[californiadisasters] Impending Doom? Red Cross is Here to Help!

Impending Doom? Red Cross is Here to Help!

Posted by Dani Burlison
The Press Democrat
Friday, March 18th, 2011

With concerns growing about potential radiation exposure and a mega-massive full moon creating fear about a tremendous earthquake and storms here in Santa Rosa, many are scrambling for fault line-free zones. This morning's tornado– which touched down and destroyed structures in the Junior College neighborhood– did little to calm residents' already frazzled, weather-fearing nerves.

Instead of running for the hills before this weekend's expected storm or ordering potassium iodine supplies that would be of better use to those at immediate risk of radiation-sickness in Northern Japan, this is a good time to gain disaster preparedness skills and to double check emergency disaster kits. March is Red Cross Month; a good time to become prepared.

"Generally, when there is a disaster, we see an increase in activity" says Ellen Maremont Silver of Santa Rosa-based Red Cross of Sonoma and Marin Counties. "Mostly, we've seen lots of volunteers stepping forward to be trained but we've also had a lot of phone calls."

Trainings at the Red Cross include both free volunteer information workshops and fee-based CPR and First Aid classes. The Santa Rosa office is also open Monday through Friday for information and purchases of disaster kits. Staff are also available to do presentations for groups at schools, offices and other organizations.

"We're not here to explain things, but to prepare for and respond to disasters," says Maremont Silver. "And we want to encourage people to be prepared buy building kits and making family plans."

Maremont Silver also recommends an online resource for a sixteen week preparedness plan at Sebastopol Hardware.

In regards to the belief that some have around impending doom with this weekend's moon and heavy rain forecast, Maremont Silver reminds us that we should all be prepared. "Things are very scary right now and people are just looking for things to make sense," she says. "We're here to help them be prepared."

Source: http://santarosa.towns.pressdemocrat.com/2011/03/news/impending-doom-red-cross-is-here-to-help/

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