September is National Preparedness Month

Walla Walla county and the cities of College Place, Waitsburg and Walla Walla have committed to partici- pate in National Preparedness Month to increase preparedness throughout the U.S. The event, now in its ninth year, is a nationwide, month-long effort hosted by the Ready Campaign, Citizen Corps and locally by Walla Walla County Emergency Management encouraging households, businesses and communi- ties to prepare and plan for emergencies.

Emergencies can hap- pen anytime and anywhere without notice. One of NPM's key messages is encouraging citizens to be prepared in the event an emergency causes you to be self-reliant for three days without utilities and electricity, water service, access to a supermarket or local services, or without response from police, fire or rescue. Preparing can start with four important steps:

1. Be informed about emergencies that could happen in your community, and identify sources of information in your community that will be helpful before, during and after an emergency.

2. Make a plan for what to do in an emergency.

3. Build an emergency supply kit.

4. Get involved.

Local Walla Walla pre- paredness information will be posted to www.wwemd. info and you can follow Walla Walla County Emer- gency Management on Facebook and Twitter @ WallaWallaEM.