Hazard Mitigation Open Houses

Do you need information about how to prepare for winter storms? Do you want information about how your local government and emergency responders plan to minimize the effects of natural hazards such as flooding, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and winter storms? The Cowlitz County Department of Emergency Management is holding three meetings on November 19th at the following locations throughout Cowlitz County:

10:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m.---Castle Rock Exhibit Hall (147 Front Street)

2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.---Woodland City Hall (230 Davidson Street)

7:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m.---Cowlitz County PUD Auditorium (961 12th Ave, Longview)

Attendees will learn how to prepare for a winter storm and receive advice on what actions to take during a storm event. Additionally, staff from the Cowlitz Wahkiakum Council of Governments will present information about the current planning process for the county's Hazard Mitigation Plan. This important plan includes specific actions and programs necessary to minimize the losses during future natural disasters. The discussion will include a proposed scope of work for completing the federal update requirements and information on how the public can participate in the planning process.

Members of the public are invited to attend the meeting to learn about the hazards affecting our county and the Hazard Mitigation Plan update process. For more information, please contact Matt Hermen or T.J. Keiran at (360) 577-3041.

Spring Ahead, Fall Back

Daylight saving time was last weekend, did you change your smoke detector batteries? I know I'm a little late to the party, story of my life, but daylight saving time is not only a great time to change out your smoke detector batteries, but also to rotate out some of the stored food and water that you have in your emergency kits. Some dried, canned and otherwise non-perishable foods are ok to consume a little past their prime, but if you have granola bars in your kit that were made when Clinton was in office, you may want to consider tossing them. Also, pay attention to the dates on your bottled water. It may seem like water should last forever (which it does) but the plastic containers do not. Eventually plastics (especially PET, PETE, and HDPE types, generally 1's and 2's in the little recycling triangle) begin to degrade and leach chemicals into the water. After the plastic is beyond its "use by" date, it's best just to dump it out and recycle the container. On a slightly related note, does anyone else find daylight saving time vaguely disturbing? The fact that someone can just say, "ok, now it's 6:00, not 7:00", and that's just the way it is? It's not only that, it's the fact that "time" i.e. hours, minutes, seconds, is merely a concept constructed by own minds in order to attempt to quantify infinity. Ok, no more coffee today.

Cooking in the Dark, An Additional Class

Response to the "Cooking in the Dark" classes have been overwhelming and we are now full! I have added a third class on December 1st, 6:00 pm, General Meeting Room of the Cowlitz County Administration Building (third floor), 207 N. 4th Ave. If you are interested in this hands-on learning opportunity and have not signed up yet, please send me an email at DEM@co.cowlitz.wa.us or call the office at 577-3130 to sign up.

H1N1 Info Line

An H1N1 information line has been established. For more information on the H1N1 virus and vaccine information you can call the H1N1 Info Line at 1-877-510-2772.

How Will You Cook When the Lights Go Out?

Rough winter weather is on its way and with it, comes the threat of a long-term power outage. The Department of Emergency Management is excited to offer an exciting new class called Cooking in the Dark. This class offers a hands-on chance to learn how to plan for, and prepare, two-weeks worth of meals with NO electricity.

You will learn:
· How to prepare food without power for up to two weeks
· How long food can last in a fridge or freezer following power outage
· Proper long-term water storage
· What non-food items are necessary for survival

The class will be held on November 19th at 6:00 p.m. at the Cowlitz County Training Center, 1942 1st Avenue, Longview (building just south of the Hall of Justice). Marcie Maynes of Simple-Safety will teach you the basics of power outage survival and will be assisting you in preparing actual recipes, so come hungry and leave full of ideas! Prepare to be your own hero! If you are interested in attending this FREE class, please click here to send an email to register.

How Prepared Are YOU?

From Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency (CRESA)
Let’s test your personal preparedness level for H1N1 (Swine Flu). Answer the following questions with a "yes" or "no":

• Have you received your seasonal flu vaccine?


• Will you receive your H1N1 vaccine as it becomes available to your priority group?


• When you cough, do you cover your nose and mouth with your elbow, shoulder or use a tissue that is immediately thrown in the garbage?


• Do you regularly avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth?


• Do you wash your hands often, especially after you cough or sneeze? Or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer regularly?


• When you wash your hands, do you sing your ABC’s or "happy birthday" twice?


• Do you try to avoid contact with people who are exhibiting signs of being sick?


• Do you stay home from work or community events when you are sick (even if you have important things to do for our community)?


• If you or your family member has a fever, do you stay home for at least 24 hours AFTER the fever has gone away?


• Is your home stocked with enough food, hand sanitizer, over-the-counter medications, tissues and other related items so that you can stay home for several days and minimize contact with others?

If you can answer "yes" to 8-10 of these questions, you are very prepared for this flu season. If you only answered "yes" to a few of these questions, consider becoming more prepared because as you prepare, you help your whole community.

New Information on H1N1

The Health Departments in Region IV (Clark, Cowlitz, Skamania and Wahkiakum counties) are working together under Incident Command to manage the H1N1 virus. Instead of posting information on various blogs and websites for each county, the Command Post has now established a central website for consistency. Please visit http://www.flunewsswwashington.org/ for the latest information.

Cowlitz County DEM will continue to provide emergency information as necessary, but updates specific to H1N1 will be posted by Region IV Incident Command at the above website.

Winter Weather Awareness Week

Next week begins "Winter Weather Awareness Week," an annual campaign from the National Weather Service. It's time once again to break out the emergency lighting, heavy boots and umbrellas. Power outages are also common this time of year. If your water supply could be affected by a power outage (a well-water pump system), fill your bathtub and spare containers with water. Water in the bathtub should be used for sanitation purposes only, not as drinking water. Pouring a pail of water from the tub directly into the bowl can flush a toilet. Click here to visit the National Weather Service website and learn more about Winter Weather.

H1N1 Vaccine Begins to Arrive in SW Washington

From CRESA blog
The first shipment of H1N1 vaccine arrived today in Southwest Washington. The 2,890 doses arrived at Clark County Public Health in intra-nasal form and were shared with health jurisdictions in Cowlitz, Skamania and Wahkiakum counties.Vaccine will first be made available to two priority groups, including healthcare workers and emergency responders who provide direct patient care, and to children in childcare or other group settings. Intra-nasal vaccine is suitable for healthy individuals between the ages of 2 and 49. It cannot be given to pregnant women.Hospitals in the four-county region will receive vaccine directly from the vaccine distributor, and will use the vaccine for staff who provide direct care.More intra-nasal H1N1 vaccine is expected to arrive in the region next week. Injectable vaccine is expected to arrive later in the month. Public health officials are encouraging everyone to get vaccinated against seasonal flu now and H1N1 (swine flu) as supplies allow. Because supplies may be limited initially, the vaccine will first be offered to those at highest risk of complications from H1N1. These include:

• Pregnant women (injectable vaccine only)
• Persons who live with or provide care for infants younger than 6 months (e.g., parents, siblings, and daycare providers)
• Health-care and emergency medical services personnel
• Persons ages 6 months--24 years
• Persons ages 25--64 years who have medical conditions that put them at higher risk for influenza-related complications

More information about