Results tagged “emergency”

   

An 8.0 earthquake in American Samoa this morning prompted a tsunami watch in Hawaii and a tsunami advisory for coastal areas of Southern California, including Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. [Update: Beaches in LA County will close at 8 p.m., more info here]

With wildfires raging across the Southland right now, the Los Angeles County Health Officer is hoping to take a moment to remind people that it's important to have an emergency kit packed and ready to go. They've sent out a press release today detailing the suggested essentials you'll want to include so that if you are called up on to evacuate, like many residents in parts of northern Glendale and the Crescenta-Cañada Valley into Altadena are having to do due to the Station Fire.

He also says "there is no need for alarm." Today's declaration of a state of emergency will quicken government response and aid in limiting Swine Flu's spread as quickly as possible. "[It] sets in motion a series of administrative actions, including ordering all agencies to coordinate with public health officials as needed," the Associated Press explained. Additionally, a local state of emergency was declared today by the LA County Board of Supervisors.

So the big one strikes. Your home is destroyed and you need shelter, but where do you go? The American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles has 80 relief containers across the region just in case emergency shelters are needed (just keep in mind, a shelter area could be destroyed in an earthquake, too). It's all part of their ongoing and long-term Catastrophic Disaster Plan, which aims to build capacity to feed and shelter 250,000 people.

You can't predict an earthquake, but there's been a certain amount of buzz around city hall water coolers this week regarding a plethora of minor and moderate tremblers taking place around Bombay Beach on the Salton Sea, 150 miles east of Los Angeles at the tip of the San Andreas fault. News headlines told of 42 quakes over the weekend through Monday and there's been 31 today alone as of 7 p.m.

Say goodbye to that bonus hour you picked up back in the fall--overnight tonight we've got to set our clocks ahead an hour for Daylight Savings Time. You can also use this as an opportunity to do a six-month check-up around your place to be sure your smoke alarms are properly powered, and that you've got fresh water for the household (and your pets) in case of an emergency.

If today's record breaking unemployment rate was not bad enough, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's office announced that he will be declaring a state of emergency over the water drought later this afternoon. Last June, he declared a statewide drought but did not call it an emergency until today.

The Los Angeles Fire Department keeps on garnering national attention for their use of web 2.0 and social media technologies to communicate information to the public. Last month, it was Wired. This week it was a five-minute spot on National Public Radio's Day to Day:

Oprah this morning spoke to Rob Lowe on the phone about the "Tea Fire" burning two miles from her home in Montecito near Santa Barbara. Lowe, who also lives in the neighborhood, was home last night when the fire began, but knew nothing of it until his wife called. "This thing came on so fast, you wouldn't believe it... I walked out [my door] and my jaw just dropped," he explained to Oprah. He did not smell any smoke because of the wind direction. Lowe helped pry open the gates at a neighbors house to rescue them. Lowe's house was undamaged when he spoke to Oprah. KNX1070 has the full audio.

       

At least 100 homes have been destroyed and 13 people have been injured in the blaze that began yesterday shortly before 6 p.m. in Montecito near Santa Barbara. At least two buildings at Westmont College were lost as well as many million dollar homes--"the Montecito Zip Code the seventh-highest-priced in the U.S., and the median price of a home is $2.9 million," reports Forbes via the LA Times. Officials have asked nearby residents who were not evacuated were asked to curb water use to nearly zero due to the low water levels in reservoirs that water dropping planes are using. 14,000 people from 5,400 homes were evacuated and Governor Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency for the conflagration. 2,000-2,500 acres have burned.

A follow up from yesterday's amazing and scary video. Sign up to participate (or just do it anyway) at the Great Southern California ShakeOut website.

Finally. With tomorrow's massive earthquake drill planned for 10:00 a.m. (are you taking part in the Great Southern California ShakeOut?), the federal government along with tons of scientists and local agencies have put out this death-defying dramatic video on YouTube that will hopefully scare the bejesus out of Los Angeles area residents to actually prepare themselves. This is one of those scare tactics we'll gladly accept from big bro. Get thyself prepared.

An article posted today on RonKaye.com by Glenn Bell gives a firsthand account of the events of last Monday morning when a wildfire raged in the hills above Kagel and Lopez Canyons and near his home in the Blue Star mobile home community.

As the Sesnon Fire reached around 10,000 acres, heading into Granada Hills and prompting new evacuations near O'Melvany Park, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa declared a local emergency late this morning. Such declarations can be made when Villaraigosa finds that an event reaches a magnitude beyond the control of the normal services, personnel, equipment and facilities of the departments within the City government, according to the Mayor's Office.

Whether you're a homeowner or renter, after a fire destroys your property, you'll be working with insurance to start over again (that's assuming, you have insurance, probably a good idea if you live in Southern California). "Residents need to prepare for evacuation with a 'grab and go box' containing important insurance and financial documents, a room-by-room inventory and relevant receipts," tips the Daily News.

"Winds are causing fire conditions to change by the hour, which is why it is so important that residents in the areas surrounding these wildfires heed warnings from public safety officials to evacuate," Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in preface to his emergency proclamation. "It's critical that everyone in the warning areas continue to be prepared-know what you're going to take and be ready to move very quickly if the evacuation order comes in your area. The state is coordinating with federal and local officials to ensure that firefighters have the resources they need, but with such a serious situation on our hands, we need residents to take every precaution to remain safe during this dangerous and difficult time."

