CEMA Blog

Last year we were reminded just how powerful weather can be.  In April 2011, 321 people were killed during a violent tornado outbreak.  Much of the country was affected including the Southern, Midwestern, and Northern United States.

The devastation left upon much of the country proves just how important it is to prepare.  That's why the National Weather Service, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and the Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) are proclaiming February 6th - 10th, 2012 Severe Weather Awareness Week.  It is a week for all Georgians to consider the impact of severe weather and to have a plan mapped out in case they are faced with what could be potentially dangerous consequences.  Since the awareness campaign began in 1978, severe weather events in Georgia have killed at least 350 people and with continuous population growth, the potential for storms to cause death and destruction increases.  
During Severe Weather Awareness Week, CEMA's mission is to help Chatham County residents understand what severe weather is and teach the importance of items like disaster supply kits and NOAA weather radios.  

Severe Weather Awareness Week is a time when residents should prepare and develop a family disaster plan.  The most important step is meeting with family members to discuss what members should do when severe weather strikes.  Residents should write down contact numbers, learn community evacuation plans, choose "out-of-area" contacts and then practice their plans.  

It will also be a good time to learn about Chatham County's Emergency Outdoor Warning Siren System.  Currently there are 60 sirens, which cover 95% of the county.  The outdoor warning sirens are used to notify people about hazards such as explosions and tornadoes that would require people to take action.  

So remember, severe weather can happen anytime and anywhere.  Will you be prepared?  
 
Take part in Severe Weather Awareness Week Activities!

Win a NOAA Weather Radio
 
Essay Contest for Chatham County 5th Graders

Statewide Tornado Drill:  February 8th 

Communication Tools Exercise

Each day of Severe Weather Awareness Week focuses on a different topic:
 
Monday, February 6 - Family Preparedness/NOAA Weather Radio

Tuesday, February 7 - Thunderstorm Safety

Wednesday, February 8 - Tornado Safety (Statewide Tornado Drill)

Thursday, February 9 - Lightning Safety

Friday, February 10 - Flooding

Visit www.ChathamEmergency.org for more information. 
 

A group of local elementary school children learn how to stay safe if they ever become lost. 

The concept of the Hug-A-Tree Program is simple; if children become lost they are taught to hug a tree or a stationary object. Children are also taught what to do if they don't have food and water and what to do if they become scared or see animals.

If you are interested in bringing the Hug-A-Tree Program to your school, organization, or group, please contact Kelly Foster with CEMA at 912-201-4500. 

There is now an easy way to get the inside scoop regarding Chatham County’s Emergency Management community.  At the beginning of this year the Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) released its first addition of CEMA Signal.  The quarterly E-newsletter highlights trainings, exercises, accomplishments and features a variety of articles focusing on emergency management and safety.  Now, we have just released our fourth edition. 

 

At noon on Wednesday, November 2, 2011, the Chatham Emergency Management Agency will conduct the monthly scheduled test of Chatham County’s Emergency Warning Siren System. 

In the event of poor weather conditions such as rain or overcast weather, the siren test will be cancelled. 

At noon on Wednesday, Chatham County residents will hear a three minute emergency tone from the various sirens located throughout the county.  This monthly test is necessary to ensure that the Emergency Warning Siren System is functioning properly.

Questions or comments regarding the test can be directed to Kelly Foster at 912.201.4500 or klfoster@chathamcounty.org.

In November, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will test the readiness and effectiveness of the current Emergency Alert System (EAS).  Georgia will participate in the nationwide test that will take place on November 9^th, 2011 at 2:00pm, Eastern Time. 

Although the EAS is frequently used by State and local governments to send weather alerts and other emergencies, there has never been a national activation of the system. The purpose of the November 9^th test is to identify improvements to better serve communities in the preservation of life and property.

The EAS has been in existence for over 15 years; however, a nationwide test of the system has never occurred. FEMA and federal partners are working with the EAS Community to assess if the national-level system will work as designed should officials ever need to send a national alert.
The test will last for approximately three minutes; however, this may vary across the country. While State and local EAS messages are limited to 2 minutes, there is no time limit for national EAS alerts. To evaluate whether the system properly interprets the national message code in the national EAS test, the message duration must be longer than two minutes.  It will be heard on the radio and seen on local, cable, and satellite TV. 

This event serves as a reminder that everyone should establish an emergency preparedness kit and emergency plan for themselves, their families, communities, and businesses.  Visit FEMA.gov for more information. 

At noon on Wednesday, October 5th, the Chatham Emergency Management Agency will conduct the monthly scheduled test of Chatham County's Emergency Warning Siren System.

In the event of poor weather conditions such as rain or overcast weather, the siren test will be cancelled.

At noon on Wednesday, Chatham County residents will hear a three minute emergency tone from the various sirens located throughout the county. This monthly test is necessary to ensure that the Emergency Warning Siren System is functioning properly.

To learn more about the Chatham County Emergency Warning Siren System, please visit CEMA's website at www.ChathamEmergency.org.

One of the worst things for a child to experience is being lost.  They are scared, often times alone, and without food and water.  In 1981, the body of 9-year-old Jimmy Beveridge was found four days after he went missing.  Jimmy was camping with his parents and brothers in California and he never made it back to camp.  After his death a program was created to help teach children how to stay safe if they ever become lost and to give rescuers a better chance of finding them. 

