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2.2.1 Strategy: Maintain a state of constant preparedness for the disaster

A method of coping with extreme weather and natural disasters is to be constantly prepared for them.

Many of the people in both regions talked about the importance and the proper use of traditional tents and clothing.

A Koryak woman from Palana (Kamchatka) explained: �My father used to say one should always be prepared for the foul weather. Wear warm traditional clothes, stock up traditional food as much as possible during summer. Do not be lazy otherwise you will fail in the tundra�. She continued, �If it is getting warmer, the wind blows from the east and you feel the weather is getting worse, you should stop in the tundra, collect wood, make a fire, and eat well. When the blizzard comes, wait it through�.

Another Koryak woman from Palana (Kamchatka) described how a reindeer herding family prepares for disaster. Below is a transcript from the interview:

Respondent:	�Women had to take care of huts, make traditional clothes and footwear, and to cook. Reindeer herders� and chum (traditional hut) workers� everyday activities were preparing firewood and water, fishing and hunting. So that during strong rains and blizzards they have everything stored, and they do not need anything. Also they strengthened their huts all the time.�
Interviewer:	�What kind of clothes did the herdsmen have in summer time?�
Respondent:	�Old kukhlyanka (fur coat, which is put on over the head) served as a raincoat in the summer. Torbaza (fur shoes) were made from smoked skin so as not to get wet in water. Malakhai (hats) made from light, waterproof bear skin.�
Interviewer:	�What kind of clothes did the herdsmen have in winter time?�
Respondent:	�Kukhlyanka, torbaza, chizhi (fur stockings) and gloves were made from young reindeers� skin. During strong blizzards people wore kukhlyanka in with the fur outside so that the snow was pushed away from the fur.�

This story also describes the division of tasks between women and men and women�s role in the survival strategy of reindeer herders.

An Even reindeer herder from Esso (Kamchatka) explained that only the traditional fur clothes and boots would keep a person warm during winter. The wind would blow through any other types of clothes.

Interviewees also explained that the chum (indigenous hut) or tent should be set up to cope with a strong wind. A person that leaves the settlement should to be ready for everything even if he or she leaves for only a couple of hours. Especially in winter time, he or she should always bring a supply of food and matches, and wear warm, traditional fur clothes.

A Koryak man from Tymlat (Kamchatka) warned, �If you fail to notice the change of weather and keep the herd on flatland, the wind may drive them several kilometres away. After blizzards the snow becomes hard and it shows the direction of the wind because zastrugi appear. When the weather settles down, you memorize the direction of the zastrugi, and next time during a blizzard, if it catches you in the tundra, you know where to go�. He continued, �Our old people used to say, when in the tundra, do not ride fast without paying attention to nature. You should notice every bush and every hillock and keep them in mind. Bushes in the tundra usually grow separately. If you�re caught by a blizzard and you see such a sole bush, you recognize it and can find the way�.

One of the interviewees, a female Kamchadal from Mil�kovo (Kamchatka) described how they prepared for tsunamis when she was a child:

Interviewer:	�When you were a child, did your parents, elder relatives teach you what to do if you face a natural disaster?�
Respondent:	�Particularly, starting from the 5th-6th grade. I lived on Bering island then; being an island it�s a dangerous zone. So teachers were well educated in this respect and they taught us. Several times a year we had trainings on flood and tsunami threat, first of all, starting as elementary school students.  We ran to the highest point and were within time limits, actually. So children were aware of such things. When the tsunami threat occurred, we were at school and they didn�t let us go out for some time. And people who lived in the lower part of the village took their bundles, they were ready, and came up.�
Interviewer:	�And those bundles were ready all the time? Or occasionally?�
Respondent:	�No, almost all the time. Everything one needed � documents, necessary belongings � was ready to take.