Woody Warned Us: A Cataclysmic Californian Disaster!

Well everyone, Woody warned us in the film 2012 that mayhem and destruction was headed right for us. Well just us Californians actually. Normally whenever the USGS or CalEMA releases reports like this, we at the Central Valley Chapter sleep a little easier knowing that we are from enough away from Los Angeles or San Francisco leaving us unaffected by earthquakes and mudslides. However, this report that was released yesterday by the United States Geological Survey mentioned that California is overdue for a cataclysmic superstorm and even mentioned the Central Valley receiving ten feet of rain! Rest assured readers, that should this disastrous event take place the American Red Cross would be there, along with the help of such "Prepare"-aphernalia such as the Stormtec Sandbag. For more information on how you can be Red Cross Ready, contact your local Chapter today. Check out the full-story below!

A group of more than 100 scientists and experts say in a new report that California faces the risk of a massive "superstorm" that could flood a quarter of the state's homes and cause $300 billion to $400 billion in damage. Researchers point out that the potential scale of destruction in this storm scenario is four or five times the amount of damage that could be wrought by a major earthquake.

It sounds like the plot of an apocalyptic action movie, but scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey warned federal and state emergency officials that California's geological history shows such "superstorms" have happened in the past, and should be added to the long list of natural disasters to worry about in the Golden State.

The threat of a cataclysmic California storm has been dormant for the past 150 years. Geological Survey director Marcia K. McNutt told the New York Times that a 300-mile stretch of the Central Valley was inundated from 1861-62. The floods were so bad that the state capital had to be moved to San Francisco, and Governor Leland Stanford had to take a rowboat to his own inauguration, the report notes. Even larger storms happened in past centuries, over the dates 212, 440, 603, 1029, 1418, and 1605, according to geological evidence.

The risk is gathering momentum now, scientists say, due to rising temperatures in the atmosphere, which has generally made weather patterns more volatile.

The scientists built a model that showed a storm could last for more than 40 days and dump 10 feet of water on the state. The storm would be goaded on by an "atmospheric river" that would move water "at the same rate as 50 Mississippis discharging water into the Gulf of Mexico," according to the AP. Winds could reach 125 miles per hour, and landslides could compound the damage, the report notes.

Such a superstorm is hypothetical but not improbable, climate researchers warn. "We think this event happens once every 100 or 200 years or so, which puts it in the same category as our big San Andreas earthquakes," Geological Survey scientist Lucy Jones said in a press release.

Federal and state emergency management officials convened a conference about emergency preparations for possible superstorms last week. You can read the whole report here.

Red Cross and 17 Encourage CPR Training!

The February issue of Seventeen magazine hit the shelves last week, and there’s a special mission inside of it!

(Spoiler alert: Seventeen‘s blog also hints at this mission.)

Pick up a copy to read the heroic story of Jahan Nurhussein, a volunteer with the Greater Chicago chapter, who saved a man’s life using CPR.

National Celebrity Cabinet member, Penn Badgley also shares his Red Cross involvement and encourages CPR training.

Seventeen readers also score the chance to learn the skills to save a life! The first 1,000 people to enter the code found on the Seventeen page will get trained in hands-only CPR by the American Red Cross.

Want to learn more about how the hands-only CPR technique can make the lifesaving difference to someone who suffers sudden cardiac arrest? Check out this video!

Hurricane Katrina's Disaster Relief!

Katrina Poitras, Disaster Services Director

Disaster Relief is such a big part of what we do here at the American Red Cross, and it needs people with a big heart to assist us in fulfilling our mission. Katrina Poitras, has recently joined the team as the Disaster Services Director and has so graciously offered to fill you all in with all the assistance the Red Cross has been providing right here in our Valley. So with that, we welcome Katrina, and I present to you, "Hurricane Katrina's Disaster Relief!" (Clever, right?!)

Fresno County

Gas Leak 1/8/11 

The Red Cross was called out at 3pm where I was told there were 14 adults and 19 children involved. When I got there the count had gone to 20 adults and 18 children. I had other DAT team members called out to meet me on scene. Four other DAT team members responded. Cindy assessed what families needed our services. DAT Team Members started assisting the families, while I secured transportation and housing with Yellow Taxi and Vagabond Inn.