Now a common feature on college campuses exemplified by USC this semester after a series of violent crimes and a virus outbreak, cities may be the next to go high tech with emergency text message alerts. Yesterday, Santa Clarita announced a new e-Alert system that allows residents to subscribe and receive text messages in the event of a local emergency (of course, if cell towers are down...). Also: LA Times looks into their beautification programs today.

American Airlines Flight 81 made an emergency landing at LAX around 9:30 this morning, temporarily shutting down the airport as passengers exited on the runway via the plane's emergency chutes. The pilot of the Honolulu-bound 757 reported smoke in the cockpit shortly after liftoff. The plane circled around the airport and landed soon after on runway 7-Left. LAFD assisted passengers down two emergency chutes. No injuries were reported. No fire was found and the cause of the smoke was unknown, according to the LAFD's Brian Humphrey. Click here to watch video via CBS2.com or listen via KNX1070.

In light of the new graffiti law Gov. Schwarzenegger signed into law this week, the Associated Press has looked into a concerning pattern about graffiti taggers and the public's safety. Over the past couple years, four people have died when approaching or witnessing taggers in action.

President Bush today declared the entire state of California to be in a state of emergency and ordered 75 percent federal funding for firefighting efforts. "I just took off with the plane down from Los Angeles and, literally from Los Angeles all the way up here, there was smoke, so you can see that there's fire everywhere," Gov. Schwarzenegger noted in an earlier request for federal aid. "This fire season has started with a vengeance,'' Sen. Dianne Feinstein said in thanking the president for the emergency declaration. "Lightning has ignited blazes up and down the state, stretching our resources to the limit.'' Nearly 200,000 acres have burned from Big Sur to the Oregon border according to Cal Fire.

A fire that began with a spark of lightning in Big Sur is now responsible for burning over 42 acres and is reportedly only 3 per cent contained. A 12-mile segment of the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) has been closed down as firefighters work to control the blaze. Over 1,000 fires have been burning in Northern California for the past week, many of which were ignited by lightning strikes. President Bush has declared a federal state of emergency for the afflicted areas.

An American Airlines Boeing 757 made an emergency landing today at LAX due to smoke reported by the pilot. The flight carrying passengers from San Francisco to Miami was also carrying hazardous materials, but, at first it was unknown if they were the cause the incident that diverted the plane to the airport. Later, FAA officials said that the material was hydrochloric acid and it was not the cause -- it probably came from a recently serviced hydraulic system. All passengers disembarked from the plane safely at Terminal 4, said LAX Spokesman Marshall Lowe to LAist. Passengers are now being booked on other flights.

The Great Southern California ShakeOut was officially announced today where millions of Southern Californians will “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” (register at www.ShakeOut.org) as thousands of emergency responders statewide take part in the largest-ever earthquake response drill called "Golden Guardian." The hypothetical magnitude 7.8 earthquake will rupture the San Andreas Fault at 10 a.m. on November 13.

The media has been reporting various small quakes over the last week. But is that really something to worry about? "It’s not uncommon for Orange County to experience several microquakes every week," Sciencedude Gary Robbins said at the OC Register in a brief about the three recent microquakes in Orange County. His statement goes for all of Southern California -- small quakes happen all the time. A daily viewing of the USGS' recent earthquake map shows this or event better, the agency has gotten hip to Twitter and publishes a feed called "socalquakes." They also publish "Earthquake News," which combines shakes worldwide and headlines.

Hollywood studios are not the ones behind the latest script detailing a massive future earthquake hitting Los Angeles. This time, it's scientists and other quake experts... over 300 of them. Specifically, the U.S. Geological Survey and California Geological Survey have collaborated to write a script, to be released tomorrow to a House subcommittee, "detailing the devastation California would likely face if it were rocked by a monstrous 7.8-magnitude earthquake," according to the Associated Press. The plausible three-minute shaker will play out with results like this:

Thirteen Injured: An explosion at the Bayfront Hilton in San Diego sent multiple victims to the hospital this afternoon. Two were reported to have suffered major trauma and six were seriously hurt, according to NBC San Diego. It was said that natural gas was smelled before the explosion.

What a man had been in procession of for some time and brought to a Huntington Beach fire station at Heil Ave. and Springdale was not something the firefighters wanted in their house. They evacuated and called the Orange County Bomb squad who in turn called Marines from Camp Pendleton who are expected to arrive at 3:00 p.m.

A man bought what he thought was a dummy mortar round from an estate sale. He planned to sell the mortar, but when he couldn't find a buyer he turned to firefighters at the Huntington Beach fire station...

Continue reading "Marines Called by OC Bomb Squad to Disarm Mortar"

Can we say embarrassing? The LA Times reports in an investigation that there are major problems with cell phone 9-1-1 emergency calls.Elementary school counselor Brad Edwards said he waited eight harrowing minutes last year before a dispatcher picked up his cell call about a boy who had collapsed on a Los Angeles schoolyard and begun foaming from the mouth. "The fire station is just a few blocks away. I could have run there faster...

Hey, we know that our constant nagging at you to get yourself some water to store away for that ominous future disaster that everyone thinks is going to happen can get exasperating -- we call it Chinese water torture. And we really shouldn't say 'think' either. Let's say, "we know it's going to happen." It's true; people are still out there living their lives day to day without any thought to preparing for a...