1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff from how Stuff Works dot com where 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:15,239 Speaker 1: smart Happens. Hi. I'm Marshall Brain with today's question, how 3 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: does someone get ready for a disaster like the one 4 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: we saw in Japan? Or, to put it another way, 5 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:25,440 Speaker 1: how does emergency preparedness work? If there's one thing we 6 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: saw with the earthquake in Japan, it's how quickly the 7 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: world can go from normal to complete disaster. After the 8 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:37,200 Speaker 1: earthquakes and tsunami struck, many people in Japan were thrown 9 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:42,520 Speaker 1: into quite primitive conditions. No electricity, no telephone service, no medicine, 10 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: no clean drinking water, and no shipments of food arriving 11 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: because the roads were gone. Hurricanes can bring the same 12 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 1: kind of destructive force across a wide area, and so 13 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: can volcanoes. If your city were to be struck with 14 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: a large scale disaster like this, would you and your 15 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: family be read need to handle it? That's where emergency 16 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: preparedness comes in. The basic idea is to have enough 17 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: supplies on hand so that your family can survive the 18 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: week or two of pandemonium that follows any major disaster. 19 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: One reason to be prepared is because it ensures the 20 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: survival and relative comfort of your family. The other reason 21 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: is because it makes things less chaotic for rescuers and 22 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: relief crews. If you are able to manage your life 23 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: without any help, it frees up rescue teams to handle 24 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,679 Speaker 1: those who are truly in need of their help. So 25 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: what do you have on hand in an emergency? Perhaps 26 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,480 Speaker 1: the most important thing is water. Human beings use a 27 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:44,480 Speaker 1: lot of water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and even for 28 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: flushing the toilet. At a bare minimum, a person needs 29 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: about a gallon per day. You would like to have 30 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: at least enough water to handle three days, and a 31 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: week or two would be even better. If you have 32 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: four people in your family and you're planning for a 33 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: week of coverage, you need a minimum of twenty eight 34 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: gallons stored somewhere in your house, and it needs to 35 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: be in the right kind of package. Milk jugs of 36 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,359 Speaker 1: water start leaking after a year or so, clear plastic 37 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: bottles won't. If there is a natural source of water nearby, 38 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: like a river or a lake, you can use it. 39 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: If you have a way to carry and sterilize the water. 40 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: You need any prescription medicines that are essential to your life, 41 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: as well as an adequate first aid kit. Because there 42 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: will be no electricity, you'll want to have a good 43 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: flashlight and fresh batteries, as well as a battery operated 44 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: radio to get information. Glow sticks are also nice to 45 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:41,679 Speaker 1: have available. You need some food. Many people have enough 46 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: food in the pantry to handle a couple of days. 47 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: In a big disaster, you may want a week or 48 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: two of food on hand. Canned foods like soups and 49 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: other prepared foods, and dry foods like rice and pasta 50 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: are probably best for long term storage. Keep in mind 51 00:02:57,560 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: that you need a way to open the cans and 52 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: to the food, an old fashioned can opener and a 53 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: camp stover handy. It's nice to have some cash. With 54 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: the power out in the telephone system down, a t 55 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: m S and credit card machines are not going to 56 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,959 Speaker 1: work for the same reason. Gas stations are not going 57 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: to be pumping gas either. If you have some advanced 58 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: warning of something like an approaching hurricane, filling up your 59 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: car's gas tank is a good move, and taking out 60 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: several hundred dollars in cash is also a smart thing 61 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: to do. And don't forget the little things. If you 62 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 1: run out of toilet paper, that is its own special disaster, 63 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: keep several packages of toilet paper in the back of 64 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: the bathroom cabinet just in case. Speaking of hurricanes, a 65 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: big tarp and some rope might be nice things to 66 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: have in the garage. If your roof gets damaged, you 67 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: may be able to cover the whole. If you want 68 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: to write out a disaster and style, an emergency generator 69 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:56,119 Speaker 1: and enough gasoline to keep it running can be very 70 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: nice things to have with it. You can keep your 71 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: refrigerator running, provide lights at night, and so on. Having 72 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: a generator requires an extra level of discipline because gasoline 73 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: goes bad. If you're keeping gasoline in the garage for 74 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: the generator, you need to replace it on a regular schedule. 75 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: Full on disasters like the one that happened in Japan 76 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 1: don't occur very often, but when they do, it's nice 77 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 1: to be prepared so you can survive without undue hardship. 78 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: Be sure to check out our new video podcast, Stuff 79 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: from the Future. Join How Stuff Work staff as we 80 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 1: explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The 81 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works iPhone app has arrived. Download it today 82 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: on iTunes.