Author Tags: Sports


Articles: 1 Article for this author

---

By Rachelle Stein-Wotten


Maggie Mooney has been through a few earthquakes, including one in Lima, Peru. Moving to Gabriola and going through her first winter experiencing power outages as well as other reasons led her to write Are Your Ready? How to Prepare for an Earthquake.

"I wanted to create a concise, straightforward guide - a kind of one-stop shop for basic earthquake preparation.";

Mooney, who has a Master's in Counseling Psychology, partially prepared by looking into how people deal with going through an earthquake. She set up the book into a four-week program in order to "break down the overwhelming information into something doable for anyone, particularly busy families with children.";

The back of the book has a section of checklists such as what to carry in personal grab-and-go bags and kits for your house, car and office.

"We will likely be on our own for at least 72 hours - we cannot count on emergency services reaching us. Start with putting aside enough water for three days - this, as every Gabriolan will know, is essential.";

Maggie added, "Awareness is not enough."; In certain places she thinks people are relatively prepared for 'the big one,' in Japan for example. "Here on the West Coast, no. Most people are not prepared. I think this is changing though. The recent earthquakes have made people more aware of the risks. The bottom line is the better prepared we are the more control we'll have, [and] the better we'll respond and the more resilient we'll be after.";

[Published in the Gabriola Sounder, October 2011]

www.soundernews.com
Gabriola Sounder