Growing up in Salt Lake City, Utah preparing for natural disasters was part of daily life. My high school, East High School, (you may remember it from such movies as High School Musical) was actually built on a fault line. During my Freshman year the SLC school district tore down the school and built a new one that would be able to “roll” with an earthquake if one occurred. As a young person growing up in Salt Lake I remember participating in as many earthquake drills as fire drills. I remember being in 2nd grade and when the fire alarm would sound, the school made it sound different from a typical fire alarm so we would know it was an earthquake drill. We would then calmly huddle under our desks during the drill, wait for our teacher to tell us it was safe to leave and then leave in an orderly fashion to a designated spot in the field outside the school.
Why did I mention the above stories? Mostly because I enjoy reliving my childhood as far as public safety prevention is concerned (next blog post should be on my love of D.A.R.E), but also because I think DC should be excited about the Great SouthEast ShakeOut Tomorrow! Please see details below:
Good afternoon Jana,
On October 18, 2012 at 10:18 a.m. EDT, more than 890,000 people across five states and the District of Columbia are scheduled to take part in the first ever Great SouthEast ShakeOut. The ShakeOut is a regional earthquake drill in which participants simultaneously practice the recommended action during an earthquake. This action is known as “Drop, Cover, and Hold On”, which means:
- DROP to the ground
- Take COVER by getting under a sturdy desk or table, and
- HOLD-ON to it until the shaking stops
The states of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia are encouraging their schools, businesses, organizations, government agencies, communities, and households to participate in this historic event. These states are being supported by the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC, www.cusec.org), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA, www.fema.gov), and many other local, state, federal and volunteer partners.