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Whitfield County, Georgia
is no stranger to disasters. In just two decades, the county experienced 82
weather events with high winds, 14 flash floods, and 21 winter weather events
or storms that caused moderate to severe damage. This year, however, Whitfield
County did something that may make a difference for their community when it
comes to natural disasters. Read their story
today!
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The Great
ShakeOut
earthquake drill is just a week away! This is a great opportunity to practice
what to do during an earthquake and get prepared. Even if tremors are rare
where you live, it’s important to practice because they can happen anywhere
unexpectedly.
More than 20
million people, schools, organizations, and businesses worldwide have already
signed up to participate on Thursday, October 15, 2015 at 10:15 AM local time.
Visit the ShakeOut website for information
about how universities, government agencies, and other organizations can
participate. The website also shows how many people in each state or country
will be practicing how to Drop,
Cover and Hold On. This important protective action can save lives and
prevent injury.
 Example of How to Drop, Cover, and Hold On
During
an earthquake, you should immediately DROP down onto your hands and
knees so the earthquake doesn’t knock you down, COVER your head and neck with
your arms to protect yourself from falling debris, and HOLD ON to any sturdy
covering so you can move with it until the shaking stops.
If you are
unable to Drop, Cover, and Hold On,
please follow these recommended guidelines.
For more information
about earthquake safety, check out this Great ShakeOut video series. Get
ready for the world’s largest earthquake drill. You still have time to sign up,
so register
today!
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
and its partners released the Second Edition of the National
Preparedness Goal. The National
Preparedness Goal describes a vision for preparedness nationwide and
identifies the core capabilities necessary to achieve that vision across the
five mission areas: Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery.
The goal itself is succinct and remains unchanged:
“A secure and resilient nation with the
capabilities required across the whole community to prevent, protect against,
mitigate, respond to, and recover from the threats and hazards that pose the
greatest risk.”
The Second Edition of the National Preparedness Goal represents a refresh from the 2011
version and incorporates critical edits identified through real world events,
lessons learned, and continuing implementation of the National Preparedness
System. In refreshing the National
Preparedness Goal, FEMA and its whole community partners, including
individuals, communities, the private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based
organizations, and all levels of government, focused on assessing the existing
core capabilities. Resulting updates to the core capabilities include changes
to select titles and definitions and the addition of one new core
capability—Fire Management and Suppression.
Changes made to the core capabilities will be
reflected in the ongoing refresh efforts of the National Planning Frameworks
and Federal Interagency Operational Plans for each of the mission areas.
For a copy of the document, go to: https://www.fema.gov/national-preparedness-goal.
Does your smoke
alarm work? It’s Fire Prevention Week, and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) has
life-saving information to protect you and your family.
Smoke alarms are
important tools for your home. They provide an early warning of smoke in your
home, giving you extra time to escape. Smoke alarms are one of the best safety devices you can buy and install to
protect yourself, your family, and your home. According to the USFA, working
smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a home fire by half.
Cooking is the
leading cause of home fire injuries. Most cooking fires can be prevented. Here are a few tips to help keep you safe in the kitchen:
- Keep an eye on what you fry; stay in the kitchen when you are
cooking at high temperatures like frying and broiling;
- Be alert when cooking. Never cook if you are tired or on medication
that makes you sleep; and
- Keep items (such as kitchen towels) that can catch fire away from
cooking areas.
This year, USFA is dedicating the month of October
to providing daily fire safety tips to help make homes and families safer.
Follow #firesafein31 on Twitter at @usfire and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usfire.
The American Public Health Association
(APHA) recently released an exciting new resource to help prepare your family,
school, or office for emergencies. Their 2016 “Ready, Pet, Go!” Get Ready
calendar features images of animals sharing important safety tips you can
follow throughout the year, including:
- If
you live in an area at risk for hurricanes, know your community’s hurricane
warning system. Find your evacuation routes and have supplies packed;
- If
you have to go outside during a winter storm, bundle up. Wear mittens and a hat
to stay warm. Limit your time outdoors; and
- Know
where to take shelter during a disaster, whether you’re at home, work, school,
or in transit.
Images
used in the calendar feature winners from APHA’s recent photo contest held
during National Preparedness Month. This calendar can be a great addition to
your bulletin board, office space, or refrigerator. Download and print your
copy today!
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Disclaimer: The reader recognizes that the
federal government provides links and informational data on various disaster
preparedness resources and events and does not endorse any non-federal events,
entities, organizations, services or products. Please let us know about other events
and services for individual and community preparedness that could be included
in future newsletters by contacting citizencorps@fema.dhs.gov.
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