September is National Preparedness Month

“Be prepared!” This has been the motto of Boy Scouts for more than a century.

It’s also the motto of the Grant County Department of Emergency Management as it gears up for National Preparedness Month in September.

“It takes a horrific event for people to be truly prepared,” said Sandy Duffey, Grant County Emergency Management deputy director.

Among the events residents of Grant County should be adequately prepared for are wild fires, chemical spills, and the possibility that a major earthquake on the Cascadia Subduction Zone (which hugs the Washington and Oregon coasts) will be felt as far inland as Moses Lake and could fill the county with stranded people and refugees from Washington’s Pacific coast.

“Grant County will probably feel a 5.0 [earthquake on the Richter scale] for 5 minutes if a 9.0 hits Cascadia,” Duffey said. “A lot of our buildings are older. Will they still be standing?”

Being prepared means having a kit, having a plan, and staying informed, Duffey said. According to information provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a very basic kit should include food and one gallon of water for each family member for three days, a first aid kit, a flashlight with extra batteries, local maps, a radio with extra batteries, local maps, plastic bags and sheeting, and a wrench or pliers to turn off utilities. (For a complete list, see www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/90354)

However, the most likely threats in Grant County are wildfires and chemical accidents. According to Duffey, Grant County is host to more than 200 companies that must file “Tier II” reports detailing the kinds of quantities of hazardous chemicals they store, and people need to be prepared in the event of accidents or spills.

“We have no hazmat team in Grant County; the closest are in the Tri-Cities or Spokane, which means a response time of several hours,” Duffey said.

In order to keep residents informed, the county has a phone system that will automatically call residents if they need to evacuate in the event of fire or spill. Residents create an account and then register their phone numbers with the system (www.member.everbridge.net/index/1772417038942517#/login), and receive automated phone calls in the event of an emergency.

Still, Duffey said few predicted the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens in 1980 — an event which covered much of the state in several inches of ash.

“People should still be prepared,” she said.