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September is National Preparedness Month. This year we are asking you to take action now – make a plan with your community, your family, and for your pets. Plan how to stay safe and communicate during the disasters that can affect your community.
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION PLAN
Your family may not be together if a disaster strikes, so it is important to think about the following situations and plan just in case. Consider the following questions when making a plan:
- How will my family/household get emergency alerts and warnings?
- How will my family/household get to safe locations for relevant emergencies?
- How will my family/household get in touch if cell phone, internet, or landline doesn’t work?
- How will I let loved ones know I am safe?
- How will family/household get to a meeting place after the emergency?
For a plan templates designed for parents, kids, transit commuters and much more, visit the Ready.gov Make a Plan website today at http://www.ready.gov/make-a-plan#.
DISASTERS IN FOCUS
Each week of National Preparation Month will focus on a different natural disaster. Find links to key resources below:
- Sept. 1-5 – Make Your Plan, Make Your Kit – Prepare your Emergency Communication Plan and Emergency Response Kit.
- Sept. 6-12 – Wildfires – What you need to know before, during and after a wildfire event.
- Sept. 13-19 – Winter Storms and Flood – Floods can rise slow & steady or come suddenly to a very small area or an entire community.
- Sept. 14-26 – Power Outage – Practical tips for being ready for a protracted power outage.
- Sept. 27-30 – Earthquakes – The disaster most Californians know the best. Practice Drop, Cover & Hold On, secure heavy furniture and items that might topple when shaken, and more.
Disaster preparedness is about being ready for the unexpected. In California, earthquakes, fire and floods are our primary concerns. Fortunately, if you prepare for those emergencies, you’ll be ready for just about anything. This page is designed to provide key information about how to get ready, and links to leading agencies and organizations disaster preparedness information.
FOUR STEPS TO BE PREPARED
1. Assemble a Kit
After a damaging earthquake, services such as police, fire and ambulance will be very busy. It may be days before they can give households or neighborhoods all the help they need. For at least 72 hours after a big quake, people may be relying on themselves and their neighbors for first aid, firefighting, search and rescue, and general support.
Prepare your family by packing an emergency kit for your household and for each vehicle you own. Make sure to inspect your kits annually, and replace any dated or perishable items, such as batteries, medicines, etc.
72-Hour Emergency Kit (15.6 KiB, 3,500 hits)- Car Kit (186.1 KiB, 3,357 hits)
- GO Bag (15.2 KiB, 3,384 hits)
2. Make a Plan
Make plans with your family and friends in case you’re not together during an emergency. Discuss how you’ll contact each other, where you’ll meet and what you’ll do in different situations. Talk to your children about what schools will do in an emergency, and assure them you’ll get to them as quickly as possible.
3. Be Informed
Being prepared means staying informed. Check all types of media – web sites, newspapers, radio, TV, mobile and land phones – for global, national and local information. During an emergency, the Solano Office of Emergency Services will provide information on such things as open shelters and evacuation orders.
4. Get Involved
Look into taking first aid and emergency response training, participating in community exercises, and volunteering to support local first responders such as CERT.
California neighborhoods have now formed emergency response groups or made earthquake preparedness part of an already existing organization’s objectives. Numerous California cities have made citizen emergency response training one of their community programs. Here in Suisun City, the C.E.R.T. (Community Emergency Response Teams) program has been formed to organize our neighborhoods. For more information, contact the Fire Department at (707) 421-7205.
EARTHQUAKE PROBABILITY
There is a high probability for a damaging earthquake in many parts of California in the near future. On any day, a serious earthquake could strike on one of the major fault segments that crisscross the state. The odds of an earthquake in the next five years are much greater than those you get when you buy a lottery ticket. It makes sense to invest now in getting ready for the next earthquake. Educate yourself, prepare your household and organize your neighborhood.
>> Learn more in the 2007 Earthquake Probability Report (hosted by the Southern California Earthquake Center)
SPECIFIC RESOURCES
(hosted by partner agencies)
- Ready.gov – Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Listo.gov – En Espanol
- The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
- Solano County Office of Emergency Services – Local conditions, evacuation orders and other useful information
EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION
California Earthquake Authority – A public agency that underwrites earthquake homeowners’ insurance policies offered through participating insurance agents- Earthquake probability report, 2007 – A new report comfirm a 99.7 percent chance of an earth quake in California within the next thirty years
- USGS Earthquake Hazard Program – Find out important information about earth quakes
- Report How It Felt – The USGS is interested in what people feel in various location when an earth quake strikes. Click on the link to report what you just felt.
UNREINFORCED MASONRY BUILDING INFORMATION
The Suisun City Building & Public Works Department is required to maintain lists of unreinforced masonry buildings, and inform their owners of various requirements under state and local laws.
For more information on Suisun City URM program, please go to the Unreinforced Masonry Building Information page.
Post expires at 9:05 am on August 20, 2014
