Contributed by Debra McGhan
11th Annual Emergency Preparedness Expo
09/28/19 – 10 AM - 3 PM
Mat-Su Borough Office of Emergency Services
Curtis D. Menard Sports Center
1001 S Clapp St, Wasilla
The acrid smell of smoke became far too common this summer. Little to no rain, hot temperatures, massive wild fires, melting glaciers resulting in floods, insect infected trees… It’s time we all accept the undeniable facts; the climate is changing. With these changes come more challenges that often result in disasters and emergencies. The question we must all be asking is ‘are we really prepared?’
September is national emergency preparedness month. For the 11th year, the Mat-Su Borough office of Emergency Services will hold the annual Mat-Su Emergency Preparedness Expo at the Menard Sports Center on Saturday, Sept. 28th from 10 am to 3pm. This is your chance to get free access to experts, hands on activities to help you learn and test your skills, vendors that can provide you with the supplies you need plus much more.
If you were told you had to vacate your house in two hours, could you do it and save your most precious treasures? Do you have a plan to sustain yourself and your family if you can’t go home? If your friend has a heart attack or burns their hands trying to save their home, do you know how to help them?
People living north of Willow, near Deshka Landing, McKinley, Swan Lake, Cooper Landing… faced those types of questions and more this summer. Many were forced to evacuate and returned to find nothing but charred ruins.
According to Brock Long, former director at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, we must be prepared beyond having supplies and knowing how to contact emergency services. Long appeared on CBS news recently expressing his concern about the general state of preparedness.
“It’s past time for all of us to do a better job of being prepared,” said Long. “We need to have skills, supplies and make sure we have insurance and not expect the federal government to bail us out.”
The Mat-Su Local Emergency Planning Committee, along with the City of Wasilla, the Red Cross and AARP Alaska are joining together with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Emergency Services and more than 50 exhibitors to present the 11th annual Emergency Preparedness Expo. The goal of this event is to serve the needs of the community by providing all-seasons safety and disaster preparedness information and training at no cost to all residents and visitors.
There will be interactive games and activities, disaster preparedness kit demonstrations, disaster services display, informative presentations, direct to consumer sales, door prizes and a free preparedness kit to the first 100 adults through the door.
The poster contest for youth from five to 18-year-olds will once again be a featured part of the expo. Get your family talking and draw a picture of what emergency preparedness means or looks like to you. You’ll receive a free McDonalds ice cream just for entering. Grand prizes in five age categories win a three-day family emergency kit along with a community service award presented at a Mat-Su Borough assembly meeting.
Don’t just talk about it, take the time to make sure you and your family, friends and co-workers are really ready when emergencies or disasters strike.
You can contact Talon Boeve, Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services expo coordinator at 707-3336 to be an exhibitor or learn more.
