foodbanks and earthquakes

[Goodbook]

Like to know if you know what to do in event of an earthquake.
Which I know personally people have been through.
If you living in a community you all rally together. Its not just people on lifestyle blocks. Not everyone lives on one or has the space.

 

[Goodbook]

I also have a friend who studies disaster relief as an anthropologist in the Phillipines.
I'd be interested in your thoughts and testimonies from anyone who's survived something like this.

 

[Goodbook]

I will just put some things I learned from the christchurch earthquake if anyone is interested.
MY brother was actually there on the day it happened for a medical conference. So that was God's providence.

They had some warning previously when an earthquake happened at night but nobody got hurt as all were safe and sleeping in their beds. But this one that killed 185 people on 22 february 2011 at 12:51 pm was the big one. It measured 6.3 on the richter scale.

Aftershocks happened a lot after. But christchurch was devastated. Entire buildings collapsed, esp the CTV tower and the beloved christchurch cathedral. Since chch was built on old swamp land there was a lot of liquefaction..the ground bubbled up.

Most people gathered in parks where tents were set up..hagley park was the main gathering place. Flights of course could not get out. People stuck in buildings and rubble had to be rescued, some had to have limbs amputated.

Mobile phone coverage was cut off...but landlines still worked if they were analogue.

Sewerage backed up so people were using buckets.
Of course insurance claims went on for a long time and many people lost their homes and many could not move as they had nowhere else to stay or go.

Other towns in nz rallied to help and send funds for emergency services and care in chch. Thank God for the sallies, st john ambulance, student cadets, nz army...and ordinary everyday people who might have been strangers before the earthquake but helped each other to survive. Impromptu church services were held in the open air. People buried their dead.
People prayed.

 

[Goodbook]

Talking with people, children mostly had fears of aftershocks and trauma. That happened a long time afterwards. People did say of course animals could sense the earthquake before it happened. They warned each other and hid or left the area.

One of my friends said she was in her car when it struck so the car rolled along with the tremors. My brother was having lunch at the conference, they all dived under a table.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Like to know if you know what to do in event of an earthquake.
Which I know personally people have been through.
If you living in a community you all rally together. Its not just people on lifestyle blocks. Not everyone lives on one or has the space.

I suppose we are extremely lucky Goodbook (I like that username!) to have never been in an earthquake. I cannot imagine. My brother lives in southern California and has felt more than a few tremblers. Looking forward to what people say here. Thanks for starting this thread!

 

[Goodbook]

As far as preparation went those who were christians had their faith tested. And they had tribulation after..but they went and acted on their faith. They helped others. They cared. They prayed. And slowly rebuilt.

If someone dies before your very eyes I dont know if anything prepares you for the shock. But faith helps you through it.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

I will just put some things I learned from the christchurch earthquake if anyone is interested.
MY brother was actually there on the day it happened for a medical conference. So that was God's providence.

They had some warning previously when an earthquake happened at night but nobody got hurt as all were safe and sleeping in their beds. But this one that killed 185 people on 22 february 2011 at 12:51 pm was the big one. It measured 6.3 on the richter scale.

Aftershocks happened a lot after. But christchurch was devastated. Entire buildings collapsed, esp the CTV tower and the beloved christchurch cathedral. Since chch was built on old swamp land there was a lot of liquefaction..the ground bubbled up.

Most people gathered in parks where tents were set up..hagley park was the main gathering place. Flights of course could not get out. People stuck in buildings and rubble had to be rescued, some had to have limbs amputated.

Mobile phone coverage was cut off...but landlines still worked if they were analogue.

Sewerage backed up so people were using buckets.
Of course insurance claims went on for a long time and many people lost their homes and many could not move as they had nowhere else to stay or go.

Other towns in nz rallied to help and send funds for emergency services and care in chch. Thank God for the sallies, st john ambulance, student cadets, nz army...and ordinary everyday people who might have been strangers before the earthquake but helped each other to survive. Impromptu church services were held in the open air. People buried their dead.
People prayed.

Wow... Seeing people work together to help other is an inspiration. I think having support is important... just knowing someone is there to help. Like I said... I cannot imagine. We have been through hurricanes here in the southern US and that is not pleasant. We live 50 miles from Charleston which was the site of a major earthquake a couple hundred years ago. I would rather not!

 

[Goodbook]

As far as food goes. It was the churches that had the foodbanks giving out food. I dont think it was supermarkets as evrything shut down and nobody could trade or buy anything..eftpos wouldnt work, there was no power, tills werent operating of course!

When winter came, people sent blankets and portable heaters as it was dangerous to light fires. The rebuild was very slow. It still continues to this day.

 

[Goodbook]

People with gas stoves of course could cook and if you did have a bbq or camp oven of course no problem. So that is a very good thing to have, but beware of storing heaps of gas bottles as no good in an earthquake if run out. I mean..its often easier to have charcoal.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Sounds like it is almost being thrust into a 3rd world nation. What an experience!

