Tell the general public everything we know and be specific.  I understand that all the information is public knowledge… but open their eyes… turn up the dimmer switch.  Rewrite California’s new OPLAN in “general public” language… all of it…   and distribute everywhere. The scenario described within the plan  is a terrifying eye opener and it should be used. I live here and there is no universal acceptance of this disastrous event we have been talking about for years and even less about the inevitable results. This will not be your grandfather’s earthquake and everyone needs to understand that.

The shakeout drills have been great and I have participated, but it reminded me of the “drop and cover” in case of a nuclear attack. In the sixties we knew to cover our heads but then no one talked about what was going to happen to us if we survived and I think that is what is going on here.

 Emergency managers and public advisory statements should make prep for this inevitable earthquake as common as preparing for a super bowl party… and tell them why… over and over.  Do it on TV and make permanent earthquake preparedness sections in local papers. Stop calling them tips… they are musts… if we want to make it through the disaster together. Stop babying the general public and tell it straight. Since we have that wonderful  USGS ShakeOut M7.8 map… make the information location specific.   Apply the same sense of urgency as the drop and cover drills. I still remember how I felt during the Cuban missile crisis and we ate the food stored in our linen closet for months after that.

I believe where officials are falling down, is not being specific about what life will be like after the event. Just as surely as hurricane models tell us where a hurricane is going and max strength… this scenario  has scientific basis. I am far more inclined to stock up on food and water if I know there will be none for weeks perhaps even months on end, and most importantly, why, unless I wait in line with thousands of folks at distribution centers. We must remember that Californians do not “know the drill”. They have never suffered the mass population devastation of a Katrina and still say they would rather have an earthquake any day. I thought so too until Hurricane Gustav showed up at my front door while on special assignment in Louisiana and I wrote this note to my family back in California.

Our condo here in Baton Rouge was smack in the middle of a Cat 1, with sustained winds of over 80 miles an hour. Trees blew down and crushed homes in the beautiful neighborhoods surrounding us. It lasted for hours and we were pretty scared. The power in my home was out for almost five days with temperatures over 100 degrees and the internet and cell phones were erratic for weeks. My first reaction was I will take an earthquake over this mess any day! Earthquakes just happen, you don't worry for days on end if it is coming to get you, it is over and you get on with your life. But then I thought about it... I knew there was a good chance Gustav was coming to dinner, so I made plans. I filled my car with gas, got cash from the ATM, got in supplies of batteries, food and water, froze gallon jugs of water in my freezer, filled my tub with water, washed clothes and changed sheets and towels. I called friends and family to let them know where I was going to be and how to contact me. Then, I settled in and waited for my unwanted guest to arrive; which he did, with a vengeance. However, and this is the important thing, since I was prepared, I did not have to wait in line hours on end in the heat for water and ice. I had cash to buy food, so I did not have to go to the Red Cross when I ran low after a week and the power at the bank was still off or the ATM's had not been restocked. I had gas in my car to get out of Dodge if I needed to and the batteries in my little radio kept me in contact with the world beyond my hot, humid living room.  The powers that be want us to be prepared to take care of ourselves for a very long time, we were and that made all the difference.

We need to make my fellow Californians understand this as well and I think we might if we consider stopping  the “them and us” ideology. People “snap to” when the situation warrants. .. Remember the passengers and crew of Flight 93? The flight attendants (us) and passengers (them) came together as one without knowing each other or training together, armed with knowledge, they worked together to save each other and died trying, they were a team, in it together. .. Together.  Knowledge is king and in the case of this upcoming earthquake, the scarier the better… let’s let them in on it and maybe they will respond.

The image used is a watercolor painting called "Here's Looking at You" A tribute to 9-11.

A Manhattan to Manhattan… by Rob Beilby, Artist "This watercolor was done for my wife, a United Airlines Flight Attendant, to respectfully commemorate September 11, 2001. It is meant as a loving toast to the fallen. The prospective is from an interior window table at the famous “Windows on The World” restaurant, a top the twin towers."

The genesis of DHS, the painting is registered with the Library of Congress