THE EMERGENCY PLAN YOU SHOULD HAVE ADOPTED YEARS AGO

This is not the usual post here, because I have already sent this information to most city leaders and personally handed the leaflet (below) to several people including Cara Spencer herself back in February of this year. 

Watching the incompetence of City leaders handle what has happened cements that community-based preparations are the only way to go.  St Louis City is so wracked with corruption, funds are so badly managed, and the money that they do have (ARPA and the RAMS) sits in the bank earning interest, because our leaders cannot even agree on how to spend it. 

And they could be spending the interest. There is a chance this would be challenged but take a page out of the Republican playbook let it go to litigation. Manage your money right and if you lose the battle (that will be at least year in the making) you can pay it back and apologize. And in the meantime, people have what they need!

The city doesn't even have a slush fund. On Sunday, three days into the disaster, they began to build an "infrastructure of volunteers" that will respond to their inept commands. They have just now realized that port-a-potties and dumpsters need to be out there, and they have no money for them. They either haven't asked suppliers- like the ones from the cancelled Annie Malone MayDay parade- or they don't have a working relationship with any suppliers. 

Also, if you weren't sure how the City actually manages the mundane emergencies (homeless, crime, addicts) it is a small core of activists.  Don't give your money to GSL- they can't manage it and too much of it gets leaked out in open embezzlement or tricky bookkeeping. (Also, Gladiator Consulting is fundraising and I just want to remind everyone that they are a big part of the reason KDHX went bankrupt. A good rule of thumb is that any business associated with the city for more than two Mayors avoid. They are part of the problem.  Not all but do your research.)

Give your donations to the activists that were out WITHIN AN HOUR of the tornado.  For no pay.  With volunteers and supplies that they gathered on their own. The people who are ALWAYS out there, in the community, making sure people are taken care of.

Give your money to Action STL, For the Culture, Operation Any Means Necessary.  Drop off donations directly to them. Some of the orgs that I would normally also recommend, like Urban City Services, are working with these groups. 

And please, take a minute and make a plan for yourself and your community.  It is ridiculous to wait until something happens and then wait for FEMA and the Red Cross to show up.  As more emergencies happen, as Trump administration continues to defund and dismantle these agencies, they are going to be less responsive. 

 I've been following climate change studies for over 30 years, and in Los Angeles I have known a number of people who work in those fields and have led studies and authored papers.  Reading each study separately doesn't always give the full picture.  Often the studies are restricted to certain aspects, and if you take them as a whole- something they are beginning to do now- a much different and more drastic picture emerges.  However, in most of them 2025 is Year Zero.  Often the predictions will focus on 2050, but the "no turning back" is 2025.  (And Earth Overshoot Day was 2020.)

Last July I began to focus on emergency prepping almost exclusively.  For the first six months, no one wanted to talk about it: "I'm sure the city has a plan" even after I stated I had checked, and the city doesn't.  Neither does LEPC- the Local Emergency Planning Committee, whose meetings I try to follow via Zoom or in person. In fact, I have handed these leaflets out at one of their meetings. Or rather, tried to.  No one would take one other than the secretary, and it was to be polite since everyone else had been so rude. 

After the ice storm where the streets didn't get plowed, and the Trump inauguration, people became more responsive.  The city however, decided that what we needed was a City manager that would cost taxpayers $1 million a year in salaries, and wouldn't even be hired until 2029.  That was the total sum of their response. (See Post below.)

The day before the tornado there was an all day test of the sirens in St. Louis.  I posted my flyer again, and pointed out that now was a really good time to make a plan, and to ask the city to make a plan. As I said, this is Year Zero.  We are going to begin experiencing weather patterns like this frequently.  Large scale destruction is going to become the norm, not the exception.

Every person and ever neighborhood should have a plan.  The city should have supplies on hand. There should be pre-arranged shelters in place. 

From https://emergencyprepsaintlouismo.blogspot.com/

NEW VERSION OF THE LEAFLET - ENGLISH

For the plan, see the next post below (or click "older posts").  For the complete plan, and how to organize, fund, and set up the database, contact me at the email address in the heading (bookemonsterslpl@gmail) 

Are You Ready for an Emergency?  

Disasters like floods, industrial accidents, tornadoes, and power grid failures can happen at any time. What if several happen at once? Our society depends on electricity, and most grocery stores only have three days' worth of food.  

Make a Family Emergency Plan  

Decide where to meet if disaster strikes or if you get separated. Choose a backup meeting spot in case the first location is unsafe. Plan for no phone or internet access—have a way to leave messages. Make sure everyone knows where gas and water shut off valves are and how to turn them off. 

