Got a question for those of you with kids in school (or who had kids in school):
What is/was your plan in case of major earthquake for picking up your kids from school or for them getting home? I’m especially wondering for those of you who are dual income and work > 20 miles away, what your plan is.
In thinking about going back to work, I’m concerned about having two of us be very far (ie across a bridge or in SF 40 miles away) in case of major earthquake. We don’t have family in the area, though I think in an emergency like that, we could probably ask for help from one of the neighbors to bring our kids home from school (to an empty home though).
What are you thoughts? Part of the decision is whether I should take any job that puts me farther than 2 cities N/S while my husband is working in SF…
My sister did a study for Salt lake city schools. Kids are only in school 11 percent of the time over the year…only 180 days and only 6 hrs a day…cuts the anxiety factor down a bit…but you are right… roads will the biggest issue in a major quake
Yes. Bart had some issues. Unfortunately I was in the hospital and saw the whole thing on TV. But the news media made things much worse than they were…Caused widespread panic…The nurses all ran out to go find their kids…I knew the Kaiser maintenance guy, He and I walked around with me rolling my IV cart looking for cracks in the shear walls…Kaiser in RWC was eventually torn down…Not safe according to modern codes
I have a big wrench next to the gas line outside in case of earthquake. I did not know how to turn it off and my neighbor came over immediately after shaking was over to make sure I was doing ok. He turned off the gas line for me. My husband could not get home as he worked at the hospital and did not return home until 11pm.
Probably 10percent. So 1 percent chase your kids wil oin school in a quake. Much bigger risks, like driving and walking across the street. Biggest risk to kids are their friends
Pray they don’t end up in the wrong crowd.
My friend who does these analyses said “Big one in the next 20 years” back in 2009. Of course, small quakes take the load off. So I don’t know. But I used 20 years as my number.
Either way, I need to make a plan, rather than leave some poor teacher watching my kids for a week.
The vast majority of the bay area is dual income and average commute is up to what now? 45 minutes? I don’t get the issue. Earthquakes in the area don’t knock over buildings.
45 minutes if you can drive. If trees are knocked over, and you have to walk back from SF to, say, Palo Alto, that’s a 15 hour walk. What’s the plan for the kids if both parents are in SF? They say you should have 5 days of food and water “in case.” Do you assume that your kid’s teacher is going to sit with them for five days?
Every risk needs to be considered. And 1% is significant. And that’s per year. Driving and walking accidents don’t happen at 1% per year. And even though those risks are lower, we always strive to teach our kids how to drive safely and cross the street safely.
I come back to my original question: For those with kids and with long commutes, what is/was your plan regarding picking them up from school if the big one hits?
99.9% of us had no damage from the 1989 quake. So even if we have a repeat, the panic will be more intense than the reality. Earthquakes don’t bother me. Ask people that were around in 1989. Dan Rather made it seem way worse that it was. The best thing is schools are much safer than then. If your school office and home are well built your survival chances are a thousand times better that 1%
Besides kids have cell phones now. Piece of mind is more secure now.
Some how millions of families have 2 parents that go to work every day despite the risk. I lived in Michigan during the massive blackout. Everyone was fine.
So what I’m hearing is that you believe in the next major earthquake, we will have power, cell coverage, Caltrain will be running (on time even), and there will be no trees down across roads?
PS: I’m not worried about survival, I’m trying to figure out what people who work 40 miles from their kids’ schools have as a plan to pick them up… (in the event that we don’t have those things)
