Tomorrow begins disaster preparedness month here in Kern county and with Hurricane Harvey devastating Texas, it raises the question, “What if disaster happened here?” 23ABC’s Adam Bowles has the answer.
The real disaster is not being prepared. Are you ready if disaster happened here in Kern County?
Here at the Emergency Operation Center, there is a big operation happening, literally.
"We have only two choices, which is either to prepare for them or not, and if we do not it is perhaps to our own detriment," Georgianna Armstrong says.
She is talking about disaster. With the recent catastrophic event that was associated with Hurricane Harvey, it really opens your eyes to what a major disaster can do. The Kern County Fire Department and Kern County Public Health team is teaming up for disaster preparedness month speaking to every person of every language about this important issue.
"The tragedy of it, its something I think you cant ignore," Armstrong says. "I think its something we should all be paying attention to and think, What if?"
What if? What if these disasters happened here? These are the most likely disasters that would happen to Kern County according to Armstrong....Earthquakes, major power outages, flooding, and the most scary one in our area, dam failure.
There have been seepage issues with the Isabella Dam according to the Army Corps of Engineers. They say they’ve been working to fix the seepage issues and that dam failure is “unlikely” ...still - Armstrong says we should be prepared just in case.
"Food supply that doesn’t rely on power to keep it cold, keeping your car filled with fuel, having that communication plan, having that reunification plan, what would you do if the power was out sort of thing," Armstrong says.
Because this month, they want you to have the power to be prepared and safe….if disaster strikes.
Kern County Public Health Services wants you to get safety warnings and info fast by signing up at Readykern.com for much needed tips on how to be prepared and stay safe.
