Emergency Preparedness

On a cool winter night in 1956, a passenger train on its way to San Diego lurched off a curve near the Los Angeles River, killing 30 people and injuring 130. It was Los Angeles' deadliest rail disaster. The Santa Fe Railway train was traveling too fast that night, Jan. 22, an investigation later determined. The train's engineer admitted to speeding. The scene at the crash site -- southeast of downtown at the Redondo junction near Washington Boulevard and Soto Street -- was chaotic.

Local emergency responders are offering disaster preparation training priced just right for small-business owners: It costs little or nothing. They hope the lifesaving skills they teach will help more people cope with a major disaster when help from police, fire or medical personnel may be unavailable for hours or days. "If you can be prepared, then when disaster hits you are not going to be a victim, you are going to be part of the solution," said Capt.

Although flames had chewed through the power lines that serve the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, staff members thought that they would be fine. The hospital prided itself on its "state-of-the-art" backup systems. But wind-whipped flames and choking smoke brought Olive View to a dark standstill early Saturday as the hospital lost power and its emergency generators failed. "It was total darkness," said hospital spokeswoman Carla Nino. "We had our flashlights. We went into our disaster mode."

As Southern California braced for heavy rainstorms that could bring flooding, Yorba Linda officials said Monday that they plan to use a reverse 911 system to warn residents about potential mudslides this week, even though the network didn't work properly during the recent wildfire. The system called some residents long after the Nov. 15 blaze had swept through their neighborhoods.

The largest earthquake drill in U.S. history, held last month in Southern California, found some serious gaps in local earthquake planning, prompting utility companies, emergency managers and others to rethink their planning for a major temblor. The Great Southern California Shakeout was the first time so many agencies and earthquake officials teamed up to examine what would happen if a huge quake struck the region, in this case a 7.8 magnitude temblor.

Amid reports that poor communication and missed tips might have hampered the search for James Kim and his family in the southern Oregon wilderness, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski has ordered three state agencies to review the search process, and said he would appoint a task force to improve search-and-rescue efforts. A state sheriffs' organization also is conducting a review, as are federal agencies in charge of the land where Kim and his family were lost.

Frustrated with people and politicians who refuse to listen or learn, National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield ends his 34-year government career today in search of a new platform for getting out his unwelcome message: Hurricane Katrina was nothing compared with the big one yet to come. Mayfield, 58, leaves his high-profile job with the National Weather Service more convinced than ever that U.S.

Wanted: a charity with lots of freezer space. Or a town in need of flooding. Neither scenario is likely for Florida's State Emergency Response Team, which confronts a peculiar dilemma imposed by last year's dearth of hurricanes: The agency has almost 9 million pounds of ice cubes worth $1.8 million -- bagged, bundled and costing the state $90,000 a month in storage fees.

Even if you don't live paycheck to paycheck, the Federal Emergency Management Agency says you may be one disaster away from financial ruin. There is no such thing as earthquake season in Southern California, but mid-January is a time that may still rattle those who experienced the 1994 Northridge temblor. The rocking and rolling started before dawn on Jan. 17. That early-morning shocker struck as all quakes do -- without warning. Preparation time? Zero.

When the great Ft. Tejon earthquake ripped the San Andreas fault 150 years ago this week, the shaking was so powerful it shook the Kern River from its banks and for a moment made it run upstream, according to accounts from the day. If such a quake occurred today -- and scientists say we are overdue for one in Southern California -- it would cause $150 billion or more in damage, disrupt water and power supplies for Los Angeles and pancake buildings from San Bernardino to the L.A. Basin.