Mike Salsbury/The Olympian
Jennifer Dalebout (left) helps state employees Cathy Townley (center) and Linda Walling find supplies for their agency-assigned survival and first aid kits during a visit to Safety Consultants.

Not if, but when:
Many take steps to be prepared

Awareness leads to more insurance

SCOTT WYLAND, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Thursday, February 28, 2002

THURSTON COUNTY -- As Michael Carey sees it, the Nisqually Earthquake stripped away many people's sense of invincibility.

Carey, a sales manager for Safety Consultants, has watched demand for earthquake kits, flashlights, prepackaged water and nutritional bars jump in the last year.

"People have much more awareness of what they have to do to prepare for an emergency," Carey said.

The 10-year-old company sells safety equipment, teaches CPR and offers services such as testing fire extinguishers.

Since moving its Olympia store from the west side to East Fourth Avenue in December, it has sold 500 earthquake kits -- about the same quantity sold in the five years prior to 2001, Carey said.

Still, while inspiring more precaution, the earthquake hasn't stirred a tidal wave of fear.

Military Surplus had a sharp rise in sales on gas masks and MREs -- ready-to-eat military food -- during the Sept. 11 attacks and the anthrax scare, but had no increase in business because of the earthquake, said May Mendiola, who co-owns the store.

Batteries Plus has had no sales that can be attributed to people preparing for the next quake or the next terrorist attack for that matter, said Travis Redell, Olympia store manager.

"I haven't seen an increase since those two events," Redell said.

Safety Consultants stocks two types of earthquake kits, one for $48.75 and one for $18.

The more expensive kit contains energy bars and water kept in foil packets -- enough to sustain three people for three days, Carey said. It also has a flashlight, radio, first-aid kit, whistle, water-purifying tablets and a blanket.

The cheaper kit has a blanket, light-sticks and enough food and water for one person to live on for three days, Carey said, adding that most people are rescued within 72 hours.

Two local insurance agents say they saw just a slight surge in requests for disaster policies after the earthquake, mainly because their clients already have such coverage.

"They all know they're in an earthquake zone," said Harry Jorgenson, partner with Sound Insurance Brokers.

Earthquakes that get played up in the national news tend to spur more interest in disaster insurance, Jorgenson said.

Pete Mattich, a State Farm Insurance agent in Olympia, said most of the calls he received after the quake were from home owners wanting to make sure they were covered.

Ten to 20 calls were from clients who lacked earthquake coverage, Mattich said.

The trend toward buying earthquake insurance began after the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, he said. Before that, four of his policyholders had quake coverage.

Now 600 to 700 of his customers -- more than half his clientele -- are insured against earthquakes, Mattich said. "And that's pretty substantial."

When he signs up new customers, he notices that most people inquire about earthquake policies, as opposed to earlier years when the agent had to broach the subject, Mattich said.

"There's a heightened awareness that, yes, we can have a large earthquake," Mattich said.

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