We sit down with Professor Monica Sanders and discuss disaster resilience and what you can to to put yourself in a better position when you are faced with a natural disaster.

More about Monica: Founder of “The Undivide Project”, an organization dedicated to creating climate resilience in underserved communities via Internet infrastructure and service centered IoT solutions. 

She also holds a faculty role at the Georgetown University Law Center and is a Senior Fellow at the Tulane University Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy. Professor Sanders’ practical experience includes serving as a Senior Committee Counsel for both the House of Representatives and Senate Committees on Homeland Security. In those roles, she focused on oversight of disaster response and recovery programs, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure protection. She also served as the Senior Legal Advisor for International Response and Programs at the American Red Cross, and as an attorney for the Small Business Administration during the Hurricane Maria and 2017 western wildfire responses. She also studied security and defense–civilian coordination in the European Union Visitor’s Program and remains involved in crisis response operations as part of the Team Rubicon USA and UNDP rosters. She has been profiled in publications such as Forbes, Authority Magazine and Thrive Global.

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[00:00:12] Prof Monica Sanders: And you need a few basic things in there. You need food and water for three to seven days, non perishable food. If you take prescriptions, you want to get your prescription refilled.

[00:00:44] Prof Monica Sanders: Also take pictures of documents, because, you know, we're talking about a house, so if you have to deal with insurance or with FEMA after an event, you're going to want to have pictures of things like insurance policies, identification... When

[00:01:00] Eric Goranson: Then we've got you. Welcome to the Around the House show. This is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. We've got a special guest here in the studio, Professor Monica Sanders. We're going to talk about disaster and disaster resilience.

[00:01:23] Prof Monica Sanders: Thank you so much for having me. Eric, it's great to be here. Ah,

[00:01:44] Eric Goranson: But all of a sudden you catch yourself not prepared. It's a big deal when that

[00:02:05] Prof Monica Sanders: We're like kind of watching with fingers crossed, whatever's happening in the Atlantic and where there's going to be a hurricane and then over on the West coast. You know, some people are getting ready for wildfire season, whereas in Hawaii they're recovering. Yeah. So we're constantly dealing with disasters now, and so we have to understand how to constantly be prepared to navigate those situations.

[00:02:43] Prof Monica Sanders: Well, thank you for that.

[00:03:05] Prof Monica Sanders: And I was actually delayed going to school for a month because of hurricane Katrina and the curfews and the lockdowns. And that was my first time really understanding how disasters impact people's lives. And so I made a conscious decision that I really wanted to help communities do disaster recovery work, and more importantly, preparedness work.

[00:03:35] Eric Goranson: little bit about before we get into the, that stuff. I'd love to talk about the undivide project that you've got going. This is really cool. And I hadn't seen anything like this before.

[00:04:16] Prof Monica Sanders: And the other piece of it, as a researcher, you can't get in there and really measure what's going on to talk to people about risk. And so what we try to do with the undivided project is get them connected and get access to these resources and then work with them on climate resilience. So it could be anything from like, well, we're talking about, like, how to prep your home to community based solutions.

[00:05:03] Prof Monica Sanders: So we do kind of that kind of work with the undivided project. And it is very fulfilling. We can say cool, but it's actually quite fulfilling. Yeah,

[00:05:20] Eric Goranson: Yeah. Eastern side of the state and started looking at internet. I'm like, I was trying to do a couple of things. On a zoom and I'm like, I can't even support a zoom meeting out here. And, and that's not even the worst of it, right? Exactly.

[00:05:46] Prof Monica Sanders: And so in a lot of these places, yeah, you can't do a video call. It seems like the whole world is zooming, but actually some people can't even support a video call. So there's no teleworking, telehealth, all of these amenities that we think about in cities in some places. And so that's [00:06:00] really what we're trying to tackle.

