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Renew
Online
You may now renew your annual membership dues online. Annual dues are $45.00.
By Leslie Olding,
Streamlined Development
We think it will never happen to us. Yet we live in a post-9/11
world of heightened uneasiness at living just miles from
Millstone, the US Navy Submarine Base, and Long Island Sound.
Laurin and I have always known we may someday have to leave our
home due to an emergency. Prior to 9/11, we always thought it
would be rising water, but since last September, we've worried
more about terrorist threats. We even had a minor scare recently
involving a low-flying plane that reportedly dropped a box into
our water supply. Despite all our concerns and the many
warnings, we never made any actual preparations for evacuation.
And then it happened.
On Tuesday, June 24th, a 250 lb container of chemicals exploded
at Pfizer. The blast shook our home, and caused a great deal of
excitement. Our normally quiet street became a hub of activity,
as sirens wailed, the media descended, helicopters circled, and
traffic in and out of the Pfizer campus was re-routed past our
house. Still, we were unprepared for what occurred next.
On Wednesday morning, we awoke to the news that there was a
voluntary evacuation of our neighborhood underway. Chemical
containers exposed to the initial blast had become unstable, so
the threat of additional explosions was real. Pfizer's van pool
slowly cruised through the neighborhood to help move people to
safety. Police were everywhere. It was a surreal scene straight
out of a bad sci-fi movie. There were no kids playing, no dogs
barking, no people anywhere. Sadly, there was no one able to
give us the slightest shred of useful information either. We had
no idea if we would be gone for three hours, three days, or
three weeks.
I've been in crisis situations before, and have always kept my
cool. I consider myself to be basically unflappable, and not at
all easily rattled. Laurin is the same way, so it surprised me
when I became increasingly uncomfortable with what I now believe
was genuine panic. I moved quickly to gather things I thought I
would need, but as my mind raced, my ability to think clearly
became increasingly impaired. We grabbed one cat, our
toothbrushes, a change of clothes, and the laptop. I packed
files for two clients, along with an address book containing
phone numbers. We let one close friend know where we were
headed, and informed others once we arrived safely at my
father's house.
Later that day when the situation at Pfizer was under control,
we returned to our home. We realized how horribly unprepared we
were for what amounted to a minor emergency. This was a
voluntary evacuation, and there was probably never any real
threat to our health or safety. Nonetheless, someone had knocked
on our door, told us it was not safe to be in our home, and I
panicked. When we arrived at my father's house, we quickly found
we couldn't get much work done, as we didn't have backups on the
laptop, nor did we have log-ins and passwords to access files
from the web sites we were developing. When we realized this, we
became determined to become better prepared. We'll never again
think it won't happen to us, and neither should anyone reading
this.
So here are my tips for all of you who haven't taken steps to
prepare for the possibility that you may someday need to
evacuate your home and office in a hurry:
1. Make a list. This is the least you should do. Imagine you
have 15 minutes to get out of your home and office. You should
think of all the things you'd need to put your hands on during
that time. Trust me, if you're even mildly panicked, you won't
think of everything, so make the list now.
2. Practice gathering things in a hurry. Make sure you know
where all your important documents are, how to pack your
computer in your trunk, and have boxes on hand.
3. Know where you're going. We were lucky that we didn't have to
move far to safety. But a mass evacuation will cause traffic
jams and confusion, so know your route. The office of Emergency
Management has a booklet that you should read and keep handy.
4. Back up your computer's user files every night. If there's
not time to pack your computer, at least grab the files. You may
be able to get another computer, but your work will take more
time to reconstruct.
5. Keep a hard copy of phone numbers, log-ins and passwords, or
other information typically stored on your computer. Hide it
well, but know where it is in an emergency, and take it with
you.
6. Pack an emergency kit. To be on the extra safe side, pack a
box with some canned food, water, clothing, blankets, first aid,
personal stuff, ID, pet supplies, flashlight, and cash. Know
where your vital papers are and collect contact info for
friends, family, and clients. Remember, you're leaving your home
and your business.
7. Lock up! Police may patrol if it's a small neighborhood
incident like ours, but in the event of a large scale
evacuation, there will be looters.
Remember, your health and safety are more important than any
personal property you own, so don't waste any time collecting
things if danger is immanent. Get out, and get to safety as
quickly as possible.