How to survive earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes

The Outdoor Survival Manual
By Garth Hattingh
New Holland Publishers

IN view of the current climatic conditions that prevail from South Asia to South America, it would be wise to know a little more about getting on top of the situation that may cost you your life. Here's something that should perk up your life a little. Actually, it's for your own good.

IMAGINE you are stuck in uncharted territory in the path of a raging flash flood, and your family members are with you. If you are unfortunate enough to be in such frightening circumstances, and wish your knowledge of survival is better than average, then this book is for you.
In our normal lifetime, most of us won’t find ourselves anywhere near earthquake zones, hurricanes, tidal waves, wild fires or lightning-prone areas. However, if you are an outdoor type of person, it would be wise to know a little bit about surviving the hazards that sometimes come unexpectedly and swiftly develop into life-threatening scenarios.
This manual, published in 2001, is filled with valuable tips on how to escape unscathed from extreme survival situations and provides sound advice on the art of survival.
It clues you in on priorities with regards to clothing under different climatic conditions; sourcing for man-made and natural materials for shelter; preparing edible food from plants and animals.
If you want to know more about map reading, navigation and river crossing, you can also find such information in abundance in the well illustrated chapters under these topics.
Before you jump the gun and say, there’s available your ever reliable cellular phone, be mindful of that you could be among victims of a plane crash on top of some snow-covered mountain where the communication signal might be non-existent or just plain weak. Very few people have satellite phones stashed away in their briefcases.
In case, none of the above is available for your convenience, then learning some vital survival principles may just be key to your enjoying later years with your grandchildren and telling them of how grandpa or grandma beat the overwhelming odds.
This coffee table book is visually wonderful. The layout is par excellence. The pictures, and there are many, are well captioned. You won’t have any trouble identifying which survival kit you should take with you and what are the items that should be included.
For those gung-ho personalities who think a weekend in some mountain area, cave, jungle or desert is a fun thing to do, author Garth Hattingh has some important suggestions.
Hattingh has more than 30 years of experience in outdoor activities. He has been involved in mountain rescue, rock climbing, group leadership and, training. He is also a qualified scuba diver with wide knowledge of the African continent and the mountain peaks of Europe.
So he knows what he is talking about. This man is telling most of us, city slickers, that if we want to live long and prosper, there are some rules we have to follow.
Sometimes, you hear those words, “you’ll never know…”. Well, if you think sometime in the near future, you may be in the path of an unforgiving landslide on the way home to your hometown, perhaps you should take a closer look at some chapters in this manual.
Granted that you may be the indoor type and your chances of facing danger in the face are as good as you having a billionaire for a husband or marrying Miss Universe next week.
However, minor mishaps do happen, like twisting your ankle while walking down the staircase or falling into uncovered manhole in the middle of a night. How do you avoid such incidents? Well, it’s your lucky day, this book tells you how NOT to get into such a situation.
If you are a city resident and happen to get stuck in a flood that suddenly appears after a 20-minute downpour, you would give almost anything to get your car out of that place undamaged and avoid hurting your thin wallet unnecessarily.
There are tips for avoiding such a situation. First, look for dark clouds that signal incoming rain and head for higher ground, so to speak.
Read this book for fun. Don’t think nothing bad will ever happen to you. It’s when you are operating in the safe mode that life sometimes begins to play games with you.
If you know just enough to get out of a nasty situation relatively unhurt, you can be of some service to those near and dear to you. Like I say, you will never know. Be knowledgeable and be prepared. It’s more fun that way.