Disaster Tip of the Week: Learn How to Shut Off Utilities

During a major disaster, knowing how to turn off your utilities properly is important for your safety and may just save your life and valuables.

Events like earthquakes, tornadoes and even floods can cause gas leaks and shutting these utilities off quickly is important. These same disasters can also cause water to become contaminated so you will want to shut off the water main valve at your home. 

 To shut off your Gas take the following steps:

1. Locate your gas meter and valve.
2. Have a wrench immediately available for turning off the gas supply. (you can buy a special wrench but any adjustable one should do the job)
3. Shut off gas only if you smell gas or hear a hissing noise. Contact the gas company to turn the gas back on.
4. If you smell natural or propane gas, evacuate immediately and leave the area. Go to where you no longer smell gas. Do not use matches, lighters or open flame appliances. Do not operate electrical switches because sparks could ignite gas causing an explosion.
   

To shut off your water take the following steps:

1. Turn off water at the main meter or at the water main leading into the house. This will prevent contaminated water from entering your water heater and plumbing.
2. Turn off the valve — turn to the right. This will require a special valve wrench, available from a hardware store. Make sure you have the tool readily available.
   
3. If there is an active leak and you cannot locate the valve call your local water department.

For more information try this How To Turn Off Utilities form northshorefire.com

ans Turning off your gas from PG&E

House Bill Seeks Terrorist-Proof Chemicals

The House recently passed legislation giving the government the authority to force companies to replace chemicals that terrorists could use in attacks with safer alternatives.

Chemical-industry lobbyists say mandating substitutions in chemicals and manufacturing processes, as the House measure would do, could cause shortages of some products.

The Senate will be taking up a similar version of the legislation sometime next year.

CDC Asks State and Local Health Departments to Vaccinate High Risk Groups First Against H1N1

The CDC recently put out a Letter to all State and local health officials urging them to restrict vaccinations to High Risk groups.

Currently demand for the vaccination is exceeding the supply currently available, though more is on the way.

The letter highlights the need to vaccinate those in high risk groups first, and the CDC is asking that State and Local Health departments ensure equitable access to the vaccine.

Law to Require Employers to Provide Paid Sick Leave Over H1N1

The H1N1 Virus has sparked new debate on paid sick leave and a Bill has been introduced, known as the Emergency Influenza Containment Act to require employers to pay sick employees who miss work.

This is the third bill to be introduced on the subject of paid sick days, and is designed to protect employees from becoming infected and reduce the amount of money in lost productivity due to more workers becoming sick.

I'd really like to hear your thoughts on this issue so please comment.

Iran Designed and Tested Components of Advanced Nuclear Warhead

Iran has secretly designed Nuclear Warhead so advanced that it is still being kept largely a secret in the U.S. and Britain.

What details have been released is that it uses a "two point implosion" and that they have tested components of this design.

This is the first claim that Iran has sought such advanced weaponry, which nuclear experts have called "breathtaking."

The IAEA has sent a dossier to Iran, asking for explanation on this and some other findings that are not known at this time.