CommentsGELFAND’S WORLD--It seems that we've been ignoring the needs of 60% of Los Angeles residents as we try to prepare the population for a major earthquake.
Through the Neighborhood Council Emergency Preparedness Alliance, we've tried to educate ourselves about what is needed to withstand the post-earthquake two-to-three-week interval in which the region would be without electric power, flowing water, and readily available police and fire service. Note that the fire department is now advising people to have food and water stored that would last at least two weeks.
The reason for this advice is not at all complicated. A major rupture on the San Andreas Fault would destroy the California Aqueduct as it passes over the fault. It would simultaneously destroy the freeways where they cross the fault, thereby separating the greater Los Angeles area from distribution warehouses.
And finally, within the city, we can expect the shattering of water mains and the destruction of many of the electrical distribution wires, resulting not only in loss of service but in dangerous places along the city streets due to downed wires.
The remedy is twofold
The authorities have already made the following point ad infinitum: Los Angeles residents should store water at a gallon per person per day. Taking into account the two-week advisement, this means 14 gallons for each person. If you want to wash your face or take a sun-shower, it would be even more. We should also have food stocks, hand-operated can openers (that electric can opener won't be helpful), and possibly some method for warming food. Camping stores have portable stoves that can work for a limited amount of time on compressed gas. It is also possible to have some sort of electric generating devices -- gasoline powered generators can be purchased but need to be outdoors due to carbon monoxide emissions; solar power sources work during the daylight hours but depending on how much generating capacity you have, they might not do much but recharge your hand-held radio or cell phone.
The problem
Much of this equipment, stored water, and stored food requires space to store it, and also requires the money to buy it. So, even for those apartment dwellers who have extra cash, there is the problem of finding the space. It's not the same as having a house with a garage, or a back yard to put up a shed. Homeowners who are aggressive about emergency preparation can put in a concrete slab outdoors, put a generator on it, and then put some sort of weather protective housing around it.
The ordinary apartment dweller does not enjoy these advantages. Most are already stuffed fairly densely into spaces that don't allow for the more luxurious elements mentioned above, and don't even provide the space for a legitimately acceptable volume of water. Storage of gasoline is probably impossible in most enclosed spaces, particularly in living spaces.
Even when the apartment dweller has some extra storage space in a garage, landlords will rightfully refuse to allow the storage of flammable and explosive fuels.
Finding a solution
We've been talking about this issue for a couple of months at the NCEPA and have a tentative proposal: We suggest that the city government enact legislation that would require the landlords of rental units to create storage spaces which contain the essential elements that would allow their tenants to survive during a two to three week period. In this way, at least the city would have the time to get essential services back in working order. If not, then at least the people who are displaced would have the time to get out of the area and into places where they can plan their futures.
The concept is simple.
The execution is a little more complicated, as each building or apartment complex is different. Some will have plenty of space to pack 700 gallons of water (to serve 50 people) and 200 pounds of dehydrated mash potatoes, a big bag of salt, 200 pounds of sugar, and twenty bottles of vitamin tablets. Add a few frills, which might include canned goods ranging from baked beans to fruit cocktail, with green beans and creamed corn along the way, and there is enough to survive. And by the way, include the can openers and maybe two or three bar-b-cues, 200 pounds of charcoal, and you are there. Alternatives include the old fashioned Coleman stoves and the fuel required to run them.
The sort of large complex that has multiple buildings, a recreation center, and even a swimming pool would have the easiest time in following this course. Take one room that would otherwise be used to store recreational gear and assign half of it to emergency storage needs. The tenants would even understand that the rec center would be their gathering place in the post-quake aftermath.
The complications
But not every apartment complex is this luxurious. Most are probably single buildings with a dozen or more units, and -- other than some parking spaces -- not much other space. Not only that, but some landlords run on tight margins, and a lot of them just paid a lot of money to do seismic upgrades or are about to pay that money.
In other words, the owners won't be positive about having another governmental requirement dropped on them. I can identify somewhat, because a lot of the pieces I have written involved resentment about new requirements being imposed upon us by the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners.
But of course there is a difference, in that we are talking here about doing something to preserve lives and help people to deal with the aftermath of a violent, traumatic event and the probability of hunger and thirst.
Overall, there is a strong justification for putting some of the burden of seismic preparations on landlords.
The more civilized way of doing things
Whenever the government puts some new burden on the people, there are always those who resent and complain. That's the normal run of things. The idea is to develop a balance that takes the least from the landlords while providing the most safety to the recipients. Notice that my list of provisions does not include T-bone steaks or fresh pizza. It does include the basic necessities of life and, in addition, some small luxuries such as a few cans of fruit cocktail. Nobody is going to get scurvy over a three week interval, and tossing in a couple thousand calories of starch allows for continued life.
But there may well be issues even when it comes to preparing the minimal cache of food and water for each apartment complex. That's why I suggest that we begin by holding what I call the Emergency Preparedness Summit. We've talked about holding one down here in the harbor area, and likely would have done so had it not been for the Covid-19 emergency. But we are starting to come out of that emergency, and it's time to begin the process of mutually preparing for a minimally comfortable post-quake survival period.
In order to pull this off, we need to get representatives of landlords' organizations, tenants' organizations, and the experts who can tell us just what we need to stockpile in terms of food, water, medical supplies, and even blankets and sleeping pallets. What should we do if a few units are rendered uninhabitable while others remain standing? What shall we do to accommodate people whose living quarters have been made toxic by sewage spills?
We have questions to ask and to answer, but my guess would be that most landlords would be able to provide the equivalent of one room that can become the emergency operations center for the whole apartment building.
The huge advantage with using this plan
Over the past four or five years, our neighborhood council alliance group has talked and talked about convincing people to make preparations for fires and earthquakes. We haven't been very successful so far. By passing the legislation that puts ultimate responsibility in the hands of the landlords, we solve a lot of the emergency preparedness needs for the 60% of our LA population who live in apartments. Since the landlords will be buying in bulk, there will be substantial savings, and we might expect the city and/or various nonprofit organizations to help out in negotiating bulk prices and delivering the goods. It might even become a workable business for the companies who are already in the food delivery market.
(Bob Gelfand writes on science, culture, and politics for CityWatch. He can be reached at [email protected])
-cw
