I don't normally post these kind of things but tonight my phone dinged twice saying things I never wanted to see!
This is exact copy from my phone:
Emergency Alert
LEVEE BREAK SOUTH OF 120 WEST OF MANTECA RD TO STANISLAUS RIVER
Emergency Alert
Flash Flood Warning in this area til 7:30 AM PST. Avoid flood areas. Check local media. -NWS
And yes if you follow the news, I live in Manteca CA. Which had 500 homes mandatory evacuated, thankfully they were able to seal the break. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out WHERE it broke to realize that it was many miles away from me, but HAD it been close... 20 minutes is too long to get your things together to evacuate if you absolutely have too....
sooooo hoping no one ever HAS to rush out of their work or home in a panic, but praying if you do that you're prepared because it makes all the difference in the world.
So closetters, if you didn't know, there's tons of resources to help you. I learned by being an army brat as well as later in the military, having what's called a go-bag can mean the difference between life and death. And no, I'm not kidding. Just ask all the people who perished in Katrina, because they didn't have their medicine, glasses, or any other life critical items we always take for granted until they aren't there.
I was in the Air Force during Katrina I was at Lackland AFB in TX and the call went out for any and all aeromed to mobilize... I was still in training so I didn't get to go but they sent thousands of evacuees to us at Lackland/Kelly AFB. It was one of the most heartbreaking things to realize some of these people would never recover from the loss of identity, they had no way to prove who they were, and the places that had that proof, no longer existed. Keep in mind not every place has digital records instantly searchable or at all, and in a disaster without hard copies you get shuffled to the back of the queue while they try and figure something out. We had HUNDREDS of people who had temporary wristbands like you would get a hospital because they had no ID of any kind...
One of the ladies I helped out was 84 years old, had never had a drivers license and was on benefits because her husband had passed years before, she didn't remember her own SSN and the hospital she was born in hadn't existed for 50 years... I never did find out what happened to her after she processed through us (we were giving shots for everything at that point)
It was one of the more darkest moments of any first responders career... thousands of people you cannot help because their problem isn't a medical one. All we could do was listen and tell them they were safe.
So enough of my depressing background story! =]
Here's a few quick links, I hope it helps people in potential harms way, take a look, a lot of it is easy simple stuff
https://www.ready.gov/kit <-- basic list of what you need. There's extras on there but always handy to have.
http://www.redcross.org/get-help/prepare-for-emergencies/be-... <-- The Red Cross has all kinds of good stuff you can even buy kits, or piece it together using their list.
It's sad to think of people losing almost everything so quickly, so ask yourself this. If you were told there was a fire, flood, or disaster hitting your neighborhood, could you in under 10 minutes get proper documentation for EVERYONE there including birth certificates, insurance information, passports or any other critical documentation, all the medicine they need for a week, all the clothes, all the portable electronics we depend on (cell phones, pagers, and their chargers) so we can notify loved ones we're safe, get the pets, get the pets food and anything they need? The victims of Katrina had HOURS for most, but they didn't KNOW they would need these things... it had never happened before on such a large scale.
I hope and pray it never happens again.
Sara
One wall just is not enough.
The U.S. is not great when it comes to building dams. The U.S. believes that one wall is enough.
You go to other nations, such as the Netherlands, they build sets of wall. One wall behind the another wall. Sometimes three or four walls deep. If one wall fails the other walls will likely hold.
Difference in intended purpose
While the dams in the U.S. are holding back rivers, the dams in the Netherlands are holding back the ocean, with all the storms that go along with it. And they are protecting land that is below sea level in many cases, land that is heavily populated. So the design criteria is substantially different. Add to that the fact that many dams in the U.S. are past their design life, even the ones the Army Corp of Engineers constructed. So what should not have been a problem is now.
Its the price we pay for having the type of government funding we have. Even the largest projects are plagued by funding that seldom extends past the next election. Everytime the balance of power shifts in Congress new projects are funded and old ones have their funding slashed. All in the name of bringing home jobs and industries to the folks that got them elected.
A classic example is the so-called 'Road to Nowhere'. That was a multi-hundred million dollar road in Alaska to connect the mainland to an island in this senator's home district. The road filled no need, there was nothing on the island worth bringing to the mainland and too few inhabitants on the island to justify needing the road to the island. A major factor in a politician's ability to get reelected is his ability to bring home the pork. The voters don't concern themselves with priorities and such, they just want the money and the jobs it brings.
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
The other issue is the Age of our Dams
almost all the Dams in the US are over 50 years old, also the state agencies that are responsible for inspections are under staffed, under budgeted, and over worked in all states.
