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.
District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Chris T. Geldart is encouraging all of the District’s stakeholders to participate. It only takes a couple of minutes to register and it’s easy to do. Visit hsema.dc.gov and click on the Great ShakeOut Banner on HSEMA’s homepage.
Register today for your family, organization, workplace, faith community and let others know too! Share this information with your networks. Here is a wonderful opportunity for the whole community to get prepared. Join the District of Columbia, an Official Participant in the Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill.
Here are links that will take you to the drill’s website and registration:
http://www.shakeout.org/
Regards,
Kim
Kim McCall, Division Director
Outreach and Engagement
District of Columbia
Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency
