this is a live shot from a spill in my area
Build a plastic safe room
A little personal info.
I live near a place that makes bleach. Bleach in it self is not dangerous. However the chemical to make bleach is. We have had some minor contained spills over the years. But the last one scared me. It was the transports crashing into each other. And not one person in the area around the plant was NOTIFIED of the spill. Despite the fact that the FD said they did.
I took it upon my self to see the heads of the city about the people surrounding this plant. In an email the head of emergency management response to me was if there is a leak to go inside. I expressed my concern that no home is air tight and the gas would easily get into peoples home and burn their lungs. Well he agreed. So what, go in the house so the dead bodies are not in the street? And that is when city hall did step and worked with me. But in the end I AM STILL waiting for the reports on the drills and education I was promised for the community. I also asked for small containment and or masks for the people who lived right there and was denied, even though my city received moneys from the company in a law suit to protect the area.
By the way this plant is were an ivy league college is and the city gets homeland security money to protect this plant.
END OF RANT and on with the post
So this is the reasoning for this post.
Click here for one map to see if you should be concerned. These are just the worst 100.
EPA map Click Here this map has more info but harder to navagate. You need to use the tool in the upper right hand corner.
So I of course had to take it into my own hands....Depending on the severity.
-Get it car roll windows up close vents and evacuate, drive fast! Is the first option.
- Move away from the area is not an option for me I own and I owe.
- Fast containment till help can arrive.
Here is FAS pdf about this next step being an option Click here for pdf
Choose a small easy room with few windows
I have chosen a small bedroom in the house. Only one window in the room. And contain the bathroom with it.
To prepare the room, buy enough of the following to cover all windows and doors to the safe room area, I bought enough to turn my area into a giant plastic bubble!
- Weatherstripping.
- Clear plastic sheeting at least 1 mil thick, preferably clear, and wide enough to cover windows.
- Scissors or other cutting tool.
- Duct tape.
- Caulk and caulk gun.
- Staple gun
- Wet towels
- A portable HEPA (High Efficiency Particle Arresting) air filtration device. Click Here I got a larger one because I have cats and I am alegic to them but I love them :)
- Now I live in a cold area so I have already done prepping in most of the house because of the cold weather but if you have not try to get a jump on......
- Install the weather stripping on windows and doors, making sure the seal eliminates the transfer of air from outside into your home.
- Check around your windows for gaps, and caulk those as necessary.
- Check for any other places where air might transfer like holes cut into walls or floors for the television cables and telephone wires and you electical outlets.
Things to have ready for the god forbid
GRAB THAT CELL PHONE!
Have a container with your staple gun, duct tape and thick rolls of plastic, and caulking. Also have some plastic hazmat suits and plastic glove and the best mask you can afford. I can not afford the expensive ones so what I got is better than nothing as far as I am concerned.
Wet the towels and block the bottoms of doors with them and start by stapling the plastic to the ceiling and floors. Then duck tape all the seams. use the caulk on the gabs you may feel the duct tape did not seal. Cover ALL VENTS and Baseboards they may allow air in.
- Have a bug in box with water and food for a few days just in case.
- Battery powered radio
- Flash lights
- laughing gas and snacks can always help in your containment area (click here to see how)
Now this in no way is any guarantee but if you seal the room good and fast you will at least have a better chance than anyone else.
and my end of song has to be one of my most favorite shows I have ever been to! Pearl Jam - Just Breathe
I live in an area totally surrounded by chemical plants including one I have been told is storing agent orange. We are all told to have plastic, usually trash bags, and duct tape to seal windows in one room and tape the door closed too. Do not get too crazy with sealing everything tho because you do have to have some air moving in and out so you don't suffocate.
ReplyDeleteWe have actually had to do this once. On a day when the temps were high 90's. We had to turn off the a/c and seal the vent closed as well as the windows and doors. The winds shifted and kept the issue inside the plant itself so no one had any issue that I know of. The people who work in the plants have masks and such to use.
Someone told you incorrectly. Agent Orange hasn't been made since the early '70's and all the unused stock was destroyed. The majority of the manufacturing and storage sites are now Superfund cleanups. Agent Orange was essentially a weed killer so it's very possible someone has slanged the word out if you live near a Monsanto or similiar.
DeleteVery interesting read...
http://www.agentorangerecord.com/information/what_is_dioxin/sites/P0/