www.cleveland-oh.gov/clnd_images/Homeland/preparedness_guide.pdf 

If it is a meteoroid, we go to Guy and Yogi's. Everything else, we go to Laura's.

For a real disaster, jackson has us leaving the city.

Who on Earth cares if anyone/thing from Cleveland survives. We aren't even the birthplace of Jazz, and we already tore down most of our cool old buildings. We're just a big brownfield site.

We're the only ones who care about Cleveland, so we'd better have our own survival strategy.

I thought it was: meteroid, we go to Laura's... alien invasion, Guy and Yogi's...

We gotta get this straight...

Disrupt IT

The benefit of living in a community should be helping each other in time of need.  During the massive crippling snow storm of 2008--I watched my neighbors pitch in to dig out our neighbors.  With no snow plows operating, a woman on Archwood single-handedly cleared her part of the street.  Neighbors were able to coordinate between our neighborhood school and library to provide a place for the kids until their parents were notified of the school closing and could find their way home.

Do you know your neighbors?  It helps to know them.  What if you lose electric, heat or water in your house?  

Are you able to walk to a community center for assistance--say a library or a school or a rec center or a church/mosque/temple? 

If an evacuation is ordered, where do we go?  If we close communities centers--our schools, our libraries, our churches in the City of Cleveland--where do these people have to go?

We should ask ourselves these questions.

  Here's a common enough scenario and it doesn't involve a catastrophe--your child locks his/herself out of the house and hasn't charged their cell phone...do you have a pre-arranged place to meet up??

 A chemical recycling company near me claimed to only recycle things like Murphy's oil soap. That claim was supported by the council person at that time (Helen Smith). Then why did the pictures that I took of the huge trucks from all over the country show much higher hazard symbols? Guess I was just a trouble maker, according to the company and Smith. The fumes? What fumes?

Then a couple of workers mixed the wrong chemicals in one vat. It exploded, the sprinklers went on which then made the chemicals burst into flames. The fire department came, but would not go in, deeming it too dangerous, and let it burn out. Firefighters said that if they had families living here that would get them out.

The list of chemicals that caught fire made everyone stand up and take notice. Hot topic: plans for future evacuations, be it voluntary or official. 

When it is chemical, how far do you go to get away and which way is the wind likely to blow? 

It is an interesting issue that you raise. When considering the purchase of a home or renting a home or apartment, I wonder how many people consider the proximity to rail (for more reasons than just noise) or industry with chemicals inside or outside. This might be an interesting thing for realtors to have to include in addition to the number of bathrooms. Google maps might be tagged with pins that identify businesses with hazardous chemicals like Mittal, GEM or even your local dry cleaner. It is one thing for neighbors to protest something dangerous coming into a neighborhood, but it might be interesting to know that you would be moving in down the street from something that could endanger you and your family.

Of course, there are people who in their desperation for a dollar will endanger entire neighborhoods with gas drilling. Knowing your neighbors or your potential neighbors is indeed advisable.

welcome new neighbors with a basket that includes an all purpose respirator and a clear evacuation plan. 

Received an email from Donn at OBCDC about a public meeting concerning the findings of a  remediation study for the Harshaw Chemical works along Big Creek.  This plant processed or held uranium for the U. S. Government until 1954. This plant is along the banks of the Big Creek which flows into the Cuyahoga River which flows in to Lake Erie. Anyone adjacent to these bodies of water should attend this meeting if possible. Probably will not be a public meeting with questions and answers but we need to know what is planned for this site as well as others in our area.

Public Meeting
 
Update on former Harshaw Chemical Plant
January 20th - 7 - 9 pm
Cleveland Metroparks Canalway Center
Located off East 49 Street/ south of Grant Avenue
 
 
        The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has completed the revised
Remedial Investigation (RI) Report for the former Harshaw Chemical Company
Site in Cleveland, Ohio. The RI Report is now being released to the public
and the Corps will be hosting a public information session in Cleveland from
7 to 9 pm on January 20th to summarize the findings of the remedial
investigation.
 
 
        This email is being distributed to provide you with advance notice of this planned event.