LYNNWOOD
In late 1989, a major snowstorm snarled traffic around the Puget Sound area.
Ed and Judy Rekola lived in Edmonds and they remember losing power and freezing for days.
“I thought we’d have to evacuate the house it was getting too cold,” says Ed Rekola. That experience chastened Rekola, who says he remembers thinking, “I’m never going to be cold again.”
He bought a wood stove and decided then and there to be prepared for emergencies before they happen.
The Rekolas have gone beyond putting together a first aid kit. The family’s two-bedroom rambler has been transformed into an earthquake-safe neighborhood survival center, complete with reinforced foundation, generators and power packs, a specially built garage, green house and loads of stored propane gas.
“He’s the Omega Man,” quipped Judy Rekola, referring to the 1971 sci-fi flick starring Charlton Heston as one of the few non-mutant survivors of a civilization-ending biological war.
Their message is simple. When the big one hits, whether it’s an earthquake, storm, terrorist attack or other emergency, the government is going to have its hands full. It’s really up to individuals to be prepared where they live.
“I wish people would be more serious about this,” says Ed. The two toured the Gulf Coast in 2006 and thought the devastation from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita reminded them what a major earthquake would do in the Northwest.
Preparation doesn’t have to take a lot of time and it’s not very expensive, he says, noting he’s spent less than $2,000 over 15 years on emergency preparation, not including the $10,000 “man space” garage he had built in his back yard or the green house where the couple grow vegetables.
He hauled out three power packs about the size of toaster ovens and plunked them down on the family room bar.
The rechargeable power packs can be used to charge light bulbs for illumination in the event of a power outage. They can be charged with cigarette lighters, gas-powered generators or, if you still have electricity, wall outlets.
They sell for about $100 each. Long lasting fluorescent light bulbs last 30 hours after charging, Ed says.
He bought a “little cheap nightstand lamp” at Value Village.
“You keep it in your garage and plug it into your power pack,” he says.
Ed spent 27 years in the propane gas business and his affinity for the gas is apparent.
He’s placed propane heaters strategically throughout the family’s property and stores extra gas on site.
“I carry about 40 to 50 gallons of reserved propane at all times,” he says. The stuff is good for heating, cooking and refrigeration.
He bought little rechargeable flashlights that look like nightlights (“Less than 15 bucks,” he says) and has a couple of battery powered 8-inch TVs on hand.
“You always want to be comfortable; you always have your lights if you need them,” he says.
The family has become well known in the neighborhood and friends joke they’ll run over to the Rekolas when disaster strikes.
“My daughter lives two miles from here,” Judy says. “She says her emergency plan is to go to mom and dad’s.”
Ed joked that people probably think of him as a “kook.” He doesn’t mind, he says, as long as they learn a few things from him.
The two say they vividly remember the early morning late April 1965 Seattle earthquake, which registered 6.1 on the Richter scale and caused wide-spread damage. Northwesterners live in an earthquake-prone area, so it’s wise to be prepared, they say.
Ed had the one-car, 16 by 24-foot garage built by a Lynnwood company because the family needed more space. But it serves double-duty as his workshop hideaway and potential safety zone. Built with a concrete floor, the building is equipped with solar panels routed through a regulator into a battery pack, where he’s storing energy, just in case. Another propane heater, with oxygen depletion sensors for safety, keeps the garage warm.
A gas powered generator rests on a dolly.
“You want the most fuel efficient one you can get,” he says of the generator, adding that 1,700 to 1,800 watts of power is plenty.
“I always keep 10 to 15 gallons of gasoline in a safe place.”
His main back-up plan is the family RV, which is parked next to their house.
The vehicle has two queen-size beds, propane and portable stoves.
“The RVers and the boaters, those are the guys who know how to be self-sufficient,” he says.
Not long ago, the the Rekolas hosted family from Wisconsin at their house.
“We were talking about how prepared we were and the power went out,” Judy says.
Ed used back-up power supplies to heat a latte and they wowed the guests with their preparedness acumen.
“When they left,” Judy says, “they said that wasn’t dinner, that was an adventure.”
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