People stand around flower tributes for the victims of Monday’s bombing at St Ann’s Square in central Manchester, Britain, Friday, May 26 2017. British police investigating the Manchester Arena bombing arrested a ninth man while continuing to search addresses associated with the bomber. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017 | 2 a.m.
The massive blaze, Britain’s deadliest in decades, at Grenfell Tower in London. The horror of the bombing at a pop concert in Manchester, England. The Arizona family suddenly swept away in a rush of floodwater during a summer swim. Recent events have proven, yet again, that disaster can strike anytime, anywhere. In an instant, a daily routine, a special night out or a long-awaited vacation can turn into chaos, the result of Mother Nature, violent unrest or simply a perfect storm of misfortune.
Tragedies are inevitable, but that doesn’t mean we are helpless. Experts in terrorism, public safety and emergency management agree that knowing what to do in an attack or catastrophe can mean the difference between life and death. Survival in many cases isn’t a function of bravery but the result of preparedness.
It’s human nature to freeze with mental paralysis in the face of danger. That’s why education and preparation are so essential, so your body can take over even as your mind reels. Knowing ahead of time how to act in an emergency tips the odds toward survival.
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People watch from a balcony as people walk during a demonstration following the fire at Grenfell Towers that engulfed the 24-story building on June 16. Grief over the fire that killed dozens turned to outrage amid reports that the materials used in a recent renovation of the public housing block may have fueled the inferno.
HIGH-RISE FIRE
Most people’s first instinct in a fire is to run. But if you are in a high-rise building, experts say don’t. Though it may seem counterintuitive, your best chance for survival is to stay put.
Modern skyscrapers are designed to contain, suppress and withstand fire. Laws in the United States require fireproofing materials that protect a building’s structure and separate its units into fire-safe compartments. Steel and concrete construction is the norm, as are fire-retardant coatings and insulation. Self-closing, fire-resistant metal doors are designed to keep flames from spreading; fire alarms and automatic sprinklers are mandated; and required building-control systems help suppress flames. In other words, if a modern high-rise is constructed as it should be, it is designed to keep flames contained to a single unit or floor.
Protect Yourself in Place
1. Use wet towels or sheets and duct tape to seal all openings or cracks through which smoke can enter — under doors, through vents and via mail slots.
2. Call 911 and tell the dispatcher where you are. Hang a bright-colored cloth or piece of clothing in a window or on a balcony to identify your location.
Plan ahead
When in a high-rise building, study the locations of all available staircases and exits. If you are in a hotel room, read the evacuation chart posted on the back of the door.
3. Move to the most protected room.
4. Don’t jump. If a building is up to code and properly equipped, staying where you are is much safer than jumping from a window or balcony.
5. Do not break windows. During the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City, misinformed sources mistakenly advised people on upper floors to break windows to let in fresh air, even though smoke inhalation was not imminent. That caused the smoke to rise more quickly and vertically through the building.
An exception to the stay-in-place rule: The massive death toll in the June 14 fire at Grenfell Tower in London, which killed an estimated 87 people, was the result of shoddy building construction, unheeded warnings and officials’ prioritization of profits over safety, an investigation by The New York Times found. The building was wrapped in highly flammable insulation and cladding, a practice forbidden in the United States and much of Europe. Firefighters followed protocol by instructing people to stay in place, unaware that the cladding would ignite a rapid and intense fire that ultimately prevented rescue.
40
Average number of people who die in such fires annually.
Evacuate If ...
1. Your unit or room is on fire, is directly adjacent to the fire or becomes affected by fire.
2. You know for certain the fire is on a floor above yours.
If You Leave
1. Act fast. Be safe and deliberate, but don’t waste time. One of the factors that contributed to the staggering number of deaths in the World Trade Center on 9/11 was people delaying action. Those who got out alive waited just six minutes on average before moving to the stairs.
2. Never use the elevator. First, elevators typically are tied into building alarm and sprinkler systems. When the alarms go off or power fails, the elevators stop working. Second, in a fire, smoke and flames choose the path of least resistance. The negative pressure created in an elevator shaft can cause a chimney-like effect, sucking up toxic smoke into elevator cars.
