bella W. Benefield. Copyright protected on 04/27/2011.
Early this morning around 5 or 6 a.m, I was awakened to some strong gusts of wind. I blew it off as a potential tornado because I never heard the warning. Later, I learned that a tornado had in fact, hit downtown Pell City pretty hard. I got my camera and went to check things out. The wildest thing I saw was one of the St. Clair County EMA communication towers bent to the ground. This might explain the lack of a tornado warning siren. I still don’t know that for a fact. However, there was more damage downtown. I took a few more pictures. Around 4p.m., a 40 ft. pine tree fell in our backyard, one hour after I decided to move my vehicle to a safer area away from trees. My neighbor yelled to me, “Isn’t God good.” I’ll say so. I listened to my inner voice or my gut, so to speak. Always listen to your gut….lol. Now, it’s around 6 p.m. we are getting ready for flash flooding, strong winds and a possible mega cyclone or F-4/F-5 tornado. This particular tornado has already caused a lot of damage in Tuscaloosa and is now hitting the Jefferson county area. I’m probably going to lose power soon, so I’m going to “bug out” now!
8.9 Quake to Hit Japan with 13 ft. Tsunami to Follow
Just as I’m getting ready to turn in for the a.m. I catch the news focusing on a recent tsunami that struck Japan. The 13 ft. tsunami was initiated by an 8.9 earthquake. This is the second major earthquake to occur in the last 10 days. There have been increasing numbers of earthquakes since 2010 and the situation seems to be progressing in 2011. The tsunami is what made me stop to take the time to blog on the situation. My first thought, “Does anyone else notice that maybe offshore drilling could be the cause of an increase in geological plates shifting?” Just a thought to ponder. Details on this disaster will be provided later on this post once the rubble has settled, rescues have been completed, and damages have been accessed.
March 14th, 2011 Okay, so now we are into day 4 of Japan’s catastrophies….plural. The following information was presented on the 10 O’clock news via NBC’s Channel 13 in Alabama. Now that more information is available, the statistics are: over 200,000 people were successfully evacuated, a positive note-panic has not taken over the people of Japan due to their cultural choice to remain calm, grocery stores have automatically initiated a food donation system to the current shelters, people are naturally helping one another and sharing food when needed. There’s something great to be said about a culture that has honor in remaining calm and has an intolerance to complaining. I don’t think I would know how to respond to this type of culture, but I do believe it would have a calming effect on my spirit during something of this magnitude.
The negative information available today is: an estimated 2,414 persons were found deceased, body bags and coffins are no longer available for the growing number of recovered dead bodies, over 10,000 thought to be missing, nuclear power plants have had explosions causing an unknown amount of released radiation and has contaminated an unknown number of people. Individuals that have been exposed or who think they have been exposed to radiation are being decontaminated and are advised to take iodine to protect the thyroid from over absorption of radiation.
To make a $10 donation to the Red Cross text: 90999, a $10 donation to World Vision text: 20222 and to make a $10 donation to the Salvation Army text: 80888. Donations will go to help victims in Japan at this time.
Prioritization Of Certifications For Emergency Management Students
This post was inspired by my last post and a question that was posted on Linkedin.com the other day. I thought that it would be a good idea to share my advice on my blog here, so other students of EM can benefit from both of these posts. So here’s the question posted:
As an emerging emergency management professional, I was wondering what training or certificates are the best to start with? Are the online FEMA training programs acceptable in the “real world”?
My response to this question:
Actually, a lot of positions in emergency management and many other first responder jobs mandate benchmark FEMA courses are completed within a certain timeframe once they are employed. So, yes, the FEMA IS courses are accepted in the real world.
Real world certifications that are important to start “first” in the field of EM and that can be beneficial include:
* The Professional Development Series Certification or PDS offered by FEMA this includes most of the benchmark IS courses (i.e., IS-100, IS-200, IS-700, IS-800, etc.) http://www.training.fema.gov.
* Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) through American Heart Association, lasts for two years and can be beneficial in any line of work related to emergency management or first responders. I highly recommend one to seek becoming a trainer of BCLS in the event they are seeking a job that requires them to teach this particular public safety course.