 

[Goodbook]

I think in a situation like that of course the vital,thing people worried about was where their loved ones were if they were apart. When it happened i was working up in auckland, heard on the news...i txted my brother..you not down in chch are you??

He said uh yes...

I was like??? But at least he answered and had his cellphone charged up!

 

[SavedByGrace3]

It would be maddening not being able to contact your loved one. My oldest son made a gift of 2 ham radios to my wife and I. We have not tested them yet as we have to student for a license before we use them. But jumping off the local tower we should be able to contact friends and loved ones withing one hundred and twenty miles.

 

[beaverpond]

We have had a few minor earthquakes, no big deal. We have had forest fires that have burned hundreds of acres at a time this year and years past. We have had blizzards every year with frigid cold temps and those things you never get used to, it seems like.

We find ourselves stocking up on food and water for a few days at time. Nice thing about these going on in winter is we can stash them in a cooler on the porch or in a snowbank. Won't have to worry about things going bad, unlike summer with hurricanes and tornados.

We have seen plenty of tornados and hurricanes over the years causing millions and sometimes billions in damage say nothing for the flooding we get with that. We have great resources that step in and bring food and water from not just food pantries, but we have companies like Crystal Springs and Poland Springs that will donate spring water to communities that need it. Local grocery store chains will donate food to hard hit areas as well.

 

[Goodbook]

Thats good i think supermarkets need to get theri act together and start contributing toward the community as they are basically the biggest suppliers of food to most people.,

What happening now in churches in nz is community meals where supermarkets donate to the churches and the confregation all cook and eat together, and invite anyone. It is not just church members, anyone can come and have dinner. A lot of supermakets just waste their food as they have too much, and food in dented cans etc or past the expiriy date that cant be sold but its still good.

I think in france theyve made it a law that an extra food MUST be donated to the homeless. This principal you find in the bible the book of Ruth where people could glean the fields if they were poor.

 

[Goodbook]

I think its just common sense to stock up when the weather is going to be bad.
Just dont go overboard and hoard. Hoarding seems to be a big problem these days. People have way too much junk and STUFF in their garages.

 

[beaverpond]

Around here, churches open their doors once or twice a month for a meal for free to the community and sometimes will collect money to go to a family in need or to a special benefit that is publicized ahead of time in the newspaper, on a community website, and on a community news channel for all to see. This usually will bring out large crowds. Many civic organizations do the same thing as the churches.

On a regular basis the grocery stores will donate all the day old bakery and meats to the all the local food pantries in the region and there are many in our area. There are a total seven in six towns. We also have two community gardens that are maintained by the residents of the community who need the help, but they must be part of upkeep to reap the harvest and 33% of the harvest goes to two of the food pantries. They have 35 raised beds of fruits and vegetables. These beds are 10ft wide and 50ft long. You can grow a lot food in those beds. Then there are also 50ft of fencing for things like sunflowers. There are a few people who love to dry them out and bake them and then give them away.

 

[Goodbook]

Its starting to happen every week here. my church does it on fridays.
Theres dozens of community gardens now within walking distance of neighbours. But it would be good if everyone had their own like they did in wartime.

I think some people have different priorities these days but i general the trend is people getting back to their own gardens to feed the family.

 

[Goodbook]

We dont publicise it like that! Gosh. Its more of a grassroots thing. Nobody does it if they dont want to, its voluntary.

 

[beaverpond]

I think its just common sense to stock up when the weather is going to be bad.
Just dont go overboard and hoard. Hoarding seems to be a big problem these days. People have way too much junk and STUFF in their garages.

I hear what you are saying. I like doing what my grandparents used to do when I have the time. They would can, freeze, and preserve fruits and veggies straight out of the garden. They had one upright freezer for fruits and veggies and another upright freezer for desserts and pastries then there was the basement for the preserves and jars of fruit like sliced apples, peaches, and pears. Of course there was always a couple of gallons of VT Pure Maple Syrup around for breakfast, lunch, and supper...you never could have enough of it. Some call it a luxury item, my grandparents considered it a necessity of life.

 

[beaverpond]

Because so many people are on the town water supply and because the water rates are so ridiculously high, that is why we started the community garden and made it the size that we did and it is run the way it is. The water comes from a nearby stream so that it does not affect any water / sewer bill on the taxpayers of the town.

That is the other thing. If you use your own water, there is a fee that is automatically added for the sewer charges even if it never goes down those lines. So the town really gets us on that one and unless you have a commercial irrigation system and they refuse to add an additional water meter even if the home owner is willing to pay for it. So many home owners around here will not build or develop a garden, they will go to the local Farmers Market or Super Market for fresh produce.

Going back to the church and organization dinners for a second...the advertising done in the newspaper is done for free by the newspaper owner, and the community website that does this also does this for free. Both of them are totally separate of each other but do so as their own way of giving back to the community...I know this how, because one of them is me. I have the website and I know the owner of the newspaper. We share information on a regular basis to get the information out there. It helps the organizations out at no cost. This allows the churches and organizations to operate at a much lower cost of overhead. I also use Facebook to help them out.