Shelter Expo: Preparing For More Storms
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Del.icio.usSuddenly the air is abuzz with word of a hurricane. Panic sets in as stores are depleted of flashlights, batteries, candles, water and toilet tissue. Will you contribute to the gridlock traffic and throngs of people futilely searching for sold-out supplies? Or will you be prepared?
The American Red Cross will help answer that question from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday when it presents Shelter Expo at Kahuku High School.
“Our focus is on informing the general public, signing up volunteers and also giving existing volunteers the opportunity to refresh what they learned in training, that they haven’t used,” explained Rike Weiss, ARC mass care coordinator.
Weiss stressed the importance of keeping a personal, 72-hour emergency disaster kit stocked with essentials like water, food, medications and a flashlight. Kits will be on display and for sale at the expo along with demonstration shelters.
Cub Scouts have helped map out a mock shelter.
“In the evacuation shelter, people have 15 square feet of space,” Weiss said.“Seeing the dimensions on a tarp was really interesting for the kids. They laid down in that little space and curled up in a fetal position and said, ‘Oh my god, that’s all the space I’m gonna have?’ So, (actually experiencing the 3-by-5 space) really brings it home.”
Visitors can also get a feel for how a shelter operates. The first step is to sign in at the registration station. Other stations are security, recreation, feeding, health and mental health services. Without electricity, phone or water, evacuees must be prepared to wait for mass aid, and that’s where the 72-hour kit comes in. Volunteers are essential to keeping the situation orderly and organized, Weiss noted.
“For each school that is designated a shelter (by Civil Defense), we try to develop a shelter chain from within the school, meaning some school staff, because they’re the people who know the campus best.” Parents and nearby residents could be on the shelter team, too, since they don’t have to drive to get there.
The goal of the pilot project to become a traveling exhibit to communities across Oahu and on the neighbor islands.
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