There have been major disasters in recent years in parts of our country: hurricanes, tornados, ice and snow storms, flooding, etc. These are all tragic events, but they do provide us with a great opportunity to learn how to better prepare if such an event should affect us. We should not believe that we are immune to disaster. Not to prepare in simple and practical ways is to act as though we are immune.
It has been three years now since I was elected to council, and here is just a little of what has been accomplished so far:
• December 2013 The City hired a part-time emergency operations coordinator, Richard Johnson, whose dedicated task is to help the City and our residents better prepare.
• August 2015 We had 27 resident volunteers graduate from an 18-hour course and are now members of our Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). These members now meet quarterly for additional training and updates on how to respond throughout the city.
• We introduced the 21 Weeks to Prepare program to educate our residents on the simplicity of creating an emergency kit.
• We are actively distributing information on our Map Your Neighborhood (MYN) program. In a disaster, your neighbors are your closest resource. It is my goal to place the MYN booklet in every home in Signal Hill. This 14-page booklet is the first item to grab following a disaster and will easily guide you through the first nine things you should do, where to go for help, how to help others and what to do next.
• We now have a second CERT class forming in September 2016. There are only 13 seats still available. This free training administered by LA County Fire Department is for residents who would like to participate in Signal Hill’s disaster preparedness plans and better help themselves and their neighbors.
• For more information about the CERT training class or the MYN program, please contact Richard Johnson at (562) 989-7239 or rjohnson@signalhillpd.org. I am happy to answer any questions you may have. My contact information is (562) 477-1287 or lwoods@cityofsignalhill.org .
Here is the Week 6 shopping list for our 21 Weeks to Prepare program:
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