[00:06:01] Eric Goranson: And that's a big project right there. So that's, that's, I like that. That's something that's just innovative and haven't seen anybody doing it. So congrats to you on working on that. That's a, that's a big pull right there. Well,

[00:06:13] Prof Monica Sanders: you. Say congrats to us, but also root for us because you're right.

[00:06:24] Eric Goranson: great. And then, of course, you're working on my friends over a team Rubicon as well. Kevin O'Connor from this old house and that group, uh, you know, they had that TV show this last season and those guys out there are just cranking along doing some great stuff.

[00:06:59] Prof Monica Sanders: Like I saw [00:07:00] something to actually, we're going to talk about remediation. What we call the Sawyer mission to like go and cut down some trees and brush that needs to be removed here in Virginia as a mitigation project. So that's the first thing I love about is that people work in their communities, but also it gives veterans an opportunity to get back after they've been away for whatever reason, to get back in their communities and reconnect with people.

[00:07:36] Eric Goranson: Yeah, that is great. And those guys, I just, I just love it because, you know, those veterans have put so much out there for all of us and then they get back and they get that satisfaction of being back in their community again.

[00:07:54] Prof Monica Sanders: Yeah, exactly. And then you learn the term GSD, which is get stuff done, which is our model in disaster response [00:08:00] is get out there and start doing something and do what you can for the community.

[00:08:23] Eric Goranson: And, uh, I see you've been spending a lot of your career trying to help people. Maybe make that a little more front of mind.

[00:08:54] Prof Monica Sanders: And so we need to get prepared and stay. Prepare. Yeah. Right. It is. [00:09:00] Like you say, you don't have to get ready if you stay ready.

[00:09:16] Eric Goranson: This interview doesn't take up the entire show. We're going to be talking about my tips for emergency preparedness. To make sure you got the right stuff for your home. And we'll do that just as soon as around the house returns. If you want more information about us, head over to around the house, online.

[00:09:58] Eric Goranson: What's up, this is Dick and [00:10:00] Satchel from steel Panther. And you are listening to around the house with Eric G. We love Eric G and you should too.

[00:10:37] Eric Goranson: We've been talking with Monica Sanders, professor Monica Sanders about disaster resiliency and things that we can be doing. To be a little bit more prepared. Now, let's get back to that conversation and we'll talk more about getting ready for that disaster. Exactly.

[00:10:56] Prof Monica Sanders: You can use it whether you're going to evacuate shelter in place and you need a [00:11:00] few basic things in there. You need food and water for 3 to 7 days, nonperishable food. If you take prescriptions, you want to get your prescription refill. So whenever you hit wildfire season, or if you get a place where you get a hurricane warning, when you get the warning, you want to go ahead and get that refill done so that you're not missing your medication.

[00:11:35] Prof Monica Sanders: So if you have to deal with insurance or with FEMA after an event, you're going to want to have pictures of things like insurance policies, identification, birth certificates, store them on the cloud on your phone, but also put hard copies in your emergency kit. And so have all those things ready. Like you said, it's not expensive.

[00:12:05] Eric Goranson: So. I mean, that's just what it is, but that's so smart and, and the food doesn't have to be complex.

[00:12:26] Prof Monica Sanders: Exactly. You can get things like that in a sporting goods store.

[00:12:48] Prof Monica Sanders: You can do things like it's not complicated food. You don't need these extravagant celebrity endorsed emergency kits. Like you can put something together on your own. Oh

[00:13:04] Prof Monica Sanders: around.

[00:13:22] Prof Monica Sanders: And that looks like fun, but that's not what you want to be doing in the middle of a wildfire hurricane or something like that, keep it simple and accessible. So, you talked about having to evacuate. You want something you can grab and run away in 10 minutes.

[00:13:39] Eric Goranson: I mean, that's not what you're trying to do when you're out in the middle of the, uh, wherever you're parked trying to get the meal in you.

[00:14:07] Prof Monica Sanders: And, or get a map and make sure that you have a map. So that way, particularly out where you live, you know, wildfires are fast moving. So if you have to redirect having a map close at hand will help you from getting lost in a potentially dangerous situation. So make sure you have a good evacuation route.

[00:14:39] Prof Monica Sanders: Yeah, exactly. There will be no blue dot telling you whether you've turned in the right direction. So, if you're going to use a map. Put a sticker where your starting point is, so you'll have some sort of guiding place from where you started to where you're going. But yeah, that's a good point. Like some of us grew up in a semi analog world, but other people have [00:15:00] already been in the digital space, and so that might be a little foreign to them.

[00:15:06] Eric Goranson: You know, and those are great tips. Another thing I think that's important too, and I would love to talk about it, is just making sure that you've got all the things for personal hygiene. I mean, it's one thing to... It's to stay alive and to stay fed, but you also want to make sure that you're taking care of stuff around you as well.

[00:15:23] Prof Monica Sanders: Yeah. And there's a couple of things, you know, On the West Coast, you want to make sure that those KN 95s that we still have from COVID and some people may still be making health choices about masks, that those are what you want to use to protect yourself during wildfire season.

[00:16:03] Prof Monica Sanders: Right. And it's easy to care, easy to transport and it works on hard surfaces as well as some fabrics. And so that's one way to stay healthy as well. Yeah, that's

[00:16:20] Prof Monica Sanders: All right, so let's do wildfires first. You want to create that defensible zone few meters around your house. Get the potential tender away from your house, remove dry brush and debris, trim dead hedges back, reconsider the standard American grass lawn because that'll go brown and become fuel for fire. Um, and there's wonderful, wonderful shows that can talk about, you know, different approaches to your lawn.

[00:17:09] Prof Monica Sanders: Some of us like to keep our projects outside, so make sure. Fuel containers in particular, which can be fuel for a wildfire, but also if you've got a downed power line or something like that, you don't want to invite house fire. Make sure you bring those things inside. If you have storm shutters, make sure that they are installed correctly and you have them closed.

[00:17:53] Prof Monica Sanders: Or it could become fuel for a wildfire and make sure you secure it and bring

[00:18:27] Eric Goranson: You know, we all see that on the, uh, on the news where you're like, wow, all these homes just literally we're blown away, but there's that one that somebody built that stand in there. Right. And it's like, wow, they did something right. Don't go anywhere around the house. We'll be right back.[00:19:00]

[00:19:29] Eric Goranson: And, uh, it's been a great joy to talk to her today. We'll get back to that interview. And afterwards here, when we wrap up later on in this segment, we're going to dive into some of my top picks for the right products for disaster preparedness and some of the things that you should have to be ready. Now let's get back to that interview and wrap it up.

[00:20:05] Prof Monica Sanders: So that water comes under it, as opposed to through it to, like, when we were talking about looking at the wildfires in Hawaii or in California. Moving away from the shingle roof to a tin roof so that if there are embers blowing in the wind, it doesn't hit the roof and catch the house on fire. Well, similarly, when you're out in the hurricane area, those shingles fly off.

[00:20:47] Prof Monica Sanders: And you're right. You see it. We were fixated on the house of Hawaii, but you've also seen like over in North Carolina, that one house on the beach. That survived the hurricane and a lot of that is because of these different [00:21:00] construction techniques. It's a lot of good stuff happening to

[00:21:05] Eric Goranson: I mean, you know, things are expensive out there. And anytime that people start looking at doing more expensive things to house, because we've got this battle of what's affordable housing, but then we're going to do all these things that that we need to do to the house that might cost a little more. So there's always a balance out there that people are trying to navigate.

[00:21:25] Prof Monica Sanders: there are. And, you know, a lot of these things will get cheaper as more people use them. Right. So those who can, if you do, then price of it will, as it becomes more accessible price, it will come down. But also, you know, I've looked around and we've got a couple of things going on and people are listening.

