Minor earthquakes have become a fairly regular occurrence in recent weeks for residents of the Coachella Valley, but a local emergency committee wants to make sure the community is prepared for a disaster.
The Emergency Preparedness Committee and the Desert Hot Springs Community Task Force partnered to host an “Earthquake and Emergency Preparedness Seminar” at the high school gym on Saturday.
The Desert Hot Springs police chief and the CAL Fire chief were among the speakers who stressed the importance for the community to be ready for the unknown.
Chief Eddy Moore with the CAL Fire West Desert Region, said, “We don’t know what the severity of the shaking or the severity of that incident is going to be.”
One of the residents at Saturday’s seminar was Rebecca Bledsoe, she was accompanied with friends and she said she wants to learn what to do in case of an earthquake.
Blodsoe said, “We just had a few earthquakes, very small but with those happening we assume there may be a big one on the horizons.”
Attendees like Blodsoe were given information on items they should keep at homes in case of an emergency. Some of the items include food and water for a week, a portable radio with extra batteries, and a first aid kit.
Chief Moore said, “Being self-reliant for a couple of days and understand that the fire department we are here and we will be doing surveys and we will be doing our rounds, it’s just going to take a little bit.”
Also with the hot and dry weather of the desert, fires are also a possible disaster the Coachella Valley faces, but those can be prevented.
But besides sharing emergency response information, the seminar also also allowed for the community to meet their local emergency response agencies, and those agencies made sure to let the community know they are there solely for emergencies.
Chief Moore said, “If you don’t have a true emergency, don’t dial 9-1-1, don’t dial 9-1-1 to simply ask a question, be self-reliant.”
