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12 OUR YUCAIPA | FEBRUARY 2016 By Natalie Palmer On Jan. 6 a 4.5 magnitude earthquake rolled through Yucaipa, and got us all shook up. At our house a single picture fell over. It wasn't exactly Armageddon, but the jolt got us thinking: "When's the big one coming?" and, "Are we prepared?" The answers are easy. Who knows? It could be any day, and no, we are probably not ready. Yucaipa is situated right on the San Andreas fault, one of the most notorious faultline in the world. It runs along the base of Yucaipa's foothills, just northeast of Bryant (see the red line in the map below). It's right here! We've got to get prepared. It's not like we don't know what to do. Prep information is online everywhere (the city website has a comprehensive family disaster plan at Yucaipa.org, as does FEMA.gov), but even with all that info out there, some of us don't have a single thing ready. "I'm a little amazed that more people are not prepared," said Yucaipa City Councilman David Avila, who is a retired Cal Fire Chief and active in emergency preparedness campaigns. "It's a message I like to send out. In the event of a 8.0 earthquake, portions of your house could collapse, and you won't have services for up to a week. In 2009 they simulated an 8.0 earthquake based inside the Salton Sea to Los Angeles. The roads of the I-10 swayed 40 feet off center each way. It would have more than a casual effect on the community. Water and gas lines, electric, all of these will be adversely affected. There could be no electricity for a very long time. Everyone should have a personal emergency preparedness kit as well as a family emergency kit." And it's not just earthquakes we need to be ready for. All hell could break loose. Yucaipa is always in danger of flooding, said Avila. The Seven Oaks dam in Mentone and Highland and the Highway 38 Greenspot Damn could cause a major disaster if ruptured. Avila also recommends having a well-equipped preparedness kit in the trunk of your car for little catastrophes that can happen at any time. Avila points to an accident on the highway several years ago that kept motorists stranded for 10 hours. Some didn't have water, food, or critical medicine with them. "If you're stuck in your car, you're going to get hungry and thirsty and have to go to the bathroom, so a little preparation is going to go a long way," said Avila. City of Yucaipa Cal Fire Battalion Chief Ron Janssen also said it's imperative that people prepare. "The more prepared the public can be gives us more opportunity to provide for the ones that are in dire need," he said. Janssen said in the event of "the big one" if residents have to leave their homes, they should call city hall to find out where their designated shelter location is. He said the locations will depend on the situation, but would most likely include the Yucaipa Regional Park outdoor space, or the high school football field. He said the first responsibility of Cal Fire will be to drive around and look for downed power lines, ruptured gas lines and other potential hazards, so folks should be prepared to take care of themselves for a while. He feels Yucaipans are on the right track. "Yucaipa as a whole is more prepared than most communities I've seen. With this last incident of heavy rain we only had one home flooded. People came and got their sandbags and helped their neighbors and it was nice to see," he said. continued on page 14 San Andreas Fault

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