Fire had been called out due to 2 of the children in one of the homes not feeling well. When the fire department arrived they entered into the apartment and noticed immediately there was a gas leak. They then began to evacuate the building and out of the 11 apartments, 9 had gas leaks. The families were living in substandard housing with no heat and only a few residents had small space heater to warm their homes. The rest were using the gas stoves to heat their homes. OES was called out along with social services and other agency to help with the crisis. All agencies worked well together in helping the families get to a safe place for the weekend and help them get their lives back on track. The American Red Cross housed 6 families and transported 2 families to the hotel. No food or clothing were in need as the families were able to take their own food and clothing with them to the hotel.

Fire Call  1/7/11 Single family home involved in a fire with 2 trailers that were not damaged by the fire but had residents living in them on the property, so a total of 3 families were affected.  Owner of the house lost everything and the other 2 families lost power to the trailers. Home owner is staying with family so only food and clothing was given provided, the other family received housing in a hotel for 3 nights and food. The third family has not come forward to receive any assistance. The homeowner lost 2 dogs and 5 puppies that were under the bed.

Fire Call  1/3/11 Single family home, child playing with a cologne bottle and matches as a torch and set the Christmas tree on fire, family has lost everything. Fire was around 5pm on Monday evening. Fire was contained and put out with only partial damages. Family left to spend the night with nearby relatives, when they were called out again around 4 am because the house had caught fire a 2nd time and they lost everything including their exotic pet animals – a snake, a Macaw, however they were able to save the Iguana and 2 cats. This was a single mom with 3 children. We housed them in a hotel for 2 nights and gave them food and clothing assistance.

Merced County 

Fire Call  1/4/11Single family home caught on fire due to electrical issues. Family has lost everything. They too had exotic and domestic animals that were lost, they had 4 dogs and 21 puppies just 4 weeks old, they were not able to save the mother dogs but the puppies were saved. The American Red Cross teamed up with a local pet rescue that were able to secure 6 of the puppies for foster care and the rest have been farmed out. The 6 that were surrendered to the pet rescue were the 6 that were struggling to survive due to smoke inhalation.Update as of 1/10/11 one of the 6 puppies had to be put down, one more is struggling to live the other 4 seem to be coming out just fine.

This concludes this week’s update; this was a hard week for families and their pets. Please consider taking a Pet First CPR and First Aid class and I encourage every family to Be Red Cross Ready.

"Hurricane" Katrina Poitras

American Red Cross Issues One-Year Report on Haiti Relief and Recovery

Donations Made a Real Difference in Lives of Haitians Following 2010 Earthquake

The American Red Cross today released a one-year report on how the Red Cross has helped hundreds of thousands of Haitian survivors after the January 2010 earthquake, what has been done to respond to new issues such as the cholera outbreak, and plans for the years ahead to support Haiti’s recovery.

“Thanks to the generous contributions of so many donors, people in Haiti are receiving immediate relief and resources, as well as the necessary support and training to help them recover and rebuild,” said Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross. “Red Cross efforts saved lives and improved the quality of life for Haitians with emergency shelter, food, water, latrines, medical treatment and other supplies.”

“People in the Central Valley and across the country responded quickly to help Haiti, and these donations have made a real difference in the lives of Haitians,” said Ellen Knapp, Regional CEO.

The one-year report on Red Cross relief and recovery efforts in Haiti can be found at www.redcross.org/haiti.

Since the earthquake on January 12, 2010, the American Red Cross and the global Red Cross network have provided:

• Medical care for nearly 217,000 patients
• Cash grants and loans to help 220,000 people
• Latrines for 265,000 people
• Daily drinking water for more than 317,000 people
• Emergency shelter materials for more than 860,000 people
• Vaccinations for nearly 1 million people
• Food for 1.3 million people for one month

Since the earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, the American Red Cross has raised approximately $479 million for the Haiti relief and recovery efforts, including more than $32 million from the record-setting text donation program.

At the one-year anniversary of the earthquake, the Red Cross expects to have spent and signed agreements to spend $245 million, which is more than half of what has been raised. Specifically, 30 percent of the money will have been spent on emergency shelter and basic homes; 26 percent on food and emergency services; 15 percent on providing clean water and sanitation; 13 percent on health and disease prevention programs; 10 percent on livelihoods and host family assistance; and 6 percent on disaster preparedness activities.

The remainder of the money will go to longer-term recovery over the next several years, with spending plans likely to evolve to respond to changing needs.

