Earthquake Preparedness

Before an Earthquake:
1. Secure heavy items, furnaces, water heaters, etc. in your home. Hang heavy pictures and mirrors away from beds and couches as they can fall on you in an earthquake. Make sure valuable items on display are protected by a lip on the shelf if possible. Place large, heavy objects on lower shelves. Know how to turn off the gas and water in your home. Store flammable materials (weed killer, pesticides, etc.) in low cupboards with latches to secure them closed.
2. Have a 72 hour kit ready to go in your home and emergency supplies in your car.
3. Designate safe spots in each room of the house in case of an earthquake. These could be under heavy furniture, against an inside wall, away from windows and heavy bookcases.
4. Determine a meeting place outside the home and one outside the neighborhood in case you are away from your home when the earthquake hits.
5. Determine an out-of-state contact that family could call who can coordinate information about members of the family (long-distance calls may be much easier to make in an emergency).

During an Earthquake:
1. If you are inside, do not go outside.
2. If you are in a car, pull over to the side of the road when it is safe (away from power lines, tall buildings, etc.). Stay inside your car.
3. If you are outside, go to the middle of an open area. Stay away from tall buildings, freeway overpasses, bridges, wires, etc.

Family Emergency Meeting Plan:
Location: Bell Tower Chapel on North Temple in Provo
Out-of-State Contact: Kelley Ashcroft

Links to a few internet resources:
http://seagrant.uaf.edu/features/earthquake/index.html
http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/index.shtm
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/earthquake.htm

Fiscal Awareness

Here is some information we feel is worthy of sharing with all our friends and family about the financial state of the union and the implications for the future of the United States.

www.meridianmagazine.com/ideas/080306danger.html

This link is to a Meridian Magazine article by Stephen Studdert, a former whitehouse advisor to presidents George W. Bush, Reagan, and Ford. Here are a couple excerpts from the article:

"Studdert lists ten dangers including the triple threat to our global economic dominance posed by China, India and Russia; the time bomb of American debt; our unfunded entitlement programs; radical Islam and terrorism; federal government stupidity; the bursting of the housing bubble; our unquenchable thirst for oil; immigration insanity; pandemic plagues; and America’s failing infrastructure."

"His intent is not to frighten readers, but help them assess the risks and dangers that exist from following the policies America is currently pursuing. He says, “We need to hear the real facts and the plain truth even if it hurts.”