1. A Recommended Community Crisis
Preparedness Plan
Prepared for: Northeast Community Council
and Members
Prepared by: Cobi Smith-Mass, Student at
University of Alaska Anchorage.
November 10, 2016
2. Northeast Preparedness ii
Letter of Transmittal
November 9, 2016
Mrs. Angela Andersen
3211 Providence Dr.
Anchorage, AK 99508
Dear Northeast Community Council,
I have conducted research on our community it has become overwhelmingly apparent we need to
create a momentum for community earthquake-disaster preparedness. In my research, I have
found that none of our local communities have an established plan tailored for their specific
location and needs if a disaster occurred today. It is with the help of FEMA and the MOA
(Municipality of Anchorage) that I have formulated a cost-effective way to prepare our
community for an earthquake disaster. I believe that creating a plan that is accessible to the
community is pertinent to our safety, especially considering the unpredictability of natural
phenomena since our climate has transformed. If we are successful in our attempt to prepare the
community and install common knowledge of earthquake readiness, then we may inspire our
neighboring communities to follow our lead. It is inside this report I have produced a four-week
plan to prepare any family in your community for a disaster earthquake.
In preparing your community for an earthquake disaster it is only realistic to develop the plan on
a much smaller scale. We must implement a plan that each individual family may acquire and
begin to utilize immediately and effectively. My proposed tasks are to prepare your family,
home, and form a response plan after a disaster occurs.
I found the most common protocols mentioned by the government sources were: identify safe
areas in your home, assemble a go kit, and identify contacts reachable after by cell phone to
establish a plan. Once a shake has stopped it is important to react quickly in the likely event of an
aftershock.
Yours truly,
Cobi Smith-Mass, UAA Technical Writing Student
Enclosure
3. Northeast Preparedness iii
Contents
A Recommended Community Crisis Preparedness Plan ..................................................................i
Letter of Transmittal ........................................................................................................................ii
1.0 Executive Summary...................................................................................................................v
2.0 Definition of Terms...................................................................................................................vi
3.0 Introduction............................................................................................................................... 1
4.0 Plan............................................................................................................................................ 1
4.1Proposed Tasks....................................................................................................................... 1
4.1.1 Task 1: Prepare Your Family.......................................................................................... 1
4.1.2 Task 2: Prepare Your Home. .......................................................................................... 1
4.1.3 Task 3: Build Your Go-Kit. ............................................................................................ 1
4.1.4 Task 4: Establish a list of contacts.................................................................................. 2
4.2 Schedule ................................................................................................................................ 2
Family.......................................................................................................................................... 2
Home ........................................................................................................................................... 2
Go-Kit.......................................................................................................................................... 2
Contacts....................................................................................................................................... 2
Review Safe areas ....................................................................................................................... 2
Survey Lot................................................................................................................................... 2
Water 1 G/ day/ person................................................................................................................ 2
Have 5 listed................................................................................................................................ 2
Safety Techniques ....................................................................................................................... 2
Clear hazards on our lot .............................................................................................................. 2
Non-perishable ............................................................................................................................ 2
Friends and family....................................................................................................................... 2
How to react after........................................................................................................................ 2
Evaluate strength of foundation .................................................................................................. 2
Warm up clothes.......................................................................................................................... 2
Out of state friend........................................................................................................................ 2
Check flexible gas caps for the house ......................................................................................... 2
Crank radio + Contacts................................................................................................................ 2
Week 1......................................................................................................................................... 2
Week 2......................................................................................................................................... 2
Week 3......................................................................................................................................... 2
4. Northeast Preparedness iv
Week 4......................................................................................................................................... 2
4.3 Budget ................................................................................................................................... 2
*Clothes are presumed to be at home.......................................................................................... 2
4.4 Personnel............................................................................................................................... 2
5.0 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 3
5.1 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 3
5.2 Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 3
6.0 Appendix A: Household Emergency Plan ................................................................................ 4
7.0 Appendix B: Community Location Map .................................................................................. 5
8.0 Appendix C: Anchorage Bowl Seismic Map ............................................................................ 6
......................................................................................................................................................... 6
9.0 References................................................................................................................................. 7
5. Northeast Preparedness v
1.0 Executive Summary
In our Northeast Community of Anchorage, we are susceptible to earthquakes at any given time.
Anchorage is the recipient of almost 2.5 earthquakes a day making it an extremely active zone. If
one of disaster magnitude struck now, almost none of our community would have FEMA’s
recommended preparations completed. Now my goal is to create a momentum of gaining an
understanding of what could be done to prepare for a disaster, what you should do during an
earthquake, and what your first steps should be afterwards.