[00:22:03] Prof Monica Sanders: And so, you know, go on the website of your municipality and see if that's available to you. And then also there's a lot of mitigation funding coming now from the federal government. So hopefully what that will mean is some of these things are more accessible for more people to be able to do this kind of construction work that you're talking about.

[00:22:31] Prof Monica Sanders: because we talk about, you know, when you're in what we call lower income or underserved or whatever you want to call the areas is that some aspects of day to day life create inside the household emergencies.

[00:23:13] Eric Goranson: Yeah. That could be even the tougher battle right there. That's a tough one when you don't own the place and you're just trying to navigate it and, and do something that, uh, you know, you might have another party that's involved that doesn't wanna be involved.

[00:23:33] Prof Monica Sanders: So a lot of people who are doing real estate investing that might not even be present. And so there is a lot of work that can be done and a lot of people, and I know some organizations that help people like to be able to navigate this with their landlords. I'm into be sure that those conversations happen.

[00:23:57] Prof Monica Sanders: So we talked about [00:24:00] Cleanup so you want to go to clorox. com for some of these health and safety cleanup and other disaster preparedness tips I always tell people look at ready.

[00:24:31] Prof Monica Sanders: So Clorox. com, ready. gov, and your state and local emergency. Response agency,

[00:24:44] Prof Monica Sanders: Thank you so much, Eric, and good luck with everything that you're doing and say hi to the team Rubicon people next time they're on.

[00:24:51] Eric Goranson: Thanks again.

[00:24:53] Eric Goranson: care. All right, guys. Now that we've talked to the expert, let's talk about my favorite products out there [00:25:00] that, um, well, I think you should have as part of your. Um, you know, your, your routine of being ready for a natural disaster, no matter where you're located. The first thing is, is I want to make sure that you've got drinkable water.

[00:25:31] Eric Goranson: Well, you can go through and do that and it'll work great for having a drinkable water source. So that's a good way to go. Now I went with a bigger system because I have lakes and rivers and stuff around me. So I know that, uh, I've got multiple drinking sources. So when I run out of water, if I was to ever have a natural disaster, when I run out of it here, I have options.

[00:26:14] Eric Goranson: And, uh, that holds 2. 9 gallons. And it's really good for be able to bring like a, a bucket of water back and to be able to really filter it out. I mean, this stuff, as far as what it removes is absolutely insane. And so, uh, it's a physical purification process. So, uh, there's no chemicals involved in this. Uh, all the containers are food grade three or four stainless.

[00:26:59] Eric Goranson: [00:27:00] 99 percent of, uh, E. coli, uh, 99. 6 percent chlorine, 93. 4 percent mercury, 99. 8 percent lead. And so if you've got the two filter configuration, it actually will do 6, 000 gallons of water, which is plenty. So the filter capacity is about 3000 gallons, but it also depends on how dirty that water is and which is cool.

[00:27:45] Eric Goranson: So, if you've got a 40, 50, 60, 75, 80 gallon tank, that can also be water storage for you. So, uh, make sure, you know, if you do have a natural disaster to close off that water system, so it's clean in case that they have any, uh, you know, [00:28:00] contaminated water. You see that a lot with floods, And, uh, things like that where, um, things backflow and that's not what you want, but that's what's important there.

[00:28:31] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to[00:29:00]

[00:29:14] Eric Goranson: through information and education Appreciate you guys joining us today in our last You know, segment of the two hours of show here. So I really wanted to talk about disaster preparedness. And we were talking with professor Monica Sanders earlier, but one of the most important things is your survivability afterwards.

[00:29:47] Eric Goranson: Now I'm going to say we need to get you food, right? We want to make sure that you're fed. We're going to the basics here. So my next one is go to mountainhouse. com. Take a look. You can get these at many other places. Freeze [00:30:00] dried food. Now here's the cool thing. I love these things and. They're darn good meals.

