By: Madyson Tang, Staff Writer

The Los Angeles fires have brought awareness to many natural disasters happening in our world. Having that mild Bay Area earthquake early morning on Jan. 10 brings the scary thought of how our community would react when faced with more devastating events to mind. If Millbrae was on fire, or if an earthquake caused many to lose their homes and power, what would we do?

Sandra Firpo is the emergency management coordinator for the county of San Mateo. In a discussion about our community’s preparedness for a natural disaster, Firpo shared that a “survey taken by a local community group…found 48% of respondents felt they were somewhat prepared for a disaster.” At the same time, Firpo also acknowledges the county’s room for improvement.

“The reality is that every one of us could be ‘better’ prepared, and by taking some steps, you can lower the stress that comes from any emergency, and make your recovery process smoother.” Ms.Firpo also mentioned in awareness of the LA fires “ It is important, however, to know that every emergency is unique. If, when, and how people are evacuated will depend on the type of hazard that is requiring the evacuation.  A wildfire, gas leak, earthquake, tsunami … could each require some people to move for their safety.  Quality information is vital during emergencies.” Firpo encourages everyone in San Mateo County to follow reliable sources on social media like their local fire department, police department, city, and Department of Public Works, as well as to ensure they are getting alerts through our SMC Alert system.  (Sign up at www.SMCAlert.info”.)

Following that, Sandra Firpo says “We live in an amazing area, and maybe the price to pay for all our natural beauty is the potential for various natural disasters. As Californians, it is our responsibility to take some steps to be better prepared, so that our whole community is stronger together!  Mills High School students can do a lot to make your school community and your families more resilient like packing a to go bag, or having a family emergency plan.”

Firefighters around the world have an important part of helping others during natural disasters. Fireman Joel Sato, works for the San Francisco Fire Department mentions “The focus for San Francisco, and likely most of the Bay Area, is really earthquakes as far as natural disasters go.  We also have awareness of tsunamis because of our coastline and it being a result of earthquakes occuring in the ocean nearby. San Francisco is surrounded on three sides by water, so a firestorm like the Palisades fire or the Camp Fire of 2018 is less of a danger.  There are some larger areas that have natural vegetation which could pose a threat but it isn’t nearly as likely in San Francisco.”

Along with that, Joel Sato said, “If an evacuation order is issued, many people wait either because they don’t believe the danger is that significant, they want to protect their homes themselves, or they just want to leave only if they believe they really need to.  That creates massive congestion along evacuation routes when time becomes short and slows everyone down trying to leave.  The earlier people heed the warnings and orders, the more orderly and efficient mass evacuation will be.” 

Looking further into our local community, biology and biotech teacher Johnny Huang share’s Firpo’s passion for safety amidst  natural disasters. “A lot of times, people probably think of the siren on their iPhone as some kind of drill and think it’s fun, but they don’t take it seriously. So I think that one thing is educating the citizens that we need to prepare, take everything seriously, and probably every home needs to prepare a first aid kit so that whenever this natural disaster happens, then they can just pick up that kid and immediately just run.” Hearing a biology teacher’s opinion on what us Millbrae citizens should do in a natural disaster can really affect how we could handle it if one was to happen. 

Lastly, freshman Samantha Duong voiced her thoughts on the LA fires. “The LA fires brought up so many issues. Bringing people together yet also showing the reality of what a wildfire can do to our world. So knowing our community is prepared can help a lot of people withstand a natural disaster.”

Overall natural disasters are not a joke, and they have the potential to cause harm to many. Putting in the effort and time to prepare in advance, could assist you better in the case of an actual emergency.

Photo Credit: Stephan Lam