By Kevin Foster
I asked that question to hundreds of people this week. What I found most interesting was although it was so long ago, those that are old enough to remember, remembered exactly what they were doing that day, and that evening, when the big earthquake struck. Stories of those that were at home, watching their cabinets getting emptied from the rumbling and shaking, while hearing all the glass breaking on the kitchen floor. A lot of people were out on the road commuting watching the road roll. Some were at locations watching bridges collapse, seeing neighbors houses, shaking off their foundations. Others reported bookcases falling over and blocking their exit paths, from home or the works place, all while taking cover as windows were breaking. And then in the aftermath of aftershocks, those that were so terrified they slept in cars away from buildings were camped outside due to the worry of aftershocks. It was quite amazing the small details that everyone could remember. I myself went into help mode. I started with small businesses, installing wires across shelves in bars. I then developed a plan for how to educate others on what I had learned from that big earthquake, and other disasters I encountered such as flooding; where I assisted Morgan Hill PD with my big four-wheel-drive, helping evacuate elderly from a mobile home park while their mobile homes were all floating. From past experiences as I grew older, I learned to take various trainings to help assist communities in preparation for disasters or emergencies. I asked several of the folks that remembered the 89 earthquake what they did differently afterward. I was happy that about 40% who put childproof locks on their upper cabinets. Another 50% secured large bookcases and large standing furniture that was in the path to their exit points and fastened them to walls. About 75% started to store food and water after the big quake. I implemented an alternate communication plan for out of state contacts where all family members could check in if they weren’t with one another during a major event, as well as a meeting place if they were within a 10 mile radius, if communications were knocked out along with power. Experiencing those major disasters escalated to prepare people for home fires and wildland fires along with torrential rains and flooding where folks are trapped at home. The world’s climate is drastically changing and for that reason we as a community need to practice good procedures to stay safe and always have a game plan. Every few months several families I know of will have a family meeting and test their plan while re-viewing it to make sure everybody in the family remembers the basics on what to do. I might add it’s extremely valuable to connect with all your neighbors nearby to be able to help one another in the event of something catastrophic. Nowadays all of this information, and more, can be obtained online at places like ready.gov. Googling disaster preparedness or earthquake preparedness has endless valuable information. So this month let’s utilize the big quake as a reminder to stay prepared, be prepared, and practice preparedness. (Written just prior to the Oct. 25th, 2022 5.1 quake in San Jose.) 