* Certified Emergency Response Team (CERT) ~ very beneficial training that any emergency manager can use to build their own future district or area CERT team for future emergencies. It teaches one how to respond, assist casualties, coordinate staff, and work with other first responders. This is an excellent training certification course for EM professionals because it demonstrates the importance of training communities to handle emergencies quickly and how it can be accomplished. Initial CERT course online version: http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/IS317/.
* NFPA ~ quick courses online offered by the National Fire Protection Association are just great for personal knowledge. The NFPA is an excellent resource to become familiar with and to be knowledgeable about their policies (i.e., NFPA 1600, etc.). The bases of Fire Service Incident Command policy and DHS policy are supported by the NFPA. Every EM professional should be familiar with this group. Training website:
http://www.nfpa.org/catalog/category.asp?category%5Fname=Training+seminars&Page=1&src=catalog
* Local Volunteer Fire Service – this group offers a lot of training to include HAZMAT certifications that can be very beneficial to acquire and become knowledgeable about before entering the profession of EM. I highly recommend you embrace this knowledge base or you may find yourself a little lost in the professional arena of EM. Also, if you are a student and cannot afford courses offered by AHA or the NFPA, then you can gain the majority of this training with your local volunteer fire department for free. It pays to check out the resources that are available to you in your own backyard….lol.
* Red Cross – they offer training and certifications on becoming Disaster Team Leaders, ARCHIES (response to families in need after a fire), how to open shelters, and many other useful certifications related to disaster response assistance programs offered by the Red Cross. This is another great place to learn how non-profit assistance plays a major role in disasters, which is beneficial to the EM professional. Website: http://www.redcross.org/en/takeaclass.
* CDP ~ Center for Domestic Preparedness and EMI ~ Emergency Management Institute are two other federal entities that offer FEMA training on campus that target Emergency Management courses for managing disasters (i.e., IS-300, IS-400, Management 360, many Train-the-Trainer courses, etc.) and that also offer hands on training for responders to CBRNE incidents and WMD events related to potential terrorist attacks. Sites: http://training.fema.gov/EMICourses/. and http://cdp.dhs.gov/.
I’ve worked on every aspect of these particular certifications while I have been in college studying EM for the past six years. It’s time intensive, but a great wealth of knowledge that should be engaged by the EM professional. I’m sure that there are more, especially in the realm of Computer Science, Business Continuity, etc.
My recommendations upon prioritizing the various certifications that one should acquire are listed in the order of importance above. There is no right or wrong way to go about the certification process. However, it’s easier to take the beginner classes first and then gradually add higher level courses (i.e., the management classes, train-the-trainer, etc.) at a later time.
The benefit to gaining these certifications is that you will be able to appreciate every responder you have in the field and you will be knowledgeable about the specific resources that will be needed to carry out their missions. The ability to communicate, coordinate, collaborate, and decide (i.e., decision-making skills) is what makes an emergency manager successful or at least able to do the best job possible.
Sometimes the disaster tends to actually dominate the scenario, so success may not be an option. However, managing a disaster to the best of your capabilities and resources is all that you can do sometimes. So, don’t hesitate to learn about fire, if you’re scared of fire; don’t hesitate to sit in on HAZMAT classes, even if you are claustrophobic and never intend on getting into a green suit; and don’t avoid FEMA courses because you think you are not computer savvy or because you hate reading online. Just don’t hesitate. Go forth and learn everything you can. People will depend on you one day when it really counts.
Breaking Into The Field~ Emergency Management
Most students of emergency management will follow a set curriculum geared towards their field of study. However, internships and expectations held towards gaining more hands on experience in the field can be challenging for the beginning emergency management student to gain. Students may also find themselves highly motivated to complete their degrees while forgetting about gaining hands on experience in the field.
