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12 | Four Seasons Hemet Herald | OCTOBER 2017 | Be sure to put Thurs., Oct. 19 at 10:19 am on your calendar, and in your smart phone as an alert. This is the date and time for this year's Great Shakeout drill. When that occurs, all participants (hopefully including you) are to imagine that a strong earthquake has struck. The reaction to this should be to immediately 1. DROP 2. COVER, and 3. HOLD ON Hopefully the place you drop to will be under a table, next to a bed or couch, in a hallway, or next to a windowless wall — NOT in a doorway, next to a large window or glass door, or next to a tall, heavy piece of furniture. And don't try to run out of your house, as our roofs are made of concrete tiles that will likely be shaken loose and could be falling! For more information about the Shakeout, see www.shakeout.org/california/ for details. FEMA sponsors a site at : www. ready.gov/. This site will refer you to many resources related to disaster awareness and preparations. The major hurricanes last month highlighted the needs for personal and community preparedness. If you will remember, there were tremendous efforts that went into "staging" of personnel and recovery emergency supplies — and they had days to do that! When a major earthquake strikes, there will ONLY be the "staging" and preparations that we have made in our own households, and those of our families. Personal and community emergency preparation is an on-going process — not just a once-a-year event. We have prepared information packets for each household, and we will have them available at several events this month for those of you who have not already received them. We have three events scheduled for October (in addition to our usual monthly Safety and Preparation Meeting). The first is a Safety Faire on Sat., Oct. 7 from10 am to 2 pm in the Ballroom. We have invited many organizations and vendors who will have information booths, and there will be guest speakers. Then, on Oct. 19 we will use the "Great Shakeout" as an opportunity for our CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) organization to test their knowledge and skills that they have been developing. We would like to see as much participation as possible, so please consider coming by the Lodge at about 11 am to observe our Command Post set-up. The third event will be our participation in the Four Seasons Fall Marketplace on Oct. 28. We will have a booth staffed by some of our CERT members who will explain what we are doing, and what you can do to be better prepared, should a major emergency occur. By preparing for a catastrophic event like a major earthquake, we will be prepared for nearly anything else that might occur. The EPC sponsors our Street Captains and CERT program, which meets every fourth Monday at 10:30 am as a Safety and Preparedness Meeting, in either the Ballroom or the Multipurpose Room at the Lodge. We are fortunate to have experienced and knowledgeable leaders and have practical training exercises to sharpen our skills at helping others. Come join us and see what we are all about! Emergency Preparedness Committee

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