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Recent event: 05.12.12 Emergency Preparedness at the Venice Library.

Event covered by Alex Rose.

On the Saturday before Mother’s day, about 200 Venice neighbors came together at the library to share information and learn more about how to be prepared for emergencies and disasters. Just one day before the Be Ready Expo, a DWP water main flooded streets and some garages in the canals — and a number of Venetians didn’t have water to their homes for a few hours. And earlier in the week an electrical transformer had an outage and a number of us lost our power while the repairs were made. Those neighbors with flashlights, extra batteries, bottled water, a handcrank cell phone charger and a battery powered radio were well suited for those modern inconveniences.

The above examples are relatively minor, though they illustrate why having a plan and being prepared is so important! And as wonderful as life in Southern California generally can be — disasters happen! We may all have to be our own first responders or need to live without access to our basic lifelines like power, water, gas, internet and safe roadways after a large disaster. Recognizing this, a number of us have been working together to put on events like Saturday’s to encourage personal preparedness and greater awareness of the risks we all face living in Venice (and Southern California).

In attendance were the Los Angeles Police Department, American Red Cross, the Gas Company, More Prepared, the California Insurance Department, and the Department of Water and Power (unfortunately due to budget constraints the City of LA’s Animal Services could not attend at the last minute). There was a puppet show every 30 minutes for children to teach them what to do if there is a home fire (one of the most likely emergencies we all face) and also what to do during an earthquake (Drop, Cover, Hold On). Adults asked lots of important questions regarding tsunamis, how to check their smoke detector batteries, what types of food are good to store in an emergency kit, and who will be there to help an elderly neighbor if there would be a mandatory evacuation. A wonderful byproduct of the event was many neighbors taking literature to bring to their neighbors and family members.
Venice Paparazzi wants to encourage our readers take some time to consider what steps you could take to be more prepared, and also to talk to your neighbors to see what would make sense to do together. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below and a member of the Venice Emergency Preparedness group will be sure to reply. Below are two valuable resources:
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