Our infrastructure in the US is at a critical point, it needs a massive overhaul or the US will be a 3rd world county soon. But the government can not agree on what needs to be done because it would require dare I say a Tax increase, Oh the Horror. What ever happened to conservative spending being responsible spending not just lower taxes, and even a tax increase when needed.
I do not live near a Dam, but i have to watch for Flash floods, Hurricanes, and Tornados. Also Power Goes out so much we have to have a Backup Generator for the whole house and water we have a well. We went without Power for almost a month after Ike, and since then we have had to have more preparations.
"Cortana is watching you!"
Dammed If You Do
We have plenty of money to round up (or threaten to round up) people who step across an arbitrary line in the sand. We have plenty of money to contemplate writing an executive order that will set aside Obama's executive order that protects trans children in schools. But we don't have any money to help turn around the root causes of the weather problems in California.
It's going to hit 54 degrees F in my state of Minnesota today. That will be a record. The historical average high for today is around 30. Some would say that is positive. Others would look at all the dying trees and other environmental fallout and wonder if our grandchildren have a decent future.
I know this site isn't political, but when you have an administration who has anyone who is transgender in its crosshairs, and our world is being assaulted by climate change, isn't it about time to pull our heads out of the sand?
It's painfully obvious that this administration wants to govern through fear. There is NO basis in fact for the Muslim ban. There is NO basis in fact for the deportation policies that are now being implemented. No one from Syria has bombed anyone in the United States. The incidence of illegal immigrants being involved in violent crimes is much lower than the general population.
Obama didn't leave the United States in a terrible, horrible mess. The economy is healthy. We are not involved in multiple wars. Our international relationships are not hanging by threads. The United States is currently great and can only be made greater through the actions of ALL of us.
I'm starting a business with a immigrant from Kenya. He's a brilliant man. His skin happens to be much darker than mind. His heart seems to be much larger. I have no doubt which is more important. I don't know his religion . . . and I don't care. I don't know anyone who is actively advocating Sharia Law and don't spend a lot of time worrying about it. Those that do should read Article Six Paragraph 2 of the Constitution, which states that the constitution is the supreme law of the land.
I'm not a Hillary fan. It was with great disappointment that I found myself voting for her. Erin can tell you that I wrote a non-TG political novel fifteen years ago in which Hillary was the villain. Erin helped with the editing. In my estimation that fellow with the lamp wouldn't have much luck in Washington on either side of the aisle. Trump is right about it being a swamp. But is it really "draining the swamp" to give access to the oval office to the alt right?
Pence's record on GLBT rights is appalling. Bannon is heavily connected to anti-gay speak through his media outlet.
We've come a long way in the last decade and there are many who think part of making America great again involves reversing that trend.
Erin -- while I agree that this site should be a place to come where we can be removed from the world, I wonder if there shouldn't be a corner of this site that facilitates honest discussion. It's almost impossible to get the facts in world where alternative facts are being generally accepted. There are people on this site who could help us all understand what is happening.
Would it be possible to create a separate forum within this site, or have politics become so toxic that discussing these important issues is beyond our capabilities?
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Part of the Problem is the last 2 years.
The 24-hr News Cycle the last 2 years has don nothing but give constant coverage to the Political Nightmare of the last Primary and Presidential Election. So We saw so much of everything said it honestly made me sick. No we have well I am not going to say what I feel on it of A Person in Office. But Sadly everything that happens lately the problems have a partial root if not the whole root of the problem in Politics.
It Gets heated and Sadly it drives up Blood pressure and Body Temps. I can not Deny it has done that to me.
"Cortana is watching you!"
We are The Knights Who Say Kneejerk
What politics in America seems to have become is totally kneejerk. Everything bad---from child molesters to failing dams and bridges---is automatically and magically the fault of the opposition, who have been demonized beyond anything that can be responded to sanely. I saw an article yesterday about somebody leaving weird graffiti ("Jackie Shot Kennedy") on Washington D.C. monuments. Without any information about the miscreant beyond that, half of the comments blamed the vandalism on "BLM Liberal Snowflakes" and the other half insisted it was done by "Repuglican Trumptards"; neither side considering that maybe the person was just a jerk. I don't know what that means for this site, but laws and directives that affect transgender people seem too important and relevant to our BCTS family NOT too discuss here. But I personally will try to do it without giving in to idiot demagoguery and name calling. Unlike TRUMP, who is obviously a serial killer and farts in the bathtub and bites the bubbles!
Well shit, I guess it really CAN happen here..,
.
The Soap Opera playing out in front of us
Could not have been scripted even by the most way out writers of the 'West Wing'.
There is a childrens TV show called 'Trumpton' here in the UK.
There is a parallel somewhere but for the love of Mike, I can't figure it out.