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Richardson officials are preparing to ramp up emergency preparedness initiatives in September as part of National Preparedness Month.
Director of emergency management Alisha Gimbel presented information on the city’s initiatives and public outreach to City Council Aug. 10.
“We want to encourage some action, some leaning forward to create resilience in our community,” Gimbel said. “That’s our goal every National Preparedness Month.”
The overview
City Manager Don Magner said the month is an opportunity for the city to raise awareness about how individuals and the community can get prepared for “the next inevitable response that we’ll need to coordinate.”
The city is planning a public outreach push during September to inform residents about what they can do in their homes and businesses to be prepared for emergencies, Gimbel said.
She highlighted the importance of residents signing up for alerts from the city for weather events and other emergencies.
Residents shouldn’t rely on outdoor warning sirens for emergencies, Mayor pro tem Ken Hutchenrider said, as these are not designed to be heard in homes.
A closer look
Gimbel said the city will be spreading information on how to build an emergency kit that would provide supplies for at least 72 hours. Recommended items include:
Richardson also developed a preparedness passport, available through the Richardson Public Library, that lists activities and tasks centered around personal, family and community preparedness. In the past two years, Gimbel said the city has distributed roughly 5,500 passports.
“We really do like to start this from the ground up and to build that culture within our community,” Gimbel said.
Gimbel said city staff regularly hand out household preparedness bags at Richardson community events that include checklists, a first aid kit and an emergency blanket. These bags are intended to provide a starting point for putting together an emergency kit, she said. In the past year, the city has handed out over 2,000 bags at 33 events, Gimbel said.
“We just want to encourage folks to take those steps [and] build a kit of emergency supplies on a nice, calm day,” Gimbel said.
