Coffee and Disaster (Preparedness)

“Is the city ready to respond to a disaster?” one neighbor asked.

Carl, a representative of Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management and Crown Hill neighbor, assured the group that The City has an extensive disaster management plan. Before the group completed their sigh of relief, Carl went on to explain why, even with that all of that planning, neighbors will need to depend on each other in the first days after a major earthquake.

Not exactly the conversation you’d expect on a mild and sunny Saturday – but a very important one. In the comfortable Theater at Aegis Living Greenwood, neighbors watched a model house rocking and heaving on an earthquake simulator and learned which types of earthquakes are the most dangerous, and which are the most likely to occur in our area.

Did you know that the City of Seattle provides a hazard explorer, where you can check out the unique risks of your own block?

The topic of the meeting was unsettling, but also inspiring, as neighbors began to see how we can prepare together. The group learned about our network of volunteer-run emergency hubs, and how we might support them, and use them in the event of an emergency, and we met with local businesses that can help with disaster preparedness.

The audience was a mix of neighbors, business owners, and board members. “Attending the disaster preparedness class was super informative, as well as an important reminder of how important it is to connect and plan with our neighbors,” said Paris Loutsis, board member and Senior Program Supervisor at Small Faces Child Development Center.

If you weren’t able to attend this eye-opening and informative presentation, it’s not too late! You can arrange for the training on your block! One Crown Hill neighbor did just that last summer when she hosted a block party for neighbors to learn and plan together. You can read about and schedule the class for your block.

Special thanks to Mimi’s Zero Waste Market who donated buckets for attendees to go home, ready to “go” even without running water.

Thanks, also, to John from Sound Seismic who was on hand to chat with folks. Sound Seismic will be hosting a webinar in April to discuss preparing your home and family for an earthquake. Check out our Events page for details!

The event was hosted by Aegis Living Greenwood in their beautiful new space across from QFC. They welcomed us with a spread of coffee and pastries and made us comfortable in their theater. What a wonderful new neighbor!

Crown Hill Village is working with the Neighborhood Emergency Hubs to make sure our emergency hub is on point and that we have supplies to respond to a disaster. But it will take more than a box of supplies to support our community! Join the Crown Hill Connectors program to be the conduit for preparing your block before an emergency and to build a web of response as we respond to an emergency.