In addition to responding to the earthquake and its aftermath, the Red Cross worked to provide help following the cholera outbreak last fall. The American Red Cross has spent more than $4.5 million and plans to spend at least another $10 million to fight the spread of cholera.  

One of the big challenges facing the Red Cross and other non-profit organizations is finding land to get people out of camps and into transitional homes. It has been difficult for the Haitian government to determine exactly who owns the land where these homes would be built. Much of the available land is covered with tons of rubble that must be removed, and there is not enough heavy equipment in Haiti to do this quickly. In addition, the government, which would take a lead role on much of the land ownership and rubble removal, was severely affected by the earthquake.

Overall, the American Red Cross expects to spend about $100 million of the remaining funds on construction of permanent homes and community development projects. These efforts, which will unfold over the next few years, will depend on several outside factors including the availability of appropriate land and the coordination of infrastructure, livelihoods and community centers.

“The Red Cross will continue to spend the money entrusted to us by the American people in the most responsible way possible to help Haiti and its people,” McGovern said.

What In the World, Wednesday!

Welcome to the What In The World, Wednesday! In which we consolidate the international Red Cross and Red Crescent news into one list of bite-sized links for you. It's a non-comprehensive sampling of the larger and/or more intriguing aspects of our global work...

Côte d’Ivoire: In response to ongoing tension following the November presidential elections, the ICRC has stepped up its humanitarian activities for those arrested, injured and displaced, and for refugees in neighboring countries.

ZIMBABWE: For more than a year, the ICRC has been conducting an emergency assistance operation to improve the nutritional situation in Zimbabwe prisons. Therapeutic feeding programs for acutely malnourished prisoners and general food distributions have allowed malnutrition rates to drop sharply.

SUDAN: Almost 7,800 people affected by recent fighting and tensions around Shangyl Tobay, in North Darfur, have received emergency assistance from the ICRC over the last few days.

SOMALIA: Ongoing fighting exacerbated by drought is forcing millions of Somalis to continue to depend on humanitarian assistance. The ICRC and the Somali Red Crescent Society have just finished providing food and urgently needed household items for over 540,000 displaced people and vulnerable residents in major cities and along the road heading south-west from Mogadishu to Afgoye.

HAITI: Nearly a year since the earthquake, Red Crossers are still hard at work on projects like cholera prevention, hygiene, immunizations, supplying water, prosthetic limb fitting, digging drainage ditches to mitigate flooding, and building semi-permanent shelters. Keep an eye out for more Haiti updates in next week's Wrap-up.

GLOSSARY:

ICRC = International Committee of the Red Cross
IFRC = International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

"Prepare"-aphernalia: Clothes that Look and Keep You Cool!

More fashion-forward prepare-aphernalia here...

These light-weight clothes will help you weather the weather whatever the weather, whether you like it or not.

How? By keeping you climate-controlled no matter what the thermometer says...sweltering hot or bone-chillingly cold.

Or, as the fine folks at Geekologie say, "You hear that, Mother Nature? YOU DON'T OWN ME!"

Learn more by reading the FAQ about howClimaWare works.

Pretty cool (pun intended), no?

Hot Off The Press: New CPR/AED and First Aid Courses!

Your local Chapter of the American Red Cross is excited to introduce to you the Next Generation of Red Cross health and safety training. We are making many enhancements to our programs in 2011, which we think will make your training both more time-efficient and more cost-effective. Beginning in January, our training programs will provide you with:

• Two year certification for both CPR/AED and First Aid
• Free access to digital First Aid and CPR course materials 
• Choice on materials – you will be able to either download the digital materials for free or purchase high quality, affordable print materials, or both

In addition, in the spring of 2011, we will be releasing our updated First Aid and CPR programs for the workplace and the professional rescuer enhanced with:

• the latest science from the 2010 emergency cardiovascular care update 
• free digital course refreshers quarterly
• shorter, more interactive course format
• convenient email reminders when employee recertification is due

Reflecting the additional value in our program offerings, please be advised that also effective January 1, 2011 the pricing schedule will change.  “The two-year certification period with choice of free digital materials and free digital refreshers are designed to save you money while still delivering the high quality, effective training you have come to rely on us for.” said April Henry, Regional Health & Safety Administrator. “We are confident that you will be delighted by our updated programs, and that the changes we are making will result in higher quality training, more choices and convenience, and more savings to your organization’s bottom line.”

We appreciate the opportunity to serve you and look forward to introducing you to the next generation of Red Cross training.