State, federal and local agencies, nonprofits and utilities were all represented at the 2019 Community Resiliency Fair, sponsored by the Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management on Saturday at the Peninsula Center Mall in Soldotna.
The community-focused event provided information and answers for residents on disaster preparedness and on resilience after a disaster strikes and during the recovery period.
Dan Nelson, Emergency Manager, Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management:“We had quite a list of vendors. I think we had 18 different vendors like Homer Electric Association; we have a lot of our volunteer organizations like the American Red Cross, folks from communications like the HAM radio club, even KSRM helping with getting the word out and getting warnings out in case of emergency.”
The purpose of the Community Resiliency Fair was sharing of information.
Nelson: “What we’re really trying to do with our Resiliency Fair is take the message to the next step. Our telephone tells us that there’s an earthquake and a tsunami warning but what does that really mean? Our volunteer organizations, our first responders like our fire departments and National Guard are going through different booths and different areas and tell people what that really means and it means and it depends on where you live. We are here in the central peninsula, but hoping to do this in other areas because in Homer or Seward might be a little different action than her in Soldotna or Kenai.”
According to Nelson, preparedness really comes down to the individual.
Nelson: “We can’t thank our first responders, our military, any of those folks enough, but really in our community we know that it comes down to the individual–it comes to you or I, it comes to our household, it comes to our extend families. That’s who needs to be prepared; that’s who needs to have those tools because it’s their resiliency at that level that means the first responders, our military, any of those folks can do their job that they train for everyday. Be prepared to be resilient.”
Booths included: Alaska Dept. of Health and Social Services, Community Emergency Response Team, Homer Electric Association, Peninsula Fire Chiefs Association, Central Emergency Services, Soldotna Public Safety Communication Center, Moose Horn Radio Group, Points on Prevention Coalition, AK Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Independent Living Center, Red Cross of Alaska, Enstar, KSRM Radio Group, Alaska Army National Guard, Central Peninsula General Hospital, Office of Emergency Management, Kenai Peninsula Prevention Coalition Group, CompK9.
The idea for the fair stemmed from the recent earthquakes and tsunami warnings on the Kenai Peninsula. For more information call 907-262-2097 or email [email protected].
