In 1996 I spent a considerable amount of time creating an Earthquake Policy for Shelter Creek. I was the head of the Disaster Preparedness Committee at the time and the committee met multiple times to develop a clear policy to deal with any kind of disaster. We quickly decided that the most likely one to worry about was an earthquake. Most other disasters could be handled by the City of San Bruno, but an earthquake would tax the capabilities of local response agencies. In effect, we would be on our own.
A major earthquake in the Bay Area will have a profound effect on Shelter Creek and the relationship between its members and the Association Leadership. The main reason is that the density of people at Shelter Creek is extremely high in comparison to San Bruno as a whole. We all get together well today because of the amenities and an excellent staff of paid workers to keep order and maintain a high degree of maintenance, sanitation and security. Without this support, Shelter Creek can take on the look and feel of a concentration camp and strain the relationship between its Members and its Board.
The major assumptions was that we would have to live here for up to several weeks without water, power or sewer. We would have to prepare ahead of time for this eventuality.
We made many recommendations, most of which have no or minimum cost. Simple things like:
1) Being able to fight a fire using the water from the pools.
2) Having portable toilets and chemicals stockpiled ahead of time.
3) Having regulations prepared ahead of time to deal with open barbeque fires, disposal of trash sanitation etc.
To date, not a single recommendation of the Earthquake Preparedness Committee has been carried out by the Board.
The report has been scanned and is linked below.