BNN and the City Review Storm "Learnings"

Did you get the 6am wake-up call from Pacifica yesterday?  I wasn't in town, but I hear it rang 3.5 times and was loud.  Another earthquake prep reminder.  As if we don't have enough to worry about with atmospheric rivers queued up like floats in a parade.  Saturday morning, the City and Burlingame Neighborhood Network co-sponsored a meeting for residents to learn (re-learn?) how we handled the last big storms.  I say re-learn because by a show of hands nearly all of the roughly 75 people there had previously participated in a BNN block drill.

The newly promoted city arborist, Rich Holtz, was the star of the show as much of the content and questions revolved around trees and what it takes to get downed or leaning trees removed.  There is often coordination with PG&E to ensure the lines are de-energized.  My question during the Q&A about how city staff (aside from Park & Rec tree staff) interact with PG&E didn't get much of an answer.  It would be good to know who at the city is "in the know" in real time about power outages by virtue of having a clear contact at PG&E and the ability to update residents beyond what's on PGE.com.

The city is on a four-year cycle for inspecting all city trees.  There was a small amount of Blue Gum Euc-bashing, but the SF Comicle provided a timely defense of Eucs the next day here:

In the Bay Area, the trees that most commonly fall are oaks, eucalyptus, cypress and Monterey pines, said consulting arborist Kevin Hostert. That matches information from the Western Tree Failure Database, which collects data from professional tree managers largely from the Bay Area, said principal investigator Larry Costello.

Coast live oaks and Monterey pines are prone to fungal infection and root rot, and certain types of eucalyptus trees have “pretty shallow” roots, Hostert said. But Hostert and Costello emphasized that these species are not necessarily more dangerous — instead, more of them may fall simply because they are relatively common.

There is that Voice principle again:  a numerator without a denominator is useless information.

BPD and BFD were well-represented and added a lot of detail about how many 911 calls came in.  For instance, on March 14, 119 calls came in, mostly in a three-hour period, as the heart of the storm hit B'game.  The fact that faux 911 calls from landlines and burglar alarms mistakenly go off when power is restored was news to me.  And they all have to be answered.

For me, the highpoint of the session from a learning standpoint was the introduction of the Zello phone app and network by Rik Kasuga of BNN.  Zello adds walkie-talkie capabilities to your cell phone allowing for group calls and direct person-to-person contact.  Assuming the cell networks are up, this can be an effect way for BNN members to communicate in an emergency.  More on that later as I get into it.

The official recap is here and here are the presenters in the Rec Center on a beautiful Saturday morning in B'game talking about a rough couple of days.

 

Comments

[hollyroller@ gmail.com]

When "The Saw Dust" has settled, when will our community-Burlingame, be able to view the amount of fallen and damaged "Heritage Trees," Property Damage, and injuries be posted? How about the removal and replacement of the Electrical Grid in Burlingame too.
Horrible Natural Event. Nobody's fault.
How much did it cost? This is a very good moment to observe/evaluate the P&L value of having such large trees in a small Urban environment.

[Lemming R US]

It's a suburban environment. Where do you live?

[hollyroller@ gmail.com]

Here. What is your question?

[Joe]

Just another reminder--this is the third one in a week at 3.4 or larger. Check your kit.

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck Tuesday afternoon south of Hollister, rattling communities across the South Bay and the Central Coast.

[hollyroller@ gmail.com]

I do not think "Climate Change" has any effect on earthquakes, however we have to accept that things-weather mostly, will continue to be "Dynamic" in our lifetime. How those IT MEGA BUSINESSES in COB decided to Build "Their Vision" on the Edge of San Francisco Bay, should be an indication of why NOT TO INVEST IN ANY OF THEM. What is wrong with these people?
What deals did COB, San Mateo County, State of CA. promise? SURFS UP!

[Joe]

Tonight, I joined my first BNN Zello Net group call. It's a bi-monthly dry-run sort of thing to insure everyone knows how it works and can hear the conversation. Highly recommended. Download the app, register, and get back to the push-to-talk discipline. You can probably join via the BNN website.