During the recent Ready Sausalito emergency preparedness fair at the MLK basketball courts off Coloma Street, 15 different community groups had booths dispensing invaluable life-saving information. Subjects ranged from animal safety to stroke awareness, and one booth provided tips for dealing with power outages as wildfire season approaches. Here are some of those tips:
Hand-Held Lamps powered by batteries, solar or hand crank can light up your workspace and keep your hands free for activities such as walking downstairs or reading.
Flashlights should be stationed in useful places including bedside, kitchen, car, day room and your emergency “go bag”. Keep a variety of sizes and spare batteries.
Glow sticks for walking at night serve dual functions of seeing where you are going and letting people see you.
When you do not have a generator, solar panels or a power wall, the following can power your small devices:
Portable Batteries come in all sizes, some big enough to power a small refrigerator or recreation cooler or medical equipment. For example, a 700 Goal Zero battery charges an All-Family Portable Medication thermos for 3 days.
Power Banks also come in a variety of sizes and are commonly used for recharging computers and cell phones. They can charge an All-Family Portable Medication thermos for 12 hours.
Who to contact for powering medical equipment:
- PG&E to receive notice of power outages and especially if you are in the need of medical equipment requiring power. You can also call.
- Disability Disaster Access for your medical equipment power needs.
- Mann Center for Independent Living. Call this agency to see if you are eligible to receive portable power sources for your medical equipment.
Vendors for alternative power sources such as headlamps, camping lamps, flashlights, portable solar panels, cold food storage and batteries include:
- REI: Headlamps, flashlights, solar lanterns, batteries and more
- West Marine: Portable solar panels, cold food storage
- Amazon: Lamps, head lamps, flashlights, solar radios, solar panels, power banks and everything else
- All-Family: Cold medication storage
- Goal Zero: Batteries, solar panels and more
This was also a social gathering, with neighbors meeting neighbors and munching hot dogs served by the Lions Club.
The Floating Homes Association is planning similar information booths, tailored specifically to the needs of waterfront residents, at the Sunday, October 29 Day in the Park. Check back here for further details as they are finalized.