13:51 8-23-2011, An Earthquake begins doing it's shaky thing in Virginia and those shakes are felt as far North as the Canadian border.
I had not slept well the night before and was very tired, as the room began to sway I believed I was just a bit dizzy from lack of sleep. Not so. It was not long before others in the area were in the street seeking protection from what they thought would surly be falling debris and shattering glass. That didn't happen here in Orange County New York at least in the business district I was in at the time of the quake but the world DID shake.
I hit the closest TV and flipped on the news for the update, yup it was a quake alright. I went into alert and started assessing the situation. It was clear to me and others that we were safe for the time being but I could not help but notice that EVERYONE had their cell phones out doing double duty. Some were complaining about connectivity issues while others had text options but no voice capabilities. I checked my cell and found I was still connected and had full service so I guess my phone lucked into a clear trunk but it was obvious that luck was on my side, most were forced to wait and hit redial.
On the TV news, I saw some political conference "Live" from near the epicenter. The room full of press and suits swayed and vibrated as the group stood facing the cameras with a "what the f*&@" look on their face. One woman grabbed her female compatriot and dragged her off the stage and out via the nearest door.......BRAVO! a survivor! Clearly she had lived through something like this before, at least she reacted as if she had.
So what is today's lesson? Well obviously it is to be aware of your surroundings, expect the unexpected no matter how "unlikely" it may be and be prepared to act!
We seem to have been "programed" to believe that anything that makes a loud noise, produces smoke or makes the ground shake is a terrorist attack. That's a shame because the way we react to an "event" might make the difference between being injured or reaching safety.
In short as always, keep a small emergency kit on your person, in your car/office/home just in case. Recommendations for the assembly of such kits are on this Blog, read up and be ready.
Live in the ORANGE mode and with your emergency plans thought out well in advance.
RJ
