LA County launched an emergency alert notification system on Thursday to notify residents during a disaster.
The system is already connected to all land-line phones in the county but you can add your cellphone and email by going to alert.lacounty.gov.
Here is some info from that site:
Los Angeles County has implemented an emergency mass notification system that will be used to contact County residents and businesses via recorded phone messages, text messages or e-mail messages in case of emergency. The system, called Alert LA County, will be used by the County’s Emergency Operations Center to notify residents and businesses of emergencies or critical situations and provide information regarding necessary actions, such as evacuations. The system utilizes the telephone companies’ 911 database and is able to contact land-line telephone numbers, whether listed or unlisted. If the call is picked up by an answering machine, the system will leave a recorded message. If the number called is busy or does not answer, the system will redial the number in an attempt to deliver the message. The system is also TTY/TDD compatible.
Sheriff’s officials cautioned that while the new system is effective, people should not wait for a call to leave their home during a disaster. If you think you’re in danger, get out.
I have been reporting on Disaster Preparedness Blog for a while about the possibility of nukes falling into the hands of radical extremists in Pakistan such as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
Today an Indian Newspaper is reporting that the President of Pakistan is stating that while the countries nuclear arsenal is in safe hands, the threat of them falling onto extremist hands is very real.
The Pakistani President, Asif Ali Zardari is also calling on the west for help in securing the democracy in Pakistan further stating that if democracy fails in their country, the nukes will surely fall into the possession of radicals.
To see my past stories on this please refer to these posts
Approximately 20 ATMs have been found in Europe that have malware on them allowing thieves to steal cash as well as acount data and PINS from account holders.
The ATMs are located mostly in Russia and the Ukraine however their seems to be indications that the Unites States may have compromised ATMS as well.
Since the malware needs to be directly installed onto the ATM an insider is suspected but whether that insider works at a bank, an ATM vendor, a company that services the machines or someone close to an insider is unknown at this time.
The ATMs were running the Windows XP Operating System and had an executable on them that was masquerading as a legitimate Windows protected storage service, he said. The malware looks at all the data being processed by the ATM and records account information that is stored on the magnetic stripes on cards inserted into the machine and encrypted PIN blocks that are generated when someone types in their personal identification number.
Even though PINs are encrypted, the criminals could potentially intercept the encryption keys exchanged with the bank and use them to decrypt the PINs or even use other methods to decrypt the keys once they have the information.
For more on this story please refer to the reference below.
Euna Lee and Laura Ling, of U.S. media outlet Current TV, were detained by North Korea while working on a story at the border of China and North Korea.
The two have been detained since March and were accused of being Spies working for the United States and illegal entering the Country of North Korea.
The move comes as tensions between North Korea, South Korea and the United States have increased since the North Korea has declared an end to the armistice and restarted their nuclear production capabilities.
North Korea has also tested a second Nuclear weapon and has been launching short range missiles as a show of force as of late, and it looks as if they are about to test an ICBM type missile soon.
Meanwhile Secratary of State Hillary Clinton has called the charges baseless.
Today's manhole fire in San Francisco caused a loss of power to approximately 8,600 PG&E customers and a shelter in place was ordered for people in the area as well.
The explosion and fire according to news reports were due to a PG&E equipment problem further impacted by about 75 gallons of oil in an oil switch.
No injuries were reported but emergency crews were kept busy by responding to people trapped in elevators caused by the loss of power.
Video from KRON4 of todays Manhole Fire:
Manhole fires are not as common here in the Bay Area as they are where I am originally from in NYC, since they usually occur during the winter and are most often caused by water and salt seeping into the manholes and corroding wires.
However there are many hidden dangers of manhole fires which are increased since the fire is happening underground and your not able to view the source of the fire directly.
First the biggest danger is the gases that these fires give off which include Carbon Monoxide (CO), Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and many others can actually travel through the underground systems and into the surrounding buildings.
It is often best to evacuate the surrounding buildings in large fires and or monitor the air quality in parts per million, especially since these gases are often orderless, colorless, and tasteless and by the time you realize you are exposed it may already be too late. I once had a police officer as a patient with CO poisoning that was left to watch on open manhole after a fire.
Once the fire is out, the danger of the gas still often remains and must be addressed.
The other danger is that manhole covers can range in weight from 150 pounds up to 300 pounds and the fires tend to burn unnoticed underground until significant pressure builds up causing the an explosion that often shoots the manhole cover sometimes as high as six stories into the air.
These manhole covers can sometimes be found several blocks away, on rooftops and sometimes land on top of passing cars.
One winter I was inside my EMS station in Brooklyn, NY restocking after a call, trying to relax on a busy winter day. I was in a room getting supplies when a huge explosion took place, rocking the building and caused me to literally jump.
My partner and I went outside and a car parked next to our station was on fire. The car was parked on top of a manhole that exploded and hit the gas tank. The car by the way was also parked next to the wall I was standing near. I was lucky it didn't damage the building but it was the loudest explosion I've heard, and the closest I ever was to an explosion.
So, try not to park on top of a manhole cover if you can avoid it.
The other danger is in the thick black smoke coming out of the manhole which is also highly combustible. The smoke is also not always black either depending on what is burning, I have seen bright red, dark red, yellow, and purple, each of which presents its own dangers since they add other toxic gases to the area.
For more on manhole fires please view the following links:
My name is Keith Erwood, and disasters are my life. Well, not just disasters really, but to help people like you, owners, executives and managers of businesses prepare for disasters and emergencies.
Monday, June 22, 2009 at 12:00PM
