One Country – 900 Emergencies In One Year

Earth Change Report - Issue 026 - Jan 27 08

In this issue - How the experience of one country that had 900 emergencies in 2007 can help us prepare for any future emergencies we need to deal with ourselves.

(Editorial by Publisher/Editor Michael Knight).

One Country – 900 Emergencies In 2007

And my family – past present and extended – lives there.

So this one’s for them, and subscribers in 26 countries.

But first: After the last Earth Change Report a subscriber wrote and said “Less talk – more meat.”

Is 900 emergencies in one country in one year “more meat?”

I think so.

But let me say I know very well that every reader has their own preferences and reasons for subscribing. However, it’s not my task in life to please everybody.

Earth Change Report has a very specific focus based on what some might say is a worst-case scenario…multiple cataclysms of gigantic proportions.

These can be fearsome scenarios for those hearing about them for the first time. That’s why that newsletter dealt with the subject of fear and how to deal with it.

ECR is about facing reality, using common sense, exploring scientific research, gaining information, making decisions and choices, and looking ahead with hope to a much brighter future.

If you have not seen the documentary you do not have the full context or overview that is the motivation behind this newsletter and the associated Earth Change Forum.

The film is Broadcast Quality (because that was my professional background as a Director). It plays and looks beautiful on wide screen TVs (or any Tv) and it has been formatted to play in any region in the world. (Order Here)

But it’s story is not so much about James Gilliland and his Near Death Experiences, visions of earthquakes and tsunamis and his UFO Video footage as it is a message for all of us – and that means you.

There’s a lot of meat in it.

Which brings us to the meat of the matter.

From Denmark to India, Britain to Australia, Canada to New Zealand, the United States to Japan, Indonesia, Belgium, Finland and more, some things have universal application.

We may not speak the same languages, but we should all be thinking about the same things when it comes to planning our survival.

So let’s look at what New Zealand has done in terms of preparing for imminent disasters.

As you can see from this Google Earth image, New Zealand hangs out there by itself in the South Pacific, sitting astride a couple of fault lines, with all its 3000 miles of coastline exposed to the danger of tsunamis. (The fault lines of course mean earthquakes as well).

Where the United States has its Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) New Zealand has its Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management. Different names, similar functions.

Actually, according to this web site,"President Clinton abolished the office of Civil Defense. The Civil Defense medical and food supplies in Civil Defense shelters were given away or destroyed. There is no Civil Defense Program in the United States today."

Well, there is FEMA.

If a disaster happened now, would you be ready?

It goes on to say "Due to its location and environment, New Zealand faces many potential disasters. In some cases, such as a weather related or volcanic disaster, there may be time for a warning.

"But an earthquake or a tsunami close to land could strike without warning. All disasters have the potential to cause disruption, damage property and take lives."

The NZ Govt and local councils are clearly well aware and well prepared for what to do AFTER a disaster.

They're currently mounting a public education campaign with TV spots and other media info under the titles of Get Ready Get Thru" and "What's The Plan Stan."

Public memories are short, but you might remember that after 9/11 the US government also warned us of the possibility of a nuclear attack as well, and recommended we get duct tape to seal our windows and take other protective measures.

Some of us built double-action hand operated filtered air pumps using a design from a Cold War publication called something like "Nuclear War Survival Skills." So far, touch wood, they haven't been necessary. But they're there, just in case, because even though the warning was given six years ago, it would be prudent to say such an attack remains a possibility.

Even if it doesn’t happen, such air pumps would be an excellent item in the event of an eruption and globe-circling volcanic ash cloud.

They also expect businesses to be involved by ensuring every member of staff has these items: walking shoes, waterproof jacket, torch, snack food and water by their desks.

New Zealand is really not a bad place to think about in the same breath as the word "disaster"- because it has been and no doubt will be affected by most varieties.

Tsunamis, fires, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, rising sea levels, you name it, Kiwis get the lot.

Consider this press release from the NZ Ministry of Civil Defence.

"It has been a year of earthquakes, severe weather, tornadoes, floods, a lahar, an eruption, and tsunamis that threatened parts of the Pacific but, fortunately, did not impact New Zealand ,” the Ministry’s Director, John Hamilton, said. “The spread of events gives an important message.

"Northland was hit by flooding and severe weather, Southland and the lower South Island were shaken by earthquakes, Taranaki was hit by tornadoes, part of Otago flooded, Mt Ruapehu produced a lahar and an eruption and just before Christmas Gisborne suffered from an earthquake – the list goes on and covers pretty well the whole country."

Basically they come in three categories. Those with a reasonable amount of advance warning time, those with a short warning period, and those about which there can be no warning at all.

Although it's really impossible to say where and when one will strike, the report came up with a high end figure of 5000 deaths.

