MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO -- Last year’s San Diego County firestorms were the largest in San Diego County history, far surpassing those of 2003 in terms of intensity and duration, burning a total of 368,340 acres and evacuating more than 515,000 people. As a result of extensive planning, training, and exercises in the past five years, significant adjustments and improvements were made to overall disaster procedures.
Similarly, people aboard the depot are building on their readiness capabilities, not just for wild fires, but for other natural disasters that are common in California, such as earthquakes and flash floods.
The depot provided a family emergency and disaster brief this week showing how to prepare for the first 72 hours of a disaster.
During the first 72 hours of a disaster, people are often separated from help and need to be able to rely on themselves, according to James Stewart, a life skills instructor with the Family Readiness Division. By planning before disaster hits, people can sustain themselves and their families with basic necessities.
“Between the tsunami of 2005 and Hurricane Katrina, I realized that no one anywhere can afford to be complacent and unprepared,” said Col. Carl Huenefeld, depot chief of staff.
At that time, Huenefeld was the commanding officer of 8th Marine Corps District, which was located in New Orleans. He organized the district’s safe move to Fort Worth, Texas, before Katrina hit. Eight months before that, Huenefeld was part of the senior staff responsible for coordinating disaster preparedness in Okinawa, Japan, and that responsibility reinforced the importance of preparing for possible catastrophes.
In New Orleans, the 8th MCD sent a team well ahead of the 72-hour mandatory evacuation, to ensure the district was functioning before the remaining district members arrived. The rest of the people and their families convoyed to a hotel in Fort Worth. The district was able to make its recruiting mission while ensuring that all of its people were safe.
“Individuals need to take responsibility,” Huenefeld said. “No plan by an organization will protect you; you must develop individual plans.”
Last year, the depot sheltered more than 400 people during the firestorms. Many of them did not have plans for evacuating their homes.
Sgt. Stella Weishaar, assistant warehouse chief, Property Control Office, her husband, and their two children packed their bags about five hours prior to the impending evacuation, and planned to drive to the next town that was safe from the flames.
Although they ultimately didn’t need to evacuate, they were ready with several days’ worth of provisions.
This year, Weishaar said she will pack sooner and will fill out the safety booklet.
Attendees received information about how to prepare emergency kits and completed a basic emergency plan for themselves and their families. The kits are usable in any disaster.
The basic plan outlines where a family will meet near their home in case of an emergency; establishes a place where they can meet in case they are unable to enter their neighborhood; and lists who they should call outside their local area to report their location and condition in case of a disaster.
“Everyone in our command (Western Recruiting Region) faces a natural disaster threat, whether it be ice storms in Oklahoma, earthquakes, or wild fires,” said Huenefeld. “The key to readiness is at the individual and family level.”