PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY – (Press Release) National Preparedness Month is a yearly campaign during the month of September intended to raise awareness of the need for individuals, families, neighborhoods, communities, businesses, and the nation to be prepared for natural, human-caused, and technological disasters.
This year’s theme is Prepared, Not Scared with a special emphasis on empowering children to make decisions in an emergency when parents are not around.
“Emergency preparedness is a shared responsibility across individual households, community organizations, and all levels of government” says Brian Misner, Emergency Management Coordinator. “As the Southeastern United States braces for impacts from Hurricane Dorian, it’s important to remember that we face many hazards in Prince William County, which can occur at any time of the year.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has created weekly themes that will focus on a different area of disaster preparedness to help households, especially those with children, to be more prepared, resilient, and confident:
- Week 1 (Sept. 1-7): Save Early for a Disaster
- Week 2 (Sept. 8-14): Make a Plan to Prepare for Disasters
- Week 3 (Sept. 15-21): Teach Youth to Prepare for Disaster
- Week 4 (Sept. 22-30): Get Involved in Your Community’s Preparedness
Each week, Prince William County Emergency Management will share preparedness tips and resources through our Ready Prince William campaign on social media (Twitter: @ReadyPWC & Facebook), and on our website pwcgov.org/ready. We also invite the community to visit us at Public Safety Day on Saturday, September 21st from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM at County Complex.
The 2019 National Preparedness Month campaign kicks off Monday, September 2nd, and will run through the end of the month. Although there is a concerted effort to provide preparedness information and encourage action throughout the month of September, disaster and emergency planning is something that should be practiced year-round.