FEMA had excellent plans on their website that illustrated what should be done before, during,
and after an earthquake. Before the disaster occurs, it is important to verify that your family
knows earthquake protocol. The first part of your preparation is preparing yourself and your
family with the knowledge needed to survive against a disaster. Next is preparing your home,
and the lot space in the immediate vicinity. Finally, you must establish a contact plan for
afterwards to reach one another and decide on a rally point.
By preparing your family you may introduce safe and hazardous areas inside and outside of your
home. You want your family to be ready for an earthquake in any room without hesitation. The
most crucial element of preparing your family is gathering your “Go-Kit”, a Go-Kit is a 3 day
survival supply of food, water, clothing, a basic first aid kit, and walkie talkies or a crank radio.
Once the shaking has begun, the first thing you do is drop cover and hold under a sturdy
structure; desk, doorway, tables. After the earthquake has subsided, you should establish a clear
safe path away from any debris or damaged areas, then look for means of contact with friends
and family to connect with them.
The purpose of this report is to affect change in the community, and inspire understanding and
readiness for earthquake disasters. If our community has a significant reception, we may possibly
inspire our neighboring communities to see this issue more pertinent.
6. Northeast Preparedness vi
2.0 Definition of Terms
Aftershock: Earthquakes that may come periodically after initial shake.
Epicenter: The point where initial tearing of the earth’s crust begins, directly above the
Hypocenter.
Hypocenter: The point below the earth’s crust that the earthquake began.
Moment magnitude: The magnitude measured at one point in time by the Richter Scale.
Richter Scale: A mathematical device used to measure intensity of earthquakes by the amplitude
of the waves recorded by seismographs.
Tsunami: A tsunami is a sea wave of local or distant origin that results from large-scale seafloor
displacements.
7. Northeast Preparedness 1
3.0 Introduction
The Northeast Community in Anchorage is extremely susceptible to earthquakes. Anchorage
itself experiences over 2 earthquakes a day (2016, Anchorage has had, para. 1). The clear
purpose of this report is to cause the community to be aware of the preparations demanded to be
prepared for a disaster, and to create a schedule to implement them effectively. FEMA (2016)
has great material with ideas for steps to preparation as well (Earthquake Safety at Home, para.
3). This proposal provides a detailed assessment of planning for the next earthquake disaster, and
will have you and your family prepared in four weeks.
4.0 Plan
What follows is the detailed plan to guide you through the proposed tasks, schedule, budget, and
personnel needed to complete the plan.
4.1ProposedTasks
With the Northeast Community Council’s permission, I would like to extend this report and
implement the techniques and strategies I mention to increase the preparedness of our
community with regards to natural disasters.
4.1.1 Task 1: Prepare Your Family.
It is absolutely the first thing you do, review safety protocol of which areas in every room are
safest in the event of an earthquake. You must define danger areas as well, such as windows and
over-hanging objects. The moment an earthquake hits, you must drop, cover, and hold on to a
stable leg of a table or secure shelter. When the shaking stops look for a path to move away from
destructed areas, and begin securing communication with someone from your list of contacts to
establish a safe exit or rally point. Conduct routine drills with your family and react safely when
shaking begins (FEMA, 2016, Prepare Yourself and Your Family, para. 1).
4.1.2 Task 2: Prepare Your Home.
Initially you should survey your lot and clear and obstructing trees or potentially hazardous items
within 30 feet of the structure. You may re-evaluate the strength of your connection between the
foundation and structure itself. An often-overlooked point is having flexible connectors on your
gas appliances may be more helpful (FEMA, 2016, Prepare Your home, para. 1).
4.1.3 Task 3: Build Your Go-Kit.
The first thing that should be in your Go-Kit is a list on contents for the kit.
- Water for each person 1 G/ day
- Non-Perishable Food
- Warm clothing
- Crank Radio
- Wrench
- First Aid Kit
- Contact List, around 5.
8. Northeast Preparedness 2
4.1.4 Task 4: Establish a list of contacts.
The objective is to list 5 of your closest friends and family that in the event of an emergency, you
would feel comfortable meeting if your parents were at work, and monitor local news reports as
well as social media (FEMA, 2016, Earthquakes, para. 3).
4.2 Schedule
Here is my proposed schedule that would take 4 weeks to complete.
Family Home Go-Kit Contacts
Review Safe areas Survey Lot Water 1 G/ day/
person
Have 5 listed.