Valerie Lucus-McEwen (2010) provided valuable insight into the needs of emergency management students in an article entitled, “Degree of Expectation”. This article also provided a valuable list of career tips that was provided by the University of Washington’s Business Continuity Manager, Scott Preston (Lucus-McEwen, 2010). Preston (2009, Oct.) wrote a guide called, “Suggested Career Tips for Emergency Management“. In this guide, Preston (2009, Oct.) listed several steps to use to initiate one’s career in emergency management to include:
* FEMA online study courses – which are free to the public and can be taken at one’s own pace. An added benefit to taking the Individual Study Courses (ICS) is that one can acquire the Professional Development Series (PDS) certification.
* Become a volunteer for a local, county, or state emergency management agency
* Become a member of a professional organization such as the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), National Emergency Managers Association (NEMA), and more
* Stay current with news related to your career path by registering for magazines and publications related to emergency management.
Let’s face it, EM is a field that demands a basic, if not a comprehensive knowledge base in many fields. This can be overwhelming to new students graduating with degrees in EM. Advice from other professionals in the field of Emergency Management can be invaluable to students who are actively participating in EM studies. Lessons learned from others always seems to manifest itself somewhere in every profession and it’s wonderful to know that fellow professionals in the field of EM are willing to share some of these important tips for success.
Reference:
Lucus-McEwen, Valerie CEM, CBCP. “Degree of Expectation” Emergency Management Magazine Nov. 2010: 38-41.
Preston, Scott. (2009, Oct.). ”Suggested Career Tips for Emergency Management“. Retrieved on February 20, 2011 from
https://www.washington.edu/emergency/suggested-career-tips-emergency-management.
MAJOR EARTHQUAKES FROM JANUARY-MARCH 2010
SUMMATION OF 2010′s EARTHQUAKES:
January 12, 2010 ~ HAITI ~ 7.0 Richter Scale ~ Death Toll = over 200,000
February 27, 2010 ~ CHILE ~ 8.8 Richter Scale ~ Death Toll = over 795
March 4, 2010 ~ TAIWAN ~ 6.4 Richter Scale ~ Death Toll =0
March 16, 2010 ~ LOS ANGELES, U.S. ~ 4.4 Richter Scale ~ Death Toll = 0
March 20, 2010 ~ CUBA ~ 5.6 Richter Scale ~ Death Toll = 0
CHILE~Pattern of Earthquake Activity
I originally wanted to recap the major disasters that occurred after Haiti’s quake earlier this year; however, I had to postpone my writings due to graduate school course work. So, please indulge my late posts on some of the latest disasters. I would love to connect the dots between the recent movements in geological plates and the events that have occurred in 2010.
Events in Chile:
About six weeks after the 7.0 quake that hit Haiti, another large 8.8 quake hit Chile. 1.5 million were left homeless or displaced and several hundred were killed (The New York Times, 2010). Afterwards, Hawaii, Japan, and the Phillippines were put on alert for potential repercussions of a tsunami.
On Saturday, February 27, 2010 a ‘megathrust’ occurred in Chile — “similar to the 2004 Indian Ocean temblor that triggered a catastrophic tsunami” (Los Angeles Times, 2010, p. 1). One may ask what determines the category of a ‘megathrust’? According to the Los Angeles Times (2010), “Megathrust earthquakes occur in subduction zones where plates of the earth’s crust grind and dive” (p. 1). Chile’s 8.8 quake was a result of the ”Nazca plate dived beneath the South American plate, releasing tremendous energy”; hence the term applied, ‘megathrust’ (p.1).
The last massive (9.5) quake to effect Chile occurred in 1960. This massive quake was responsible for “killing about 1,600 people and generating a tsunami that killed another 200 people in Japan, Hawaii and the Philippines” (Los Angeles Times, 2010, p. 1).
Fortunately, Chile’s history of earthquakes provided the motivation for the government to ensure better mitigation practices in managing earthquake damage. The Chilean government was not expecting as much damage as Haiti due to reenforced building codes (The New York Times, 2010).
References:
Barrionuevo, A. & Robbins, L. (2010, February, 27). 1.5 Million Displaced After Chile Quake. The New York Times. Retreived on July 11, 2010, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/world/america/28chile.html.
