Va. joining ‘Shakeout’ natural disaster drill October. 15

According to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, about 800,000 Virginians have signed up to participate in the drill, which is set to occur at 10:15 a.m. Participating is a great way for your family or organization to be prepared to survive and recover quickly from big earthquakes, wherever you live, work or travel, said Bandon city manager Chris Good, who will have city employees take part in the drill. Counties along the Georgia-South Carolina border are in an area of the state at greatest risk for earthquakes, as are Georgia’s northwest, central and west central counties.

Unless employees are driving, the drill participants will drop to the ground; take cover under something sturdy to protect themselves from objects being hurled across the room and hold on for 60 seconds for the hypothetical natural disaster.

“You can not tell from the initial shaking if an quake will suddenly become intense, so always Drop, Cover and Hold On immediately”, Good said. If seated they should cover their head and neck with their arms or a pillow until the shaking stops.

Additional tips for preparing for earthquakes are also available at www.ready.gov/earthquakes. At altusem.blogspot.com information about emergency management is found.

America’s PrepareAthon! was established to provide a comprehensive campaign to build and sustain national preparedness as directed by Presidential Policy Directive-8.