3. Leave the building using the nearest exit stairwell. Close all doors behind you, but be sure they are unlocked.
4. If you encounter smoke, try an alternate stairwell. If that area is compromised as well, return to your unit.
5. If you must evacuate, crawl low under the smoke. (Heat and toxic gases rise.) Hold a damp towel over your mouth and nose.
6. Do not head to the roof. Helicopter rescues are very dangerous and as a result are rare. Moving to the roof could simply strand you higher than where you started.
Essential information: If you plan to evacuate, don’t forget your key. You may have to turn back if an exit route is blocked or unnavigable, and you don’t want to be locked out.
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A flash flood rages through the Linq parking garage and surrounding areas on Monday, Sept. 8, 2014.
FLASH FLOODING
Flash-flood season in Southern Nevada is July through September, but floods can happen any time of year. Flash flooding can be very dangerous and can strike without warning.
Nine members of an extended family were killed July 15 in a flash flood at a popular swimming hole in Arizona after a thunderstorm hit 8 miles upstream. Floodwaters 6 feet high and 40 feet wide, moving 45 mph, quickly inundated the narrow canyon, where more than 100 swimmers were enjoying a dip. Thunderstorms had been reported near the canyon, but it wasn’t raining where the swimmers were.
If you are planning an outing, check the weather in and around the area you are visiting. If you are in a vehicle when a major storm hits, it’s usually safest to stay where you are and wait for the storm to pass.
If you get swept away
1. Float on your back so you can push away any large debris moving toward you. Always go over obstacles, never under them.
Serious threat
Flash flooding is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States, accounting for approximately 200 per year. About 65 percent of flood-related drownings occur when a vehicle is driven into floodwaters.
2. Grab or climb onto something as soon as possible. Once you’ve got a grip on a large object, keep your feet pointed downstream.
3. Yell loudly for help and, if possible, wave an arm or object. It can be difficult for rescue crews to spot a person stranded in moving water.
If you are on foot
1. As soon as you learn of a flash-flood watch, immediately head to higher ground.
2. Avoid all moving water, even if it appears shallow. It can be difficult to determine how deep floodwaters are, and water can rise dramatically in a matter of minutes. Just 6 inches of fast-moving floodwater can knock over an adult. Floodwaters also can hide hazards, such as sharp objects, washed-out pieces of road, electrical wires and chemicals.
3. If you have no choice but to walk through water, find a shallow area where the water is still, and use a sturdy stick to check the depth and firmness of the ground as you walk. Mud and other slick surfaces can easily topple you.
FloodSpot
The Clark County Regional Flood Control District’s FloodSpot app, befloodsafe.com, provides notifications of flash flooding and real-time information during floods. Download it for Apple or Android devices.
4. If you have children with you, carry them and keep them out of the water at all times if possible.
5. Avoid touching or getting close to electrical equipment.
If you are in a vehicle
1. Never drive through a flooded road or around barricades. A vehicle caught in swiftly moving water can be swept away in a matter of seconds. Twelve inches of water can float a car or small SUV, and just 18 inches of water can carry away a large vehicle.
2. If you are caught in a flash flood while driving, pull over to the highest location you can find, preferably above street level. Avoid canyons, drainage channels and streambeds.
3. If you are stuck in a stalled car and floodwaters aren’t rising, it’s safest to stay inside the vehicle.
4. If rising water comes at your vehicle suddenly and you have no time to drive away, exit the vehicle as quickly as possible. Unbuckle your seat belt and roll down your windows. If that’s not possible, break a window with a hard object or kick out a side window. If water isn’t allowed to flow freely into the vehicle, you will become trapped. Thousands of pounds of pressure from the water will prevent you from being able to open the door. Allowing water to enter the vehicle equalizes that pressure. Abandon your car and move to higher ground.
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In this image taken with a slow shutter speed and provided by the U.S. Air Force, an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test just after midnight, Wednesday, May 3, 2017, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The U.S. has about 450 of the missiles and they are routinely tested. But the latest tests come amid rising tensions with North Korea, which has tested its own nuclear missiles — including some designed to reach the United States.
NUCLEAR THREATS
North Korea has boasted of having successfully completed five nuclear tests since 2006 with increasingly explosive yields, and many more missile tests — almost two dozen this year alone. U.S. officials are unsure whether the country has the ability to miniaturize a warhead and launch a strike, but Pentagon officials say it’s prudent to assume North Korea could target our country. Experts say fear of a nuclear attack in America hasn’t been this elevated since the Cold War.
There’s also the possibility that terrorists could obtain access to smaller, less powerful nuclear weapons.
Thoughts of mushroom clouds raining nuclear fallout are frightening, but people can survive atomic warfare. The key is acting quickly and strategically.
Three main factors in protecting yourself from radiation and fallout
1. Distance: The more distance between you and fallout particles, the better. In a home or office building, shelter in an underground area such as a basement or enclosed underground parking garage. In a high-rise, the center of a mid-level floor is preferable, ideally the 10th floor or higher, as long as it is not directly below a flat roof, which would accumulate fallout. If possible, choose locations without windows. The goal is to put as many walls and as much concrete, brick and soil as possible between you and the radioactive material outside.
2. Shielding: Ideal locations are those protected by heavy, dense materials — thick walls, concrete, bricks, earth. Even furniture piled up against walls can offer protection.
3. Time: Fallout radiation loses its intensity fairly quickly and poses the greatest threat to people during the first two weeks. About 80 percent of the fallout occurs during the first 24 hours. Fourteen days out, only 1 percent of the initial radiation level typically remains.
What is fallout?
A nuclear explosion is caused by an uncontrolled chain reaction that splits atomic nuclei to produce an intense wave of heat, light, air pressure and radiation. Blasts typically vaporize millions of dirt particles, which are drawn into a mushroom cloud. As the heat from the bomb diminishes, the radioactive materials that have vaporized condense on the particles and fall back to Earth.
The phenomenon is called radioactive fallout. A large nuclear blast could create a fireball up to 1 mile in diameter, with temperatures as hot as the surface of the sun and winds greater than the force of a hurricane. However, past nuclear tests by countries such as North Korea have been far smaller, and smaller still than either of the atomic bombs used in Japan during World War II. Nuclear radiation cannot be seen, smelled or otherwise detected by human senses. Radiation can be detected only by radiation-monitoring devices.
Height of detonation is a factor in lethality A bomb detonated at ground level would carve out a crater in the earth and do less damage than a bomb dropped from the air. However, blasts that occur near the earth’s surface create greater amounts of fallout than blasts from higher altitudes because of the mushroom cloud effect. Flat areas are more susceptible to blast effects, and jet streams or surface winds can carry and spread fallout for hundreds of miles, while precipitation can wash fallout from the atmosphere.
If you are sheltering in place
1.Go as far below ground as possible. Shut off ventilation systems and seal all doors and windows.
2. Stay inside until authorities say it is safe to come out. Expect to remain sheltered for at least 24 hours, although bunkering could be required for as long as two weeks to a month, depending on your location relative to the blast.
If you are outside when a blast occurs
1. Take cover behind anything that can protect you. Lie face down on the ground, cover any exposed skin and remain flat until the heat and shock waves have passed. Depending on where the explosion is, it could take 30 seconds or more for the blast wave to hit.
2. Do not look at the flash or fireball; it can blind you.
3. Keep your mouth open to protect your eardrums from bursting, but cover your mouth and nose with a cloth to filter particulates.
4. Evacuate or find shelter. You’ll have about 10 to 15 minutes before a lethal amount of radiation falls from the mushroom cloud. Run perpendicular to the wind to avoid being caught upwind or downwind.
5. If you were exposed to contaminated dust and debris, remove your clothing, blow your nose and wipe down your face, hair and body. If possible, shower, wash your hair and change your clothing. Do not scrub or scratch your skin as that could worsen exposure, and do not use conditioner, which binds radioactive material to hair.
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Joshua trees dot the landscape of Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada.
STRANDED IN THE DESERT
In spring 2011, British Columbia woman Rita Chretien survived 49 days in Northern Nevada’s Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest after her van skidded off a slippery remote road into a gully. She rationed a small amount of trail mix and hard candy, and melted snow to drink. Her husband, Albert, died of exhaustion and hypothermia less than 6 miles away while trekking to get help.
Survival experts say there’s one vital rule when stranded in a vehicle: Don’t leave.
Be prepared before you go
1. Keep water in your vehicle, and lots of it. At least 1 gallon per person per day is recommended, although more is always better.
2. Share your plans. Tell someone where you are going, the route you plan to take and when you are expected to arrive. Do not change your plans without letting someone know.
