The annual Laie Emergency Council shelter drill on October 29 in the BYU-Hawaii Cannon Activities Center — if you missed it — featured meals-ready-to-eat (MREs by Laie 8th Ward Scout Troop 382), a keiki thumb-print ID set-up by the Honolulu Police Department, presentations on food and water storage, stew and rice, and more. In other words, if that's where you should evacuate during a natural disaster such as a hurricane, ya' shoulda' been there

Volunteer shelter manager Jeanie Lawrence, who normally works for BYUH Human Resources, explained, "We do this to help educate the community about what a shelter entails, and what they should expect as far as services they can expect to find here. We also added a few informational booths such as the Humane Society, the State Medical Corps (who were looking for volunteer recruits), and the Department of Emergency Management that was formerly called Civil Defense." She added that they also showed the people who came the new registration forms.

"We like to keep our people updated on an annual basis so they know what to do in the case of a real emergency," Lawrence also said.

 

Luis Torrentera, his wife Marianela and baby Fernando
(2 months) check out the cots in the CAC

For example, Gerry Nihipali, a Laie Community Association board member, volunteered to explain some of the finer points of water storage, such as:

• Change stored water at least every 6-12 months. "At least check it," she said.
• If you use plastic containers, make sure there's a triangle on the bottom with the number 1 and either "pet" or "pete" spelled out. "Those are supposed to be the best containers for water storage," she said.
• Nihipali said commercial bottles of water are "adequate," but expensive.
• They Mylar™ packages of water storage also work, "but they don't taste too good," she said. "I don't know if I had mine too long, or if I needed to aerate it before using it."

At her own home, Nihipalii said she has "all kinds of water storage — in gallon containers, five-gallon containers, and in drums." Asked what others should use, she replied, "just do it."

 

The emergency shelter includes an area for keiki.