Prepare Petaluma held a preparation forum in October. The highlights are:

• Have an emergency plan that includes communications (a contact outside the area). In an event what will you do? Where will you meet?
• Get a to-go kit ready (if you commute, have one at work or in your car). Strap down large furniture (bookcases and TVs). Keep shoes or hard-soled slippers under your bed.
• Practice your plan with your family.

Here are two tools for doing this:

Rex and OSH both have emergency preparations available.

Connect with your neighbors, even if you don’t talk with them now. Just establish a connection. Say hello. Give them your name. If they are vulnerable (disabled, elderly) trade phone numbers. Make a mental note that they may need to be checked on after a large event or during a heat wave. If you’ve done that, you’ve started a NERT (neighborhood emergency response team). Let us know so we can help your neighbors connect with you via this website. There are many NERTs already active in Petaluma!

That’s it. You’re ready. And you’ve made Petaluma a better place to live because being close-knit means we have a safety net rather than chaos and panic. We’re on our own when it happens. We have about 11 firefighters (+ 4 ambulance) on duty at any one time (for 55,000 people), and they will need to address critical concerns. So we can either be a liability or an asset to our community.

Best,
Tiffany Renée