Storing your backup safely

Fire, flooding, theft, hardware failure, viruses, there are many reasons why data can be lost. That’s why it’s important to back up your files. This does not only apply digital files, scanning or photographing important hard copy documents can be very useful if these documents are  somehow lost. But there are a few things to look out for.

Location

Do not store your backup in the same location as your main storage. Storing a backup in the same room can expose your backup to the same threats as your primary storage (Fire, flooding, theft, etc). Store your backup at a different location, such as your office, car, family, etc. This will generally increase the time between the backups, because they are harder to access.

Layers

Having just one backup can also cause problem. The backup drive can be compromised, especially when stored nearby your primairy storage.  I like a full back up on a hard drive, but having hard drives placed everywhere can be a bit expensive. So a backup of only the important documents is also made on a USB flash drive and stored at a separate location.

Physical protection

A backup can fail when exposed to heat, water, impact, etc. So to improve the chances of you data from these dangers, you can take several approaches to do this:
 - A sturdier hard drive; for example the ‘LaCie Rugged series ‘or ‘Freecom Though drive’ (impact resistant) or protected USB flash drive for example the ‘Corsair Flash survivor’ waterproof and impact resistant). If you have a little more to spend the IoSafe is a pretty nice solution.(Heat and waterproof.

- A proper waterproof and impact resistant hard case, with foam interior (waterproof and impact resistant)
- A data safe (waterproof, impact resistant and heat proof) Some expensive models even have a USB external port, so you won’t even need to take out the hard drive, for example the Sentry safe QE5541.

You can obviously also combine these options. Unfortunately, the better the protection, the pricier it gets.

Encryption

Having all your data stored in a single device can expose you to identity theft. So adding encryption to your data can be very useful. I would not only encrypt my backup, but also sensitive information on my computer. This also makes it easier to back up the file, by just copying over the encrypted files. Although I leave non/sensitive information open, so it won´t slow down my computer. (for example; I don’t mind if somebody knows my music playlist). There are corporate tools for this, but for most individuals I would suggest to use a program like TrueCrypt. I do recommend to look at the tutorials of TrueCrypt first, since it can be a little bit hard to understand if you just read the instructions. If you use encryption software, also add the CryptKey installers to the drive.  

Drive speed

Not essential, but having a high-speed connection on you backup drive can make backup your files a lot quicker. So if you are buying a new drive, I would suggest getting a drive with USB 3.0 (backwards compatible with 2.0) connection (or Thunderbolt, but isn't as common yet). If it’s fast, you will more likely to keep your backup up to date. 

Opinion: Spending money on a proper repairs/equipment

Money and willingness to spend money is always a hard topic. You can only spend your money once, so many people try to look for cheap alternatives. An example I want to discuss is car tire repairs.

If you drive, sooner or later you will get a tire puncture. Obviously you should have a solution for this problem; spare tire (and tools), sealant or plugs. These solution will get you to your destination or at least to a tire shop.

But what to do to fix a punctured tire? In the old days people would just plug it and continue driving on them. Plugs are dirt cheap and usually quite effective. However with modern tires you will have a special weave in the steel belts of the tire. The plug method might work well as a short term solution, but for longer term use it might weaken the steel belts depending how the tire was punctured and by corrosion effecting the steel belt. Since you are not removing the tire from the rim, you can't tell the actual damaged on the tire.

The proper method to fix a tire it to take the tire of the rim and inspect from the inside. Depending on the damaged it might be repaired or not. If it's deemed repairable, a patch will be placed from the inside. This doesn't even have to be expensive.

A puncture near the sidewall is deemed unsafe to repair. (The side wall flexes a lot and is thinner). However a lot of people will try to plug a puncture near the sidewall, after a tire shop have refused to fix there puncture. Often saying they had done it before without problems, they keep the wheel on the back and/or drive only short distances. Having been in a car which had a blow out on one of the rear tires, I experienced swerving cross 3 lanes followed by 2 and half 360 degree turns...  

My opinion on this:
First of all my opinion is, that if you can’t afford to maintain your vehicle properly, you shouldn't have bought it in the first place. A good thing about a cheaper car, is that maintaining them is generally cheaper too.

How much does having another flat will cost you? A tire with a plugged hole on/near the sidewall cannot be seen as a proper repair. If this repair starts to leak again you will need to change to a spare tire (maybe in a dangerous location) or get road side assistants. Both take time and roadside assistant can cost a lot. Reliability will save money in the long run.

If the tire fails and you get involved in an accident, it will probably damage your car, yourself and posibly others. If other cars get involved you will also be liable for their damages. There is a saying in the safety industry ‘If you think safety is expensive, try an accident’. Remember risk = Chance X damages. 

This not only applies to tire, but all other aspects in life. What repair or equipment do you buy? How reliable is it and what are the risks? Is it a proper decision or just your wallet talking?

Food bars

Ration bars are shelf stable and highly dense emergency foods. Primarily found on lifeboats, they can also be used in any other location which require a long shelf life (best before date are generally 5 - 10 years, depending on the manufacture), little care, space efficient, harsh environment resistant and ready to eat food.

There are many brands available, with different sizes (generally 2400 and 3600 calories, but 1200 is also available):

- Datrex
- SOS
- Seven oceans
- NRG-5
- BP-5

Some of these brands come in a small cardboard box, some don't. All bars I know are packed in thick vacuum sealed mylar bags with tear notches. Inside are usually little bars wrapped in plastic, although I remember having one which didn't had the plastic wrap. These little plastic wraps are very fiddly to open and the seam in the plastic is very hard to see. So realize they are very hard to open if your hands are cold or if you can't see very well.

The ration bars them self taste like crumple and greasy cookies. Fairly neutral tasting, easy to digest, no meats and no dairy. Making them eatable for most people. Some have certain tastes, but they are very faint and sometimes only noticeable as a smell when you tear open the Mylar package. They do feel dry and after eating more then 2 bars, you certainly want to flush it down with some water, despite the fact they are 'non-thirst provoking'. For me personally, the bars do not give a 'full' feeling, but I do normally eat more than 2400 calories a day. Certain brands add more vitamins and minerals than others. Datrex has very little vitamins and minerals added, while the BP-5 has a lot more. For children, most packages suggest making a porridge by crumbling and adding water to the bars.

These bars are not only to put in your own survival kits, but also useful for emergency aid. Providing small packages of easy to eat food to people in need. However buying food locally can be quicker, cheaper and the people are more used to eating local foods.

Emergency aid; Donations and logistics

After an disaster emergency aid will start to flow to the affected area. Some are from local organization, some larger (inter)national organizations and some from private persons. One important thing is not just to send 'stuff', make sure you send the right stuff. A lot of people will basically donate things they don't use anymore. Paying off the guilty of buying things they didn’t need. Make sure whatever you are donating is actually useful. I mean things like sending winter coats to a tropical place or high heels to any disaster area is absolutely useless and actually harmful (it clogs up the logistics).

If a lot of (appropriate) items are donated don't just send items and dump it at the local emergency center and expect it to be useful. Things are useless without the required logistics and resources to use it. With logistics and resources, I mean everything between needed to get things off trucks and all the way in to the hands of those whom need it in a useful form. Buying things locally and using existing logistical systems are the quickest and most cost effective methods. Buying things means full control over the type of product, limited sorting required and pretty much ready to use. So in most cases cash donations are the best. However a lot people won’t donate money, because of all kinds of reasons.

Another thing to know is, when something is needed. Sent the right things at the right time. Having the items at the wrong time, means you are clogging the limited logistic system with things that are not needed yet. Don't be surprised to see pallet loads of items being pushed away in to any available space, including grass patches or even ditches to make space for priority items. These pallets will sit exposed for days and depending on what the contents are turn useless.

Some things about the various types of donations:

Textiles (clothing's and blankets): After a disaster a lot of textiles gets donated. This process is not just sending the bags full of clothing to a disaster area. To make textile donations effective, the clothing need to be sorted between useful and useless, cleaned and sorted to type and size. Than they need to be shipped and distributed. All these steps take a lot of man power and time. This takes too much time (=money) and old donated textiles are often sold as rages and the money is used by NGO's for the recovery effort or other emergency's.

Food: You can't just send food. For example sending just trucks loads of potatoes is useless. You can't eat them raw, so you need lots of cookware, stoves and people to turn potatoes in to something you can eat. A healthy diet is needed to keep people's immune system up, so you can't just send just a few food items. Nor does everybody eat the same due to religion, moral issues or allergies. So the challenge is to send food and required tools to feed people. What this should be depends on the situation, on the available resource, logistics and manpower. Generally food is sourced locally, because of the availability and they are familiar for the locals. But MRE type of foods can be very useful if there are limited cooking methods available.