The Chatham Emergency Management Agency’s Search and Rescue (SAR) Team is committed to reducing the number of children lost each year.  SAR Team members are trained to teach the principles of the Hug-A-Tree program which is recognized by the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR).  Countless lives have been saved since the program’s inception in 1981. 
The concept of the program is simple; if children become lost they are taught to hug a tree or a stationary object.  Children are also taught what to do if they don’t have food and water and what to do if they become scared or see animals.  In 1984, four-year-old Eli became lost while on a walk with his mother in California.  He was found after a 23-hour search.  He had seen Hug-a-Tree four months earlier at his brother’s Cub Scout pack meeting and his first words to his rescuers were, “What took you so long?”

You may be thinking here in Chatham County we don’t have a lot of heavily wooded areas.  Of course when you get away from the more populated areas, you’ll see more trees; however, this program can help children who become lost in a busy shopping mall or downtown River Street.  Three-year-old Andy was separated from his mother at a Michigan shopping mall in 1985.  He was found by the store manager, who said Andy insisted on hugging a tree just outside the store.  His brother, a first grader, had told him to hug a tree if he ever got lost.  In 1988, two boys on a school field trip became separated from their group and when they realized they were lost, they sat down.  One of the boys had a whistle with him and kept blowing it until the teacher found them. 

The 30 minute program features a short video, educational demonstrations and a brief question and answer session.  It is geared towards children ages five through 12.  The program can be taught in schools, boy/girl scout meetings and church organizations.  However, in an effort to conserve the resources of the SAR Team, we ask that the program be presented to a large group of students in a general assembly setting.  If you have a special event, programs will be considered on a case by case basis.     

If you are interested in bringing this program to your school, event or church, please contact Kelly Foster at the CEMA office at 912-201-4500.  One of our highly trained SAR team members would love to talk with your children and teach them the simple skills on ways to stay safe if they are ever lost. 

The Chatham County Outdoor Emergency Warning Siren System is used to notify residents of danger within their community. Currently there are 60 sirens installed, which cover 95% of Chatham County.
Warning sirens are used in Chatham County to notify people about ALL hazards (such as hazardous materials, fires, explosions, tornadoes) that would require the public to act to ensure their safety. The Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) installed the warning sirens in or near outdoor recreation areas and where a large number of people typically gather.

Severe storms, extreme heat, a crippling freeze, deadly tornadoes, terrible wildfires . . . Mother Nature has managed to throw almost everything in the book at us within six short months. With just half a year under our belt, the state of Georgia and Chatham County have already experienced their share of severe weather, and we obviously don’t know what’s in store for the second half of 2011.

Unfortunately for thousands of Georgians, these disasters have resulted in the loss of property and even human life. Your team at the Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) works closely with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency/Homeland Security (GEMA) which strives to reduce the negative impact of natural disasters statewide, but it is impossible to eliminate the hazards we face daily. That’s why personal preparedness is so important, and why we need your help.  You are your best first responder.

With this in mind, I was heartened to learn from our research that half of all Georgians believe we have a duty to help each other during an emergency. It is that sense of personal and community responsibility that will allow us to respond and recover from nearly anything we may experience this year or in the future.

Why then, did that same research show that only 13 percent of us have taken personal responsibility to be fully prepared for an emergency? Eight out of 10 Georgians admit that preparation, planning and emergency supplies will help them handle a large-scale disaster, yet only one in 10 has taken the necessary steps towards personal preparedness. Clearly, we have work to do.

Conversely, the same research showed some positive trends. The majority of Georgians say they have a flashlight and extra batteries, a first aid kit and a three-day supply of nonperishable food. At least half of us have made a list of emergency numbers for family members and safely stored important documents.

What’s more is that since GEMA and the Georgia Department of Public Health launched the emergency preparedness campaign, Ready Georgia, thousands of residents have logged onto ready.ga.gov to create a Ready Profile, giving them access to tailored checklists of emergency supplies and customized emergency plans.

By taking this initiative, these Georgians prove to be twice as likely to be prepared for a large‐scale emergency as others. They are twice as likely to be able to reconnect with loved ones if separated during a disaster. They are twice as likely to know their risk for flooding and are twice as likely to survive potentially deadly storms.

When it comes to your family’s safety, why would you not want to be on the winning side of those statistics? You keep extra food on hand, and there’s a flashlight in the closet, but taking the next steps toward preparedness can give you an edge, and becoming fully prepared is so simple, yet essential.

With coastal counties such as Chatham it is imperative that we all have evacuation plans. These plans must include what to take and where to go. They should include inventories of our valuables along with both photographic and video records of our home and property. We should know what are our most valuable possessions and how we will either protect or evacuate them. Have you identified and planned to take your important papers such as passports, deeds, insurance policies, contracts, prescriptions, etc?

Our pets are also members of our families; they can’t survive a storm any better than we can. They must come with us and they too require food and medicine. During evacuations hotels and motels have proven to be extremely pet-tolerant; under no circumstances should you leave your pets behind!

The key to a successful evacuation plan is simply to know where you’re going and how you’re getting there; what are you taking and can you help someone else? Do you have a full tank of gas? Do your family members and friends know the plan? Do you have provisions to take your pets? And most importantly, don’t wait for a Mandatory evacuation, leave during the Voluntary.

Hurricane season is here. With another three months of 2011 still ahead of us, there is no telling what Mother Nature has in store for the remainder of the year. Only one certainty exists – being prepared is your best defense against the unexpected. So while there seems to be a lull in the severe weather we have grown accustomed to, use this opportunity to prepare a Ready Kit of emergency supplies, create a family plan and become informed about the potential threats to you and your community.

We at both CEMA and GEMA will continue to provide an aggressive approach to preparedness, but no one can respond to your household quicker or better than you if you are prepared.

Clayton S. Scott, Director                                                       
Chatham Emergency Management Agency

Charley English, Director
Georgia Emergency Management Agency