Longview Hills @ Newport Oregon

Why We need your help...

The LVH Cert team is composed mostly of senior citizens.. How could it be otherwise? When you see the rescue teams on TV you see big strapping men and paragons of strength hoisting people from the rubble of a disaster. That is not a choice in our community.

We are remote and should the highways in and out of the area be severed from a large storm or earthquake then our little community is likely to be left to fend for itself. We don't know how long we will be on our own but our local Fire and Police and governmental emergency services say at least 3 days with no help, no power, no water, no gasoline, no food, no medicine, sporadic services from Police, Fire, Ambulance, Coast Guard and Red Cross. The Federal Government? Get that idea out of your head right now... You need only to look at the ongoing debacle of Katrina and the current flood disaster which has been going on for 6 days and they still haven't seen the government.

The LVH CERT team is composed of about 10 individuals of which about 5 show up for regular weekly meeting to plan and train for disaster.... Do the math! There are about 176 homes in our community. 5 maybe 10 trained people (Senior Citizens) are going to try and save our community. I can't tell you how proud I am to be a member of the team that is willing to take on this awesome task. But reality rears its ugly head and suggests how so few can protect so many?

There are ways MacGee, but they count on each and everyone of you to do your part. Didn't know you had a role in the coming disaster? Well you do. From the most ambulatory to the most fit in the park there are things you can do. Some only require you to form new habits. Habits take about 30 days to form.. So you do a thing for 30 days and then you will feel uncomfortable if you don't do it... Sure you have to work on it but once it becomes a habit then it's a breeze.

Good habits that make sense for you to form:

1. Always keep at least 1/2 a tank of gas in your vehicles. The Why.... We expect to be without power.. With no power gas cannot be pumped from a gas station. Even if there is a way out will you have enough gas to get out? We have residents that are going to let us use the portable generators they have. (If you have one let us know so we can get it on our equipment list.) We will have limited power available for those with critical life saving equipment such as oxygen generators and other equipment. If we have enough gas and generators we will be having hot meals and lights.. We encourage you to keep up with your gasoline. That will buy all of us some time.
2. For goodness sake get an FRS radio and learn to use it. Do radio checks often. No power... Cell phones won't work. Probably, after a time, regular landlines won't work... maybe right off the bat all communications that you are used to will be gone. With an FRS radio you will be tied into the park wide Neighborhood Watch Network on Ch 6 16. What does that do for you? In the disaster you will be able to talk to the net and to CERT. You can inform us of your status and your Neighborhood Watch Block Captain can check to see if you need help and let the CERT team know. Emergency announcements from NOAA will be relayed to you from CERT. CERT is connected to the outside world by HAM radio so if you need to contact relatives or if you need to be airlifted out because of injury or illness our hams are going to call for help from the COAST GUARD. CERT will also relay message of rescue progress because their communications section monitors all the major agencies under emergency services on scanners. You will know what is going on by listening to the Neighborhood Watch Network.

There are more things you can do but we will talk about that later on.. Try to get these two habits in place... Make it just like wearing seat belts in your car. It is not too much to ask. It will help the CERT team because we won't have to waste time trying to figure out what to do for you. Remember our numbers are small won't you do what you can to help with these two habits? It will help a lot..really!

AHH... just in case you feel touched by the "giving fairy" notice that a new CERT training class is beginning in September... Come aboard. No matter what your physical condition we have a job for you on our CERT team. Don't want to go to school again? But willing to help? Come to a CERT meeting every Wednesday at 11:00 AM at the clubhouse.. We need helpers and will train you for a job in an emergency.