Chile Forum

Well, the former administration had a hide their head in the sand about a lot of things.

I was thinking...
If Chileans used water heaters instead of califonts for hot water, every household would have had 40-50 gallons of clean water after the earthquake. You just close the intake valve, open the drain and open any faucet in the house to release the vacuum and you have water for a couple days.
I realize gas or propane is very expensive in Chile, but they do make holding tanks that resemble water heaters without the heating apparatus. Perhaps, they can be incorporated into new or reconstruction.
Here in the U.S.A. tankless water heaters are all the rage. Even in earthquake, hurricane, and tornado prone areas. Hmm...

I don't think they would have solved all that many problems, at least not relative to the cost of waisted energy. The common inline water heaters in Chile are really efficient, and seems to serve most of the country well.

There is some sort of government subsidy to install a solar hot water heater now in Chile to preheat water, and they do hold quite a bit of water.

Back to safety AFTER a quake or natural disaster. I am certain the best locomotor on the planet is man. Man has walked the entire surface of the planet without the use of motors or animals, and to areas where motors and animals could not pass. In my opinion the best disaster items to have on hand is food for a few weeks, a sleeping bag, small tent, walking shoes, water purification pills, and a rain coat. There have been migrations of millions of people into other countries and they did it on foot without any supplies at all. An adult male can easily walk 20 miles in one day, a family with little ones can walk about 10 miles. A man can walk down a loose horse. It's not comfortable. Good shoes are essential.

If you can't save yourself, there is no way to help others.