Safety Techniques Clear hazards on our
lot
Non-perishable Friends and family
How to react after Evaluate strength of
foundation
Warm up clothes Out of state friend
Check flexible gas
caps for the house
Crank radio +
Contacts
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
4.3 Budget
Item
Quantity Unit
Unit
Cost Total
Water 2 Gallon
$
4.00 $ 8.00
Granola Bars and Nuts. 2 Box
$
8.00 $ 16.00
Warm clothes 2 Sets $ - $ -
Wrench 1 Piece
$
10.00 $ 10.00
Walkie Talkie 2 Sets
$
30.00 $ 60.00
First Aid Kit 1 Kit
$
25.00 $ 25.00
Grand Total $ 119.00
*Clothes are presumed to be at home.
4.4 Personnel
The required personnel for these tasks are the current community council members to assist us in
distributing disaster awareness to our community. In times of disaster we will need community
members to rise-up and help the community officials that are helping the police.
9. Northeast Preparedness 3
5.0 Conclusion
While researching this paper, there have been more than 30 earthquakes, luckily none have been
substantial enough to shake us. This luck may run out at some point and we need to be prepared.
5.1 Summary
Our community is in no position to respond to a natural disaster by my evaluation and we just
need to be introduced to these models of preparation. I believe that within four weeks each
family can construct individualized plans for their own homes off the guidelines given in this
report. If our community can significantly prepare itself for a natural disaster by my model, it
would cost less than $120.00 and possibly inspire neighboring communities in Anchorage to
build preparedness plans tailored for their community. This plan will only take four weeks upon
beginning to cover completely. At the latest, we should begin on this coming Monday, the 14th of
November, which would give you a completion date of, December 12th, 2016.
5.2 Recommendations
I recommend that our council extends this plan to our neighboring councils to see if they have
any constructive ideas to contribute and work together to develop systematic plans. If our elected
officials and the civilians are on the same page, then we may manage distress easier. I
recommend that our community council implements these recommendations and preparation
tactics. Within the scheduled four-week time action should be initiated by Monday, frame you
may completely install all recommendations from this report for $119.00.
10. Northeast Preparedness 4
6.0 Appendix A: Household Emergency Plan
Source: Household Emergency Plan [Online Image]. (2015). Retrieved November 9, 2016. from
http://www.muni.org/Departments/OEM/Prepared/Documents/2015_household_emergen
cy_plan.pdf
11. Northeast Preparedness 5
7.0 Appendix B: Community Location Map
Source: Northeast Community Map [Online Image]. (2016). Retrieved November 9, 2016
From http://communitycouncils.org/servlet/content/northeast_cc_map.html
13. Northeast Preparedness 7
9.0 References
Municipality of Anchorage Project Management and Engineering. (2016, July). All Hazards
Mitigation Plan Update Anchorage, Alaska. Anchorage, Alaska; MOA.
Department of Homeland Security. (2016a). Earthquakes. https://www.ready.gov/earthquakes
Department of Homeland Security. (2016b). FEMA Earthquake Safety at Home. Retrieved
from https://www.fema.gov/earthquake-safety-home
University of Alaska Anchorage. (2016). UAA logo.
http://greenandgold.uaa.alaska.edu/college-of-fellows/wp-
content/themes/greengold/images/UAA-logo-300x200.png
State of Alaska. (2016). Retrieved from http://alaska.gov/kids/learn/facts.htm
FEMA. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1390846764394-
dc08e309debe561d866b05ac84daf1ee/checklist_2014.pdf
Aussie Home Preps. (2011). Retrieved from
https://aussiehomepreps.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/adelaideearthquake2011.jpg
Fairfax County Emergency Information. (2016, October 14). Retrieved from
https://fairfaxcountyemergency.wordpress.com/category/exercise/
Author Unknown. (2013). Retrieved from http://d1jqu7g1y74ds1.cloudfront.net/wp-
content/uploads/2013/04/Earthquake-Alaska-1964-Damage-5.jpg
Source: Anchorage Seismic Bowl Map [Online Image]. (2016). Retrieved November 9, 2016
from
https://www.muni.org/Departments/OCPD/Planning/Planning%20Maps/Anch_Bowl_Sei
smic_8x11.pdf
Source: Household Emergency Plan [Online Image]. (2015). Retrieved November 9, 2016. from
http://www.muni.org/Departments/OEM/Prepared/Documents/2015_household_emergen
cy_plan.pdf
Source: Northeast Community Map [Online Image]. (2016). Retrieved November 9, 2016
From http://communitycouncils.org/servlet/content/northeast_cc_map.html
