Ready Southeast is your preparedness program
The tragedy unfolding in Turkey should remind us how vulnerable those of us living in seismically active areas are. Preventing an earthquake is, of course, impossible, but preparing for it will minimize injuries and damage to homes. Being prepared may even save your life.
Recognizing that our professional first responders will be overwhelmed in the aftermath of an earthquake, your neighborhood association developed a preparedness program a decade ago. Since then Ready Southeast volunteers have helped hundreds of residents become better prepared individually and connected with nearby neighbors for mutual support.
We now have more than sixty volunteers throughout the neighborhood. Many of them have organized their nearby neighbors. All of them have a radio to ensure that they can quickly reach other volunteers should we lose phone service. This communications network allows us to connect those who need help with those who can assist. It also puts us in direct contact with the City’s Emergency Operations Center so that we will know the severity of the disaster and the expected time for outside help to arrive.
We want to help everyone become better prepared. Whether it’s putting together a go-bag, supplies for an extended power outage, or protecting your home and belongings from an earthquake, wild fire or other emergency, we can help. We also assist groups of nearby neighbors get organized and identify the relevant skills and resources among them. Knowing your neighbors well enough to count on them will be invaluable in the aftermath of a disaster.
Ultimately, we want every Southeast resident to be prepared and connected with their nearby neighbors. In this way we’ll all enjoy the benefits of being in a supportive community as we ready ourselves for the next emergency. If you need information on how best to prepare, or want to connect with the nearest group of organized neighbors, please get in touch!
Ready Southeast can be reached by email at seneighborsprepared@gmail.com