Diablo Evacuation, What can I do?

If this is an emergency at this very moment, you have only two options:

Before an emergency, decide on how and where you will meet up with children, family members, partners or friends. During an emergency, the telephone lines may not be accessible. Try to remain calm to be a more responsible participant.

[1] Grab anything important and head out of town*
*See Evacuation Zone Maps and Routes below. You will very likely be stuck in a massive traffic jam on US 101 and frontage or access roads. Read up on this further below or print this out and read while you're stopped in the expected traffic jams. There is only one freeway route to the North or South.
If you are South of Diablo Canyon, go South as far as Solvang, Santa Ynez or Buellton (about 50 miles as the radiation drift goes).
If you are North of Diablo Canyon, head towards King City, Soledad, Greenfield or beyond.

Remember, you will be competing with roughly 100,000 others for an unreserved hotel room. Good luck with that. See What to Stockpile for Evacuation Attempt below.

[2] Shelter yourself in place**
**See Suggested Shelter-In-Place Procedures outlined below.
As the inevitable immense evacuation traffic jams are unavoidable, this may be the best temporary solution unless the radiation leak or uncontrolled meltdown persists or becomes worse. Sheltering in place requires shutting out every source of air that can get into your house. You will need to seal every window edge and opening, every door around the perimeter, any skylight(s), any vents that may be exposed to outside air intrusion, as well.
Water may become contaminated as well. See What to Stockpile for Shelter-in-Place below.

* Evacuation Zone Maps and Routes
Evacuation options on routes: North 101, North Highway 1, South 101, South Hwy 1.
The routes mentioned can come to a full stop with typical rush hour traffic patterns, and will be almost useless with the majority of the population attempting to use these traditional routes.
Highway 1 is one lane each direction for the most part, and re-joins 101 in several areas.
Frontage roads are not available for several areas adjacent to 101 for geographical reasons.

Coming up:**

** Suggested Shelter-In-Place Procedures and Supplies.

** What to Stockpile for Shelter-in-Place

** What to keep for evacuation attempts

** How to contact family and friends

** What to do if you become separated from your children

** How long do you have to wait before it's safe.

**Help me to gather links and to create a useful resource for information for an emergency, write to me at cubans@gmail.com, thank you.

Links
Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility http://a4nr.org
Evacuation zone- 50 mile radius map
"Levels of Emergencies" by SLO Planning Commission
Planning Checklist (leaves all planning up to you, but still marginally helpful)
"Protective Action Zone" from Diablo Canyon,
         presumes no possibility of danger beyond 10 miles. Woefully out of date. Fukushima's minimum safety zone for exposure of any length of time is 50 miles, and the greater area is to the West of Fukushima, which in Japan happens to be over the ocean. With prevailing Westerly winds here, the area may be greater.
This Map from SLO County planning shows evacuation routes on U.S. 101 for up to 20 miles. Not actually useful for a moderate to large scale problem requiring evacuation.

Nuclear evacuation zone for central California?

So what is with the Diablo (PG&E) evacuation plan? A simple fender bender on 101 will bring 101 to a standstill (try the daily commute from San Luis Obispo and you will know what I mean).

PG&E MUST be mandated to construct specific buildings for mass evacuation way-stations; these would be places you can go to for temporary shelter during the initial problem(s)/incident(s); a time when the roads are going to be least passable.

PG&E currently designates school gyms and other buildings which are in NO WAY resistant to gamma radiation or to most fallout or plumes from a nuclear emergency, as emergency evacuation zones. The most ridiculous is the Santa Maria Calif high school evac. zone, which is well within 20 miles of the plant. Perhaps because it is on the other side of the county line, somehow the nuclear problems stop there.

We need public outcry, not only Mothers for Peace, in order to garner more media attention to this immediate and pressing problem.
Write your politician.
Lois Capps
Sam Blakslee
Other state representatives and the Governor

Make some noise.
After all, it's your life, your family's lives, and everybody you work with, play with and count upon. Every day.
Write now, call now and make an effort, even if only one email, to say that:

"I'm seriously concerned that there are no realistic provisions for a nuclear emergency in our area. Make PG&E construct buildings that are effective, temporary evacuation and effort-coordination designations A school gym or a library is not adequate or designed to protect me or my family and friends from gamma radiation, and the highways here are wholly inadequate for evacuation purposes. We need to act now; the time for planning is over."

Writing a personal note is priceless; let your politicians know that this is important to you, to me and to everyone within at least a 50 mile radius of Diablo Canyon.

Look at the map again, and consider the last time you were on the freeway in rush hour traffic.
Now, write a letter.

Joe