Disaster

Listen to the radio or other media for information on where to go and what to do. Having a battery-powered radio is a must in case the power goes out. Design a family emergency plan. Pick two places to meet in case of an emergency: one outside your house and another outside your neighborhood. Designate an out-of-state friend or relative to be your family contact in case of emergency. Keep important papers in a safe place. Familiarize yourself with how to evacuate your home or office.

Some players hung their heads and the coach called the whole evening a total disaster. And that was the winning team. Indeed, Friday night's 21-17 nonleague triumph over a valiant Marina High squad at Westminster High was far from typical for Newport Harbor. Newport Harbor senior quarterback Tom Jackson, however, prevented even deeper gloom for the Sailors by triggering a dramatic game-winning drive in the final 1:01. It capped a strong performance by the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Jackson, who threw three touchdown passes and also tossed a two-point conversion.

Despite mankind’s supreme technological advances, we are still at the mercy of Mother Nature. The recent magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile shocked an already horrified world reeling from the earlier disaster in Haiti. Americans can be proud of the fact that both government agencies and private citizens have donated manpower, life-saving food, water and medical supplies and hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Haitian relief fund. We are now stepping forward to assist Chile as well.

Whether it’s for a college applications or high school graduation requirements, nowadays kids everywhere are volunteering community service hours. On Monday, a group of boys were doing that very thing when they stopped by the Bayview Landing Senior Apartment Homes in Newport Beach to hand out disaster kits. Except they weren’t keeping a precise tally on hours for school credit; they were doing it just because. “It feels like more of an accomplishment than when you’re doing it for a job. When you’re working for the money,” said 15-year-old Nick McGuiness, a freshman at Corona del Mar High School.

The Newport Beach Fire Department will host an Earthquake Awareness Workshop today from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Newport beach City Hall Council Chambers. Instructors will cover the basics of earthquake preparation, including the type of faults that flow under Newport, the city's plan during a natural disaster and what residents can do to prepare. It will be similar to the recent tsunami workshop. Attendants will receive information on disaster supply kits and how to secure home appliances.

The 500-page "Basic Emergency Plan" is the city's bible in disasters. "Disaster preparedness guidelines are for the residents, but the emergency plan is for the staff," City Manager Ken Frank said. The plan spells out what is expected of each city department in the event of a man-made or natural disaster, right down to who will handle public information and the press. Police Capt. Danell Adams was the face and voice of emergency operations for displaced families and the media after the June 1 landslide.

Katie Eing, Newport Beach’s emergency services coordinator, stepped to the front and said, “In the event of the big earthquake, be prepared to take care of yourself for up to three days.” If I had any doubt that it would be worthwhile to spend four Saturdays in training, she and Matt Brisbois, Community Emergency Response Team coordinator and veteran lifeguard, dispelled them right up front with a clear overview of Newport Beach geography and disaster scenarios.

Marisa O'Neil Costa Mesa residents Diane and Paul Hill are prepared for the worst. They have CPR training, a grab bag of important documents ready to take in an emergency and two-way radios to communicate with if the phones go out. They even have a swimming pool that can provide a source of water to douse a fire in a pinch. And they want others to be ready for the unexpected, too. "People think they're prepared on their own," said 40-year resident Diane Hill, co-chair of the Costa Mesa Citizen Corps Volunteer Management Team.

Many human beings have a propensity to fall prey to certain fallacies of thinking. One is the misconception lurking in the back of everyone's mind when watching a horror such as last December's tsunami that it can't happen here. Another tendency is to lull ourselves into thinking that help is always at hand. The tragedies of this past month along the Gulf Coast are proof that such thinking belongs to fools living in some paradise. Add to these another common trait that is demonstrated every time there is a rainstorm and one discovers that, once again, new wiper blades were not bought for the car. This is clearly a blueprint for piling disaster on top of disaster.

Organizers of the famed Newport Beach-to-Ensenada sailing regatta were stunned by the mysterious loss of four crew members aboard a 37-foot boat that disappeared in mid-race, marking the first fatalities in the event's 65-year history. While the U.S. Coast Guard was still investigating the accident, regatta organizers said they believed the boat was hit and demolished by a much larger ship - perhaps a freighter or tanker - passing in the dark early Saturday. The boat disappeared from the online tracking system around 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

The mannequin in the pale gold and embroidered silk gown stands in a corner of the gallery. Her head-to-toe ensemble of the same color is highlighted by identical fruit patterns woven into her gown's delicate fabric. She also wears a cotton and taffeta French hat while toting a parasol. The display is supposed to evoke a female passenger in First Class on her way to tea aboard the R.M.S. Titanic. The gown, circa 1916, is an original outfit. The real-life woman who designed it was known as Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon.

The Newport Beach Fire Department will host a free disaster preparedness expo Saturday at the Newport Beach Central Library. Disaster supply kit vendors will be at the event, which is from 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Attendees can receive information about building a disaster supply kit and how to prepare families and neighbors in the case of a disaster, according to a Fire Department news release. The event is open to all Orange County residents. — Lauren Williams Twitter: @lawilliams30

Earthquakes and hurricanes in the East. Fires in Texas. No matter where you turn, Mother Nature is putting police and fire departments to the test. If a major disaster struck Southern California, would you know what to do? The Newport Beach Fire Department is offering disaster preparedness classes twice a week on weekdays or on a Saturday-only schedule. Starting at 7 p.m. Sept. 22, Newport will start its Tuesday-Thursday Community Emergency Response Team classes that teach students everything from search-and-rescue and disaster psychology to CPR and how to put out a fire.

When some think of natural disasters, a lack of food, clean water and safe shelter sometimes come to mind. But when Angela Edgerly thought of how she could help those affected by the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she thought of people's feet. The Hoag Hospital nurse connected with the Nashville, Tenn.-based Soles4Souls nonprofit to help protect the needy feet of those living in dangerous, unsanitary living conditions. Originally from England, the Hoag nurse of four years collected 2,214 pairs of shoes with the help of her colleagues over a four-week span in 2010 before travelling to Haiti with Soles4Souls in August.

NEWPORT BEACH — Venus de Milo reproductions have been rescued and repaired before, but in the case of one local garden, this plaster Aphrodite has never looked so "green. " The repurposed classical reproduction at Irene Dunlap's Newport Beach home now features lush succulents and trailing vines dripping from its midsection. Now a unique garden planter, it is just one of the many unusual home décor offerings to be auctioned for charity this weekend. Thursday evening through Sunday, Dunlap will open her home and garden to the public for the third annual A Harvest of Hope fundraiser.

He had been hiding for more than a month. He managed to escape into the desert when he first heard the news. The government death squads were after him. He was safe living in a desert cave, but now food and water were scarce. He could see himself dying soon, even if the assassins didn't find him. So, in desperation, he offered a "Hail Mary" prayer to God. The next night was strange. In the desert, there was a lighting fire storm with the loudest thunder he had ever heard.

Matt Brisbois has slept little since being awakened by a late-night phone call March 10, in which he received the news that Japan had suffered a major earthquake and that the ensuing tsunami could be headed our way. As the Newport Beach Fire Department's community-preparedness coordinator, he was part of a team charged with communicating with other agencies in coastal Orange County and carrying out plans to inform the public of the tsunami risk....

Whether it’s for a college applications or high school graduation requirements, nowadays kids everywhere are volunteering community service hours. On Monday, a group of boys were doing that very thing when they stopped by the Bayview Landing Senior Apartment Homes in Newport Beach to hand out disaster kits. Except they weren’t keeping a precise tally on hours for school credit; they were doing it just because. “It feels like more of an accomplishment than when you’re doing it for a job. When you’re working for the money,” said 15-year-old Nick McGuiness, a freshman at Corona del Mar High School.