Los Angeles Times. (2010, February 27). Chile Earthquake was ‘Megathrust’, Most Powerful Type of Quake, La Plaza News from Latin America And The Carribean. Retrieved on July 11, 2010, from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2010/02/chile-88-magnitude-earthquake-was-megathrust-most-powerful-type-of-quake.html.
Empathy for Haiti
Photo by: Jorge Cruz, AP
photo can be found at the following website:
It was just two or three days ago that I was watching a special on the UN’s involvement in Haiti. The show focused on the Haitian military and how their training was improving to a point of withdrawal of the UN forces. The UN was hoping that the latest UN forces involvement, out of the past three incidents, would be the last. They also made a statement that this would be Haiti’s last chance. Life is cruel sometimes. Haiti was hit by a 7.0 earthquake yesterday. This incident caused many injuries and potentially thousands of casualties. Worldwide emergency response teams are gearing up to respond to the needs of Haiti. Two good things did occur out of this situation: 1) the potential tsunami dissipated and 2) the UN will have to give Haiti more leeway in recovering from another major disaster. This incident could offer a wonderful opportunity for international emergency managers to assist Haiti in creating a disaster resistant community with a new and improved mitigation plan geared towards earthquakes with the potential for a tsunami. If the revenue could be generated, this would assist Haiti with better future outcomes after catastrophic incidents and would assist with maintaining a stable Haitian government. Haiti will need all of the international support that they can receive.
The website listed above also posted helpful information for family and friends that may have loved ones in Haiti:
1) to find American family members living in Haiti you can contact the State Department at ~ 1(888)407-4747
2) for up to date information from the Red Cross involved in this disaster you can access Twitter at ~ http://twitter.com/RedCross .
What Every Family Takes For Granted & Needs
What every family takes for granted and needs is a family emergency response plan. I had never attempted to produce an actual emergency response plan for my family until I took the EM Disaster Response course this year. I really liked the fact that our professor made us stop and think about our own lives, while teaching the rest of the course on public emergency response. It really hit home how much we take our own safety and family’s safety for granted. The assignment required us to write a ten page research paper on our own family emergency response plan. I had to stop and actually think about this project because I’ve always been focused on the external world in emergency management. It was like wow, what is my parent’s blood type? What family member or friend lives outside of our community that we could use as a secondary emergency contact number? It is important to set up the secondary emergency contact number in the event that we become displaced during a disaster or the telecommunications lines are overburdened in our area. These topics and more became important for us to use in creating our own family emergency response plans. I learned a lot from this particular project and I’m happy to say that it only took about 6 months to get the rest of my family on board. I still don’t have a complete family emergency response plan, but I have enough information now to muddle through a disaster. I hope to have the entire plan completed by the end of this year. Do you have a family emergency response plan? If not, then I urge you to seek out the website for the Red Cross and access their resources for creating your own family emergency response plan. It’s a very helpful resource.
Job Well Done, Flight 253
What if all terrorist related events were ignored by the media and instead, the media posted the positive actions of the survivors? Would this put a dampner on terrorist attempts? Picture this type of post in the media:
Congratulations is in order for the flight crew and passengers of Northwestern flight 253! Today, they worked together as a team, put out a potential fire on their flight, subdued a potential threat, and returned home safely. All 290 passengers landed safely at the Detroit Airport. The President and the Secretary of Homeland Security both stated, “Job well done to all flight crew members and passengers of flight 253″.
Now what would happen if we never mentioned the words Al-Qadea or potential terrorist? Would we read the headlines or would the media suffer a potential monetary loss because we stop buying papers? Would terrorism slow down or come to a halt? I think the small stuff would start to dissipate. I think that the media needs to look for a better approach when dealing with topics that are related to sensitive events such as terrorism. More positive outcomes should definitely be announced in the media instead of the constant bombardment of negative information that gives credit to terrorist and feeds the interest of terrorist psychology. What do you think?
