Plan Now, Be Prepared for Later
As the summer heat continues, all of us are familiar with the smell of smoke in the air from the surrounding wildfires. Welcome to our new summer normal.
For the most part, these fires stay away from our backyards, and we’re only reminded of them by the hazy skies or smoky aroma every time we step outside. But should that ever change, we want all our customer-owners to be prepared for the time when their address is covered by a “Level 3—Go Now!” alert.
September is National Preparedness Month, which is the perfect time for you to check your emergency kit and make sure everyone in your household is on the same page for your evacuation plan. Having a kit stocked and your plan mapped out will save you precious time in the event of a wildfire, flood, or the “big one” predicted to hit the Pacific Northwest.
We recently added an emergency preparedness page to our website and created checklists for you to use when building your emergency kit and developing your evacuation plan.
A basic emergency kit should contain the essential items you and everyone in your household— including pets—need for at least three to five days. It can seem like a long list of items to gather, so we recommend spreading the task out over a few weeks and building your kit over time.
Having an evacuation plan in place helps everyone in your household know what to do when the time comes for you to leave. We also recommend having a contact sheet, so everyone knows who to contact to spread the word about your whereabouts and plan.
To stay up to date on all Wasco County alerts, we recommend signing up for the Wasco County Citizen Alert Emergency Notification System. You will receive time-sensitive messages wherever you specify, such as your home, cell, or business phone, email, text messages, and hearing-impaired receiving devices. You pick where, and you pick how.
Preparing now can save you precious seconds later. This month, take the time to make sure you and your family are ready.
Manager Roger Kline