[00:30:31] Eric Goranson: And I tell you what, wow. Talk about. Amazing stuff. So they did the veggie chorizo breakfast scramble, and then we had the classic skillet. I tell you what, this stuff, you can watch them literally cooking meals. Like it was ready to go. And then they flash freeze it and dehydrate it. And this stuff is good for 30 years.

[00:31:22] Eric Goranson: And so what they do is it just sucks the moisture right out of the food. So you're not cooking it again. So what happens is, is you don't have to sit there and really worry about it. It's going to be something that's going to be delicious. And, um, I'm impressed. This stuff is solid. And I know a lot of you that are campers or anything else, these are good, solid meals that if you are lazy at home, you might be tempted to crack one open and eat it because they're really that good.

[00:32:08] Eric Goranson: This is all freeze dried. So you're just going to add your boiling water and go scrambled eggs and bacon. Um, so they've got all these different pouches, which is great. And it's just absolutely cool how this works. And so when you get into the emergency food and survival part of it, they have their boxes, so they have these boxes, which is their 14 day emergency food supply.

[00:32:58] Eric Goranson: So the classic [00:33:00] bucket is just a great basic food supply. So you've got freeze dried entrees and breakfast. Uh, so it's got all the good stuff in it, and so you can take a look at that. It's about 128 bucks, but it's got all the right stuff in it. I mean, it's got, uh, the granola, it's got the, uh, spaghetti and meat sauce, chicken fried rice.

[00:33:41] Eric Goranson: So next thing I want to talk about is what happens if you have to survive? Do you have a tent? Do you have, you know, do you have shelter? So maybe having in your bag of tricks, some tarps and some tents, right? Get a couple big blue tarp setups and the heavier duty, the better. [00:34:00] Uh, with that and some rope and some stakes, you can, you can button up a house that's been damaged.

[00:34:34] Eric Goranson: Of course generator is great But if it's a big natural disaster gas is important and that's one of the things that You know propane can be easy because it's easier to store gas doesn't go back gas goes bad propane really doesn't So you can go through that. Um, those are good things to have. And then make sure guys that you've got enough dog food, medical supplies, all of [00:35:00] that stuff.

[00:35:29] Eric Goranson: You'll probably be okay But if this is heart medication if this is asthma stuff This is life or death stuff that you have to sustain life. Make sure you have that Okay, and then making sure you've got you've got set up, you know, make sure that you've got Things to sustain life. Make sure that you've got all that stuff.

[00:36:14] Eric Goranson: So if you have all your cars on E cause paychecks on Friday, trust me, I've done this as well. So I'm just as guilty. You want to make sure that you've got that stuff dialed in and that way you're good to go. And I also recommend having emergency kits in your vehicles. Have a little go bag. If something happens where a bridge collapses or a natural disaster occurs where you're out there running around, maybe it's a tornado and you can't get back home.

[00:36:54] Eric Goranson: So think about that stuff, you know, in the winter time, do you have the right coats and blankets having some [00:37:00] extra stuff is a key piece right there as well as fire extinguishers and that rest of that stuff that's important. And so there's a lot of things that you should have, including if you get evacuated, we talked about this a little bit earlier, but making sure that you've got a go bag.

[00:37:37] Eric Goranson: So, you know exactly what you got and only takes a minute of it and then for insurance reasons Here's what I would do every few months if you're doing work on your house Like I am I walk around and videotape everything so i've got a copy of what's going on in my house So I know for my insurance company, I can do a slow walk and go, Oh, cause when you've lost things, guys, when you've had a house, you forget [00:38:00] about the things that you've lost.

[00:38:28] Eric Goranson: And of course, making sure you have some cash on hand. Great recommendation is always running around with a hundred bucks in your pocket, because don't forget when the internet goes down, so does the credit card reading machines. And not too many people have the old, uh, You know, swipe type things where you can sit there and imprint them like you could in the seventies and eighties.