3. Always carry paper maps as a backup. GPS devices can’t always be trusted, and cellphones lose their signal in remote locations.
How to survive
1. Always stay with your vehicle. It’s far easier for rescuers to see a car than a person. Also, vehicles provide shelter and resources — a horn to sound for help, oil and gas to start a fire, floor mats for cover. Raise the hood and trunk to signal distress.
2. Ration, ration, ration. Don’t drink until you feel sated; always remain a little bit thirsty. That will signal a lack of resources to your body and help it preserve hydration.
3. Stay hungry. The more you eat, the thirstier you will be. Your body can last far longer without food than water.
If you’re trapped
If your car crashes and you are unable to escape through a door, kick out a side window. (Windshields are far stronger and harder to crack.) Lie on your back, bring your knees to your chest and aim with your heels for a corner of the window, where glass is weakest.
In the desert
1. If you get stuck in sand, stop the engine immediately to prevent digging the car down to the chassis. Lower tire pressure by 50 percent and dig away the sand accumulated in front of the tires. Use floor mats for traction.
2. Don’t sit or lie directly on the ground, which can be far hotter than the air. Improvise a sunshade and try to find a perch elevating your body at least a foot and a half off the ground. Stay outside of your vehicle during the midday heat.
3. Try to find shade, even if it is just the shadow of a shrub. Forage for food or water only in the early morning or evening when it is cooler.
4. To stay hydrated, collect any dew that forms on plants in the early morning before the sun rises.
5. Keep your body and feet covered to avoid burns. Wear sunglasses or improvise a hat using cardboard or other materials to protect your eyes. Don’t lick your lips; it will speed up chaffing and splitting.
6. At night, when the temperature drops, stuff your clothing with insulation from your vehicle’s seats to keep warm.
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Emergency services personnel speak to people outside Manchester Arena after reports of an explosion at the venue during an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, Monday, May 22, 2017. Several people have died following an explosion Monday night at an Ariana Grande concert in northern England, police and witnesses said. The singer was not injured, according to a representative. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
ATTACK AT AN EVENT
Twenty-two people, including many children, were killed May 22 when a suicide bomber detonated a device in the foyer of the Manchester Arena as an Ariana Grande concert was wrapping up. The explosion triggered chaos inside the 21,000-capacity venue as people tried to flee. The majority survived.
Whether you’re at a concert, in a stadium, at a rally, watching a stage show or enjoying an outdoor festival, the tactics for surviving an emergency involving a large crowd remain the same.
How to prepare and respond
1. Be aware of your surroundings. Take note of emergency exits, stairwells, restrooms and evacuation routes. Familiarize yourself with the venue’s layout, and have a plan for where you will go if an emergency erupts. Look for exits that most people might not notice; instinct will lead the crowd to try to exit from where they entered.
2. Sit at the edge of the theater or position yourself in the corner of a stadium. The middle is most dangerous in a mass-panic situation.
3. Go with the flow. Past incidents have shown that cooperation is the norm among crowds during an emergency. Acting individually — running in a different direction from the masses, for example — can decrease effective evacuation for everyone. It also can lead to injury as falls and crushing are more likely.
4. Trust your intuition. If something doesn’t feel right, leave.
5. Leave your belongings behind. A purse is replaceable. Your life is not.
6. Keep running. Don’t stop your evacuation outside the doors of the venue, and avoid gathering with a crowd. Be sure you have fled far enough to be out of harm’s way. At the Stade de France in Paris, where suicide bombers attacked during a soccer match in 2015, three explosions occurred: two outside stadium entrances and one at a nearby fast-food restaurant.
7. Be cautious when approaching law enforcement. Depending on the nature of the situation, police may be looking for suspects and will have no way of knowing whether you are a victim or a perpetrator.
8. Have a meetup plan. Determine in advance a meeting spot for your family or friends in case anyone gets separated. Choose a location away from the venue.
If you can’t escape
1. Take cover and hide. Position yourself behind large, solid items or lock yourself in a room. Turn off the lights, silence your cellphone (turn off vibrate as well) and remain still.
2. Lie face-down and make yourself as small as possible.
3. If a confrontation is inevitable, fight back. Use anything available as a weapon. Liquid to the face can be effective as it is startling, even if the liquid is cold. Try to strike the attacker from behind.
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