After reading the post from the L.A. Times, the following quotations was about all of the media coverage that was necessary:
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Saturday that she was grateful to the passengers and crew aboard Northwest Flight 253 for reacting “quickly and heroically to an incident that could have had tragic results.” Napolitano also said in a statement that the Homeland Security Department was working with federal, state and local law enforcement on additional security measures, “as well as our international partners on enhanced security at airports and on flights.” “The American people should continue their planned holiday travel and, as always, be observant and aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior or activity to law enforcement officials,” Napolitano said.http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-terror-plane27-2009dec27,0,6176604.story?page=1.
It’s an interesting way for the media to twist their thinking and maybe even be productive in counterterrorism efforts.
Jacksonville State University, AL – Masters in Public Administration and Emergency Management at JSU
2009 Perspective on Future Terrorist Attacks
Around the world, many have wondered what the terrorist will strike next after the Mumbai incident. Fox News Contributor and Terrorist Expert, Doctor Walid Phares, expressed his opinions on future attacks and the logic behind these attacks on the website, http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/12/04/wphares_mumbai. Phares gives the readers’ three reasons for an increase in terrorist attacks. His first reason expressed that “Urban Jihad is Open for Business” (Foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com). This statement is used to express Phares belief in the future of “Urban Jihad” that will be used to instill shock and paralyzing terror into public spectators by seizing part of a city or neighborhood unexpectedly. He feels that Mumbai was used to initiate an increase in these types of attacks. His second reason was sort of vague, if you’re not from India or it was to me. The second reason for an increase in terrorist attacks was to initiate “Real Jihadi Claims Beyond Kashmir” (Foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com). This expression was used to create a connection between past attacks on Kashmir to the recent attack on Mumbai. Dr. Phares explained that the Taliban’s goal here is to inhabit half of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan (Foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com). Phares continued to explain the logic behind this movement as the Taliban’s way to create a Caliphate. You may ask yourself, “What the heck is a Caliphate?”. That’s a question I had to research for myself. According to encarta.msn.com, “a caliphate is a office and realm of the caliph as supreme leader of the Muslim community and successor of the prophet Muhammed” (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761575871/Caliphate.html). Anyway, moving on towards our reason number three, for an increase in future terrorist attacks includes: “Trans-Regional Forces Trump Local Forces” (Foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com). Phares feels that the attackers involved in the Mumbai incident were supported by a “Pakistan-based Laskar e Taiba, the Indian Mujahideen, Taliban or better known as Al Qaeda” (Foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com). He also states that four of these groups were actually part of one web. I’m guessing that a web is larger than a cell, so maybe his version of four groups is four separate cells. If anyone knows, feel free to contribute to this explanation of a terrorist web. The web that Phares is referring to spreads from Kabul to Mumbai. He elaborates more on the coordination of the attacks, but you can read the article for more insight. The threat that concerns Phares is that three south Asian democracies are all targets of the same enemy, appearing to the targets or victims as being multiple enemies (Foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com). There was also a mentioning of a fourth reason for an increase in terrorist attacks, but I forgot to include this in the beginning statement. I can sum up Phares fourth reason by stating that Afghanistan, the U.S., and NATO forces will be involved in another police action/war, in the near future. To sum this all up, Phares explains that Mumbai and future attacks will be “designed to break down precarious relations between the three south Asian democracies in the region and to weaken the efforts promised by President Obama against Al Qaeda and its regional allies in 2009″ (Foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com). I wasn’t really sure who Dr. Walid Phares was, in the beginning of this article, other than who Fox News claimed that he was. I discovered that Dr. Walid Phares is the Director of the Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and he is the author of “The Confrontation: Winning the War Against the Future Jihad”. I enjoyed reading the article. If your interested in military history or counterterrorism efforts this would be an interesting article to read. Happy Reading!
Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009
Well, I had good intentions all month to create another post that could possibly cover all of 2008′s data, related to disasters and terrorism, but I didn’t pull this feat off yet. I will do a recap of 2008 sometime this week. The month of December is one of our most demanding months of the year and with this thought, I decided to lighten my load of “things to do”. I slowed down and focused on family…like my 86 year old grandmother, my mom & dad, my quirky sister and her two adorable kids. I’ve spent the last three days playing with my niece and nephew, while my sister and her husband recovered from the flu. It’s been a blast and worth every minute of it. I guess the biggest lesson that one can learn from all of the disasters combined is:
“LIFE IS SHORT & PRECIOUS, SO ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF IT”
Have a Happy New Year! 
thedisasterhwy
L.A. Train Wreck Update
Photo from the L.A. Times
The L.A. train wreck, that occured on Sept. 12, 2008, was thought to have been carrying 350 passengers. There were 135 people reported injured, 25 reported dead, and after doing the math, I have determined that there were 215 survivors. I’m collecting my data from the L.A. Times.
They finally determined that the Metrolink Engineer, Mr. Sanchez, had completed a text message 22 seconds before the collision with the freight train. The media makes this man sound like he was so irresponsible for using the cell phone, while conducting his train. He is no different than the boyfriend or husband you are texting ladies. It should make you stop and think to PAUSE, before you do this during someone’s working hours. Mr. Sanchez had placed 29 texts, during this day. This is also for the guys out there who love to text or call their girlfriends and wives. It’s a sad reality, but it could have been any one of us and this will happen again, until they produce a law to enforce the limitation of usage of cell phones. We have all been guilty of doing this, at some point and time in our daily routine. Let’s stop our dependency on cell phones, especially during our working hours. It’s a simple safety measure. It’s like the old sloggan for “don’t do drugs”…”JUST SAY NO”. The next time you’re driving, operating heavy equipment, or at work taking care of someone or something…don’t pick up the cell phone when it rings. “JUST SAY NO”, figuratively. This is what we all have voicemail for, right. Just some thoughts to ponder and embrace.
“Buried Treasure” Uncovered After Hurricane Ike
I have often wondered why the positive side of disasters are not announced along with the negative. We all know that human nature is curious about death and destruction caused from disasters. This is why our media is overly focused on the negative. In the future, I would like to have the time to add the number of survivors, along with those lost during disasters. That is something that definantly needs to be added in my posts.
In the meantime, I have found a positive article from the aftermath of Hurricane Camille and Ike. Both hurricanes have helped to uncover “buried treasure”, so to speak. The wreckage of an old 150 foot boat was found on the shores of Fort Morgan Beach, AL, on Sept. 15, 2008. The locals noted this wrecked ship after Hurricane Camille, but Hurricane Ike provided more shore erosion damage and therefore, revealed more of the lost ship. To read this article please click on this link: http://www.orangebeach.ws/2008/News/2008-09-15-Hurricane_Ike_reveals_Mystery_Civil_War_Ship.html.
Los Angeles Train Wreck
This is a picture of the initial response made by LA Firefighters, after a commuter train collided with a freight train, on Friday. A link to this story by the LA Times is: www.latimes.com.
This picture was also available on the LA Times website. I thought that this picture really captured the magnitude of using heavy of equipment and establishing an area of operations, for emergency managers.
As you read the article provided by the LA Times, you will learn that there are 17 dead and 135 injured, from this accident. They are blaming the collision on the driver or conductor’s error, for not seeing the red light.
Galveston, TX After Hurricane Ike
This image was provided in the NY Times this morning. Hurricane Ike left quite a mess. Galveston endured winds around 100 miles per hour and seas that rose between 11 to 15 feet. Windows were blown out of city skyscrapers and fires were initiated by flying debris that hit power lines. The city is expected to be without power for over two weeks, and so far, the death toll is 4.
The NY Times stated that over 2 million people evacuated from TX and LA, but 100,000 refused to evacuate. It is thought that 20,000 of the 100,000 people that refused to evacuate, lived in the Galveston area. This number leaves rescue workers continually searching for the unknown in flooded areas and areas harboring piles of debris.
Gas prices are expected to stay elevated until the refineries reopen this week. There is good news though; the refineries were not damaged in the storm. This financial burden should be over shortly.
President Bush declared 29 counties in TX, as disaster areas that require federal assistance. For more information on damage assistance or applications for federal assistance check out: www.fema.gov.
To read the NY Times articles on Hurricane Ike check out: www.nytimes.com.
