Drop! Cover! Hold On! at 10:20 a.m. October 20 during Great BC Shake Out

Exercise will include community-wide test of new SquamishAlert

October 20 marks the return ofShakeOutBC, a province-wide earthquake drill during which hundreds of thousands of residents will ‘Drop, Cover and Hold On’ at 10:20 a.m. sharp. Aimed at raising awareness about how to prepare to survive and recover quickly from big earthquakes, the drill currently has over 770,000 registered participants across B.C.

The District of Squamish joins its provincial neighbours, and encourages all residents and businesses to participate. Part of the exercise will involve a community-wide test of the new SquamishAlert emergency notification system that will send a test emergency notification to all subscribed residents by voice, email or text. 1,700 residents have signed up to date for this free emergency notification (approximately 12% of Squamish adults), and that number continues to rise. Residents can sign up at squamish.ca/alert.

“This is an important opportunity to talk about emergency preparedness and ask yourself the very important question: Are you ready?” says District of Squamish Mayor Patricia Heintzman. “District employees across all municipal buildings will participate in this exercise, along with children in all of our schools. The District has a robust emergency plan in place, but a key piece of community resilience is to ensure we’re prepared for our own individual safety, especially during those first critical 72 hours.” 

Tune into Mountain FM where you will hear an audio simulation of an earthquake at 10:20 a.m.

Get prepared. Sign up for the earthquake drill today. For more information and to register for the Great B.C. Shake Out, visit www.shakeoutbc.ca.

The Squamish Emergency Program is responsible for coordinating procedures to mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from large-scale emergencies. Emergency Program staff work in partnership with the Squamish Nation, local first response agencies and neighbouring communities to develop and implement plans and programs to protect the community during disasters. 

Visit the Squamish Emergency Program web page to learn how to be prepared in the event of a major emergency, and sign up to receive important emergency notifications at squamish.ca/alert

October 19, 2016

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