New Plymouth and Bell Block are not only on the coast, they are within a few miles of a volcano (Mt Taranaki) which Maori legend and prophecy says will come back to life with devastating effects. My distant personal Ngati Kahungungu tribal connection resonates to that.

In a book titled "Histories of a Nation" published some years ago, Maori elders revealed a history that included incredible volcanic activity and tsunamis centuries ago - with a promise of similar events in the near future.

As always, such indigenous histories tend to be discounted by today's people. And so no preparations are made.

Perhaps that's partly because if you've lived in a coastal area like Bell Block for example all your life, it’s natural to scoff at the thought of tsunamis and eruptions, because they haven't happened.

How’s that for logic?

Despite all their reports and all their campaigns, governments are NOT the ones we should look to when it comes to looking after ourselves.

However, what they have done to protect themselves and their emergency and important personnel should be a very obvious clue as to what we should be planning and doing for ourselves.(Is there a more important ‘personnel’ than you in your life?).

Let’s face it, government responsibility comes after it's over. IF they can still function.

In the capital Wellington, the city council has spent almost two million dollars on the city's emergency management command center.

Nearby, the country's government has its own national Civil Defence headquarters underneath Parliament Buildings (the Beehive as it's called).

As they say

"The NCMC is situated below ground in the Beehive (Parliament buildings) sub-basement, contained within the outer perimeter of the building. Its design is aimed at maximum self-sustainability in the event of a major Wellington earthquake or other local disasters and service failures. These measures and facilities include:

There are similar buildings and trained staff in cities all round the world.

Survival studies were commissioned and published, including books that showed how to build everything from a simple shelter in a ditch to a complete underground survival bunker.

Public memories are short, but you might remember that after 9/11 the US government also warned us of the possibility of a nuclear attack as well, and recommended we get duct tape to seal our windows and take other protective measures.

Some people built double-action hand operated filtered air pumps using a design from a Cold War publication called something like "Nuclear War Survival Skills."

So far, touch wood, they haven't been necessary. But they're there, just in case, and they would be an excellent item in the event of an eruption and globe-circling volcanic ash cloud.

But back to preparedness, using the following incident as a metaphor.

I keep saying I’ll learn more about first aid, and I repeated the vow this evening as I was taping up my wife’s ribs.

This is not a game we play on Friday nights by the way.

We only do it when she experiences an abrupt change in her life.

Like spinning out on ice at 50 miles an hour, careering across the highway through two oncoming traffic lanes (missing the oncoming cars) hitting the guard rail head on, then bouncing back through two lanes of traffic to her side of the road.

That’s an abrupt experience.

(It was also an abrupt experience for the wreck at right - a car that was flattened in the Mt St Helens eruption of 1980. Over 50 people lost their lives that day, many because they refused to heed advance warnings).

Fortunately for Judith she had learned years ago to take precautions. It’s called wearing a safety belt and it did its job. Aside from a sore rib, she’s fine.

In both these life-threatening situations, the difference between life and death came down to individual choice. Choices that were made in advance of the event.

So it should be stressed once again, it is NOT the local or national government's responsibility to get us prepared for (or save us from) any sort of disaster.

They consider it their job to look after themselves first – on your behalf of course – so they can run things from the safety of their shelter.

The same is true in the United States. It built huge underground facilities for use in the event of nuclear war, not just to house politicians, but also people from the Federal Reserve and those who control the world economy.

Does that mean governments no longer have them? Not at all. They have even better ones. But the tourist attractions serve a diversionary purpose.

Nevertheless, believe it or not, governments - in both word and action - have been warning us for decades that we should be prepared.

Not that they openly advocate steel and concrete underground homes, but if they're building them, should we not seriously consider doing the same?

A three-day survival kit is a start. But it’s nowhere near enough to get through really abrupt and widespread disasters.

For that, a person should be thinking about the home-owner’s version of an emergency bunker.

Call it a shelter, an earth berm house, a safety area in a basement – by any name, its function would be self-preservation for a lengthy period of time.

If governments and local councils can build such places, wisely preparing for future events – wisely realizing that 900 emergencies in one year are definitely a sign of things to come – then so should we.

That’s why the Earth Change Forum was established.

It already contains information about shelters of various types, lists of preparedness items, links to many useful resources, and a community of like-minded people who can discuss these things in private.

The useful information just keeps on growing.

You can become a private member here.

Lastly – if 900 emergency events in 12 months is not enough to get peoples attention, what will it take?

Probably an abrupt change.

Which might be hard to survive without a seat belt.

Sincerely,

Michael Knight,

Director - Contact Has Begun

Editor - Earth Change Report.

PS - If you have Outlook/Express click here to send an email to those you know telling them (in your own words) about this article.

Copy and paste this link into the message body:

http://www.buycontacthasbegun.com/newsletter026.html

Remember - Earth changes are real. It’s time to get ready.