Ready San Diego Blog

San Diegans Respond to ShakeOut Drill Participation Challenge

Nearly 580,000 San Diego County residents took part in the Great California ShakeOut drill activities taking place around the region. Statewide, nearly 7 million people including individuals, families, schools, universities, businesses, museums, local governments and faith-based and community organizations, registered to join the earthquake drill at 10:15 a.m.

“We are extremely pleased that more people are getting involved and practicing the correct actions to take during an earthquake. Our ultimate goal is for people’s response to become automatic so that injuries and deaths can be minimized in a real earthquake,” said Ron Lane, director of the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services.

Hundreds of museums patrons and employees participated in a drop, cover and hold on drill – ducking under tables or moving to an interior wall and protecting their heads until the audio broadcast was over in Balboa Park. Five minutes later, all the facilities in the park were evacuated as they would be in a real emergency. After all museum staff reported that the facilities had been cleared, all were allowed to return. ShakeOut earthquake preparedness fliers and information was made available to patrons at the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Last year, 5.4 million people including 470,000 San Diego County residents, participated in the Great Southern California ShakeOut.  The drill is now statewide, giving all Californians the opportunity to learn about preparedness and safety during an earthquake, whether you are at home, work or school. Next year’s drill will take place at 10:21 a.m. on 10/21.

Individuals, families, schools, businesses, government agencies and organizations are encouraged to share drill experiences and photographs at www.shakeout.org.  For disaster preparedness information, please visit www.ReadySanDiego.org.

Statewide ShakeOut Drill to Shake Up County

 
All Residents are Urged to Participate in Massive Drill at 10:15 on 10/15

Residents still have time to join the nearly seven million Californians, including more than 480,000 people in San Diego County, who have already signed up for the Great California ShakeOut earthquake drill, which will take place at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15.

 

“We want people to practice how to drop, cover and hold on during the drill by quickly getting under a heavy table or desk to avoid falling objects. It is important for people to participate in the drill because, in an emergency, people react according to what they have practiced,” said Ron Lane, director of the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services. “The Great California ShakeOut also gets people thinking about what they can do now to prepare for a disaster.” 

 

Last year, 5.4 million people participated in the Great Southern California ShakeOut.  The drill is now statewide, giving all Californians the opportunity to learn about preparedness and safety during an earthquake, whether you are at home, work or school.

 

Individuals, families, schools, businesses, government agencies and organizations can register for the Great California ShakeOut at www.shakeout.org.  The ShakeOut Web site also has “ShakeOut Drill Broadcast” recordings to play during the drill; manuals for schools, businesses, non-profits and other organizations; checklists; and educational materials.

 

You can also get information about disaster preparedness from the County of San Diego Office of Emergency Services by visiting www.ReadySanDiego.org.

Local Radio Podcast - Nearly 7 Million Registered to ShakeOut

Are you ready for a 7.8 earthquake? To get ready, register on www.ShakeOut.org to take part in the largest earthquake drill in the state of California at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday, October 15.

To learn more about the Great California ShakeOut drill in San Diego County and the risk to residents, listen to the first hour of KPBS's "These Days" audio podcast. Ron Lane, geologist Pat Abbott, and Dave Dalton, ShakeOut Chair and San Diego Natural History security director, were guests on the program.

Visit the County of San Diego Office of Emergency Services at www.ReadySanDiego.org to learn more about emergency preparedness.

Newspaper Articles Focus on Regional Preparedness Improvements

The North County Times published two articles on regional preparedness over the weekend.

The first: "Region: Officials say region much better prepared to stop wildfires" focused on how the region has more resources in place to help fight a fire.

"We have more firemen, more equipment and better training," said Ralph Steinhoff, fire services coordinator for San Diego County, which provided money to rural fire districts to buy 30 new fire engines. "We have better coordination, and we've adddressed almost everything that was identified as presenting an opportunity for improvement."

A second article, "Region: County is better prepared for evacuations, officials say" looks to improvements in the regional emergency evacuation procedures.

As the region rides out another wildfire season, officials say San Diego County is better prepared to evacuate people from harm's way than it was during the devastating fire storms in 2003 and 2007 ---- a good thing because a survey shows that one out of five backcountry residents ignored evacuation orders in 2007. 

Since those two wildfires, the county developed a regional evacuation plan outlining evacuation routes and potential shelters, improved coordination among law enforcement and transportation agencies, and installed systems that call residents at home and on their cell phones to warn of an emergency.

"Certainly, since 2003, we've done tremendous improvements," said Ron Lane, director of the county's Office of Emergency Services, which coordinates evacuations during emergencies when multiple jurisdictions are involved.

To read the entire articles, click on the article names to be directed to the North County Times web site.

It's Almost Drill Time ... Six Days to the 2009 ShakeOut

As of today, more than 6.4 million Californians are registered to participate in the Great California ShakeOut drill at 10:15 a.m. on October 15 (10/15). In San Diego County, we have more than 481,000 participants this year surpassing 2008's 470,000 participants. The County of San Diego is registered, is your city, business, faith-based or community organization, medical facility, university/college, or family member registered and ready to do the Drop, Cover, and Hold On drill? Register now!

Why should San Diegans be concerned? It may surprise you to know that a major fault, called Rose Canyon, cuts right through the heart of downtown San Diego, through the center of San Diego Bay, and north through La Jolla and northward along the coast. Read more about San Diego County earthquake hazards here.

For more information on preparing for an earthquake, visit www.ReadySanDiego.org.

Shared Responsibility For Readiness and Resilience

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano marked the conclusion of National Preparedness Month by delivering a speech Tuesday emphasizing America’s shared responsibility for preparedness and stressing the important role that individuals play in building a national culture of readiness and resilience.

“When families are prepared—when communities stand together and stand tall—so does our nation,” said Secretary Napolitano. “United, we send a powerful message to those that seek to do us harm: we cannot be broken, we are America—strong and resilient.”

Secretary Napolitano delivered the speech at the American Red Cross Hall of Service in front of more than 300 volunteers and employees representing the Red Cross, DHS Citizen Corps, and local and regional emergency management agencies from around the National Capital Region—as well as employees of DHS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“America’s history is not written by the tragedies that have befallen us, but by how we responded to them,” said Secretary Napolitano. “Since our earliest days, every time we have been challenged or have seen tragedy, Americans have shown a sense of purpose and resilience.”

During her remarks, Secretary Napolitano recognized Citizen Corps and Red Cross volunteers who donate their time and energies to train others in critical readiness and emergency response skills while contributing to a culture of preparedness.

“We should measure our nation’s security not just by the borders we strengthen and the laws we enforce, but also by the strength and resilience of the communities we build,” said Secretary Napolitano.

Secretary Napolitano’s remarks on preparedness today build on previous speeches outlining her approach to counterterrorism, delivered in New York City in July, and border security, delivered in Texas in August—and reflect her commitment to ensuring readiness and resilience among all citizens.

To view the entire speech on YouTube, click here. For more information on personal preparedness, visit http://www.ready.gov/ or http://www.readysandiego.org.