Did Santa bring you an emergency kit?

With devastating fires and smoke beginning to define our summers, and the recent large earthquake in Alaska, do you feel the clock is ticking for a climate emergency in Seattle? How prepared are you if a catastrophic event strikes our region?

With a grant from the Seattle Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Madison Park has established an Emergency Communications HUB box near the park tennis courts. This HUB is primarily for coordinating communications with the city and other neighborhood HUBs. It will not have medical assistance, supplies or other resources neighbors might need in case of a major disaster.

Getting those resources in place is up to every individual household, and secondarily in coordination with other neighbors, so that people have basic emergency kits in place and can check in on the well being of their neighbors in the event of an emergency. Volunteer block captains are needed, who can gather and share information about needs and resources to our neighborhood HUB for broader local and city coordination. With the anticipated “Full Rip” expected in the Pacific Northwest, the city will only be responding to high-level infrastructures and emergency needs. It is up to each neighborhood to organize at the grassroots level and provide initial community emergency response assistance.

There are many emergency preparedness informational websites. Here is a Seattle resource: seattle.gov/emergency-management/prepare. Seattle also offers a series of disaster skills workshops across different neighborhoods. For the 2019 calendar, check the OEM website or their Facebook page.

In addition to coordinating HUB communications, the city also has resources for SNAP (Seattle Neighbors Actively Prepare) to learn how to work together to make sure everyone in the neighborhood is safe and cared for.

Isn’t it time for Madison Park to have some active SNAP group of neighbors to work together to plan and prepare for a catastrophic disaster? An ad hoc group is working with the Madison Park Community Council to hold several community events this year to learn and get prepared. Look for ongoing information in the Madison Park Times and the Madison Park Nextdoor Emergency Group page. Mark your calendars and come to our March event, featuring a presentation by Sandi Doughton, Seattle Times science writer and author of “The Full Rip 9.0: The Next Big Earthquake in the Pacific NW.”

Be informed. Make a plan. Attend our emergency preparation events. Get involved with a Madison Park SNAP group.

For more information, email madparkhub@gmail.com.