Community Invited To Disaster Preparedness Meetings

From Santa Cruz County:As the County transitions from fire season into winter, many residents continue to ask how to keep their families and properties safe during extreme events and hazards that impact Santa Cruz County.

The County maintains a number of resources to help residents prepare for disasters, including information on disaster preparedness, creating family evacuation plans and more; distributing sand and sandbags to pickup locations throughout the County; and fostering relationships with community-based resources such as neighborhood-based emergency response teams.

 Making sure you receive emergency notifications can save your life during a major event. Residents can register their cell phones for emergency notifications through the Code Red app, or by visiting http://www.scr911.org and clicking on the Code Red link.
 The Santa Cruz County Office of Emergency Services maintains a web page with details on the status of the Emergency Operations Center, sandbag pickup locations, road closures, PG&E outages, weather and rainfall forecasts, wildfire management and much more. Visit http://santacruzcounty.us/Departments/EmergencyServices.aspx.
 The County also maintains a Spanish- and English-language storm preparedness guide, including information on preparing your family and property for severe weather, how to prepare a disaster supply kit or family disaster plan, tips for pet and livestock owners, etc. Residents can also download a storm preparedness checklist at http://santacruzcounty.us/StormPreparedness.aspx.
 Residents may join Community Emergency Response Teams at https://santacruzcountycert.org. The County holds periodic meetings on emergency management and community safety. Next week, Supervisor John Leopold is hosting meeting with support from the Office for Emergency Services and local fire agencies regarding disaster preparedness:

Summit Meeting for Rural Residents

• Tuesday, December 11
• 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m.
• Loma Prieta School Temp. Community Room
• 23845 Summit Rd. (North side of Summit)

Live Oak Meeting for Urban Residents

• Wednesday, December 12
• 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
• Sheriff Center Community Room
• 5200 Soquel Ave.

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