Check Your Neighborhood  

Examine your neighborhood in a six-block radius. Ask yourself: Can local health centers and public buildings stay open in a crisis? Do electricians, plumbers, or medical professionals live nearby? Who in your community is most vulnerable and may need help? Where will you meet if phones and the internet go down?  

Every Community Needs a Plan  

Call your mayor and alderperson/councilperson to ask about local emergency plans. If an evacuation happens, are there buses or plans for those without cars? Evacuations should be mapped in 6 block sections of the city, and should include disabled, hospitalized, transients, and incarcerated persons.

Do city workers live in your area, or will outside help take too long to arrive?  Identify a local emergency shelter (school, gym, or library). Make sure someone local has access to it. Organize water, food, medical supplies, shelter, and backup power (solar panels, generators). Set up a backup communication system (like HAM radios). Work with local stores to ensure fair distribution of emergency supplies. Make sure the National Guard is instructed to distribute food and supplies to prevent looting.  

Survival Requires Teamwork  

Even if you have supplies, disasters like floods and tornadoes can destroy them. You will need help! In an emergency all differences and arguments must be set aside. Talk to family, neighbors, and local leaders about preparing before disaster strikes.

Act Now—Don't Wait Until It's Too Late!  

MAKE A PLAN! 

 https://emergencyprepsaintlouismo.blogspot.com/ 

Original document - to print copy and paste and use portrait orientation and half inch .5 margins in MS Word.  If you have to reformat, please use Comic Sans as it is easiest for those with reading disorders like dyslexia. 

You can find the old leaflet here WHEN THERE IS AN EMERGENCY/ CUANDO HAY UNA EMERGENCIA : IS YOUR COMMUNITY READY?

THE COMPLETE PLAN FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES IN ST LOUIS MISSOURI

This can be adapted for any city or town.   

 

Break the geographic area into 6 block sections.  

 

Divide the population into units of 250, with smaller units of 50 and then 10 each.  

 

This way you ensure that every area and every person is accounted for.  There will be some overlap.   

 

City-wide coordination takes place through the "captains" (or whatever you choose to call them) of 250, and the neighborhoods through the smaller groups of 10 and 50.  The captains of 10 report to the captains of 50, and the 50s to the 250.   

 

Make sure there is back up in case a captain is absent.  

 

There are different ways to coordinate with city officials, the police and first responders, and FEMA through larger groups of 1000 and 10,000, or by wards.  The police have a plan that works with FEMA where command centers are established throughout the city.   

 

Should FEMA or city officials and police that are not residents be absent, each neighborhood needs to have its own plan and resources, and be able to coordinate independently with adjacent neighborhoods.  

 

This coordination includes evacuation plans as well as shelters, supplies, and charging stations that include solar panels and alternate forms of communication, like hard-wired, true landline phones and HAM radios, etc.  

 

The National Guard and police should have authorization from local businesses and work with community captains to ensure that there is no looting due to shortages, and that supplies are distributed and records kept for reimbursement.   

 

However, each community should have some resources in reserve so that this is a last resort.  

 

These plans should also include incapacitated, transients, and incarcerated persons.  No one should be overlooked or left behind to suffer.  

 

The Gateway card ID that was just put into legislation in the city of St. Louis is similar to the one that I have been working for since 2018, but which was meant to be part of this plan, as well as other city services. (For example, city library cards and voter registration, which would be done automatically for any address changes. And your Ameren grid location, etc.)   

  

The ID should include your emergency grid and unit information, as well as any medical or other issues.   

  

The card is meant to be funded through ARPA.  City residents should be prospered directly, not through outsourcing to private businesses and orgs. That should include this network of 1,240 residents that are prepared to oversee 250 individual people each, in case of natural disasters or other emergencies. Each of these captains should receive a stipend for this work. $12-15 million allocated to creating this type of network would prepare us for the next pandemic, tornado, flood, etc.  

 

Emergency planning builds strong and sustainable communities. Every person should have an emergency plan for themselves and their families, but without a neighborhood or community plan too much is left to chance. Call your mayor and your alder or council person today!

For the complete plan- including how to set it up (database, ID cards, how to fund it, and how to promote and organize it) contact me here.

 

To donate to this project, see the sidebar for my paypal and venmo, or contribute to the fundraiser for A Better World, the origin of this community plan: A BETTER WORLD FOR EVERYONE https://seanachaid.gumroad.com/