Water: Bottled water have its place, but water purification units can be better. Bottled water needs to shipped in and leave a lot of waste. However they do provide ready to use water in a easy to distribute package. A purification unit might be bigger than a shipment of bottled water, but will produce far more water. This means a lot less distribution is needed. Freeing people and resource for other important tasks. Again what is right depends on the situation.

Good read on this subject:
http://www.emergencymgmt.com/emergency-blogs/disaster-zone/the-ugly-truth-about-disaster-donations-011113.html

http://www.npr.org/2013/01/09/168946170/thanks-but-no-thanks-when-post-disaster-donations-overwhelm

Scene safety

Good video about traffic scene safety released by Minnesota's department of public safety.

More information at https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/sfm/training/Pages/scene-safe.aspx

Google crisis response

I like off the shelf software solutions for emergency's. Preferably with interfaces which look like software everybody is already using on a day to day basis. Making your own specialist software packages usually means very high costs, lots of time and usually a new interface to get used to. It also requires lots of bandwidth and server capacity to cope with huge increases of internet traffic, which is expensive to buy and maintain and usually overloaded when a real disaster strikes. Large company's who have lots of servers and bandwidth capacity at various locations can respond quickly to these demands.  That's why i'm very happy with solutions like Google Crisisresponce.

The Google tool in action for the Typhone Yolanda: http://www.google.org/crisisresponse/2013-yolanda/index.html (Person finder tool, donation options and maps)

Responding to disaster: non-proffesionals

A disaster response require a lot of people to perform all kinds of tasks. Professionals and a lot of (non professional) volunteers are eager to response to a disaster. However don't jump in a car and expect to be helpful.

Professionals know not to self deploy. The units nearest will usually respond first, but the rest will be send by the command posts. There are reasons for this:

- If everybody is deployed, you don't have a second or third shift.
- An mayor incident does not mean there are no 'regular' incidents left. You still need your emergency professionals for those incidents.
- Having enough people to do the work is good, but having too many will slows things down significantly. (same goes for the equipment)

For regular incidents the only thing you can do as a civilian is to provide information to rescuers, maybe secure the scene (you need the correct knowledge and equipment), provide first aid (if you are trained and know what you are doing) or a quick rescue (when doing nothing means certain death), but only when it's safe to do so. But when the professional rescue workers arrive, there is very few things you can do.

For civilians responding to disasters. There are a few things to consider:
- Your own safety first! Do not risk your life, we don't need more victims.
- Do not block the road/parking space! Firetrucks, cranes and other heavy equipment need lots of space to maneuver. Ambulances need to be able to stage and transport victims.
- Are you trained or do you have the equipment to do the things you want to do? if not; go away.
- If you are told to leave, leave! Some people are offended when they are told to leave. Professional responders are not there to please you, but to save lives. If you are in the way, go away.

So am i saying that civilians should not do anything during a disaster; no. Regular people are essential. Especially when the rescue services are overwhelmed, however know when you are useful and know when to go away.

Good article about why products fail

A good article about why products fail: http://www.wired.com/design/2012/10/ff-why-products-fail/all/

I personally prefer to use overbuild items for emergency use, but the fact in life is that you sometimes need a short life cycle item to get a job done. My experience is that many people have the wrong expectation of a certain piece of equipment. Expensive or higher quality does not mean more durable.

NGC blackout videos

NGC has aired video's about blackouts. One is the UK version and one of the USA version. Are they realistic? Well I know more about the grid than the average person, but the last time I talked to the emergency coordinator of a power grid company, I learned a lot about what I didn't know. So I won't even want to discuss that part, knowing that I barely know how the grid works. I do know that the grid in my country does have safety's build in to protect the grid. 

The UK version

The USA version

Will a black out cause the problem as seen in these video's. Well I believe that people are far more rational than most people think. Many people think that during an emergency people will panic and riot and stay in that state for a long time. Reality is that people are generally quite realistic and rational. Panic appear when a danger is immediate, but certainly not in a scale most people believe it will. The media is very focused on the few incidents were there are panic or riots, but generally it's not that bad.