PREPARATIONS OF A VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

Do’s

1. Get necessary supplies in advance, including non-perishable foods,

cleaning supplies, and water for several days, in case you have to
evacuate immediately, or if services are cut off. Keep in mind each
person’s specific needs, including medication. Do not forget the needs
of pets.
○ If you are able to, set aside items like soap, hand sanitizer that
contains at least 60 percent alcohol, disinfecting wipes, and general
household cleaning supplies that you can use to disinfect surfaces
you touch regularly. After an explosive eruption, you may not have
access to these supplies for days or even weeks.
○ Being prepared allows you to avoid unnecessary excursions and to
address minor medical issues at home, alleviating the burden on
urgent care centers and hospitals.
○ Remember that not everyone can afford to respond by stocking up on
necessities. For those who can afford it, making essential purchases
and slowly building up supplies in advance will allow for longer time
periods between shopping trips. This helps to protect those who are
unable to procure essentials in advance of the pandemic and must
shop more frequently. In addition, consider avoiding WIC-labeled
products so that those who rely on these products can access them.
2. Ask local emergency management for evacuation and shelter plans,
and for potential means of protection from ash.
3. Know your area’s risk from volcanic eruption
4. If you are advised to evacuate, find several ways to leave the
area.Practice a communication and evacuation plan with everyone in
your family.
5. Have a shelter-in-place plan if your biggest risk is from ash.

https://www.ready.gov/volcanoes#:~:text=Avoid%20driving%20in%20heavy%20ash,
is%20safe%20to%20go%20outside.
Dont’s

1. Don’t forget your head.

-If worst comes to worst and you’re in the middle of a rock fall, roll into a
ball. Your most vital parts are protected that way.Protect your head at all
times. You can survive with a damaged arm or even a cut finger but an
injury to the head or heart can be deadly.Now, all the timely tips above
should tell you the safest place to be during a volcanic eruption is to be
somewhere else – miles away

2. Don’t Drive Fast

- Ash can damage engines and metal parts. If you must drive, the
multi-awarded scientific research body says, stay below 56 kilometers an
hour.

3. Don’t panic.

-If you lose your head, you die. This is a life and death situation. Panicking
will only give you poor decisions – something you can’t afford to make
given the circumstances. So, get hold of yourself, stop crying like a baby
and focus on more important pressing notions as “getting out of the
situation alive.”

4. Don’t run outside immediately. Use the house as protection.

-Ash-fall and pyroclastic flow could be raining down soon – if not already.
And as one Mount On take (Japan) survivor described: “Pyroclastic flows
are high-velocity, high-temperature tephra density currents. That means
they’re a mix of shattered rock and ash heated up to 1000°C, hot enough to
burn bone and melt silver, that race down volcano slopes at up 200 meters
a second in a swirling, fluid mess of turbulence.” So close all entrances to
your abode: doors, windows and other vents. You are in the safest place –
for now. Depending on the situation, you may still have an hour or two to do
what is Don’t ignore your breathing.necessary. This also means that if you
are outside, seek shelter.
 5. Don’t ignore your breathing.

-Another direct corollary in this tight scenario that is pushed down your
throat is that you will find breathing fresh air a real challenge. As hot lava
and lahar flows out of the natural time-bomb, one of the first to suffer is the
air you breath.

And as CDC (Center for Disease Control) notes, exposure to ash can be
harmful to your health particularly the breathing tract. So, if you have one,
grab a disposable respirator – an N-95 – a device available in most
hardware stores.

However, if finding a mechanism for breathing is impossible, use a damp

cloth and place it over your face.

References

https://topten.ph/2014/12/13/top-10-donts-youre-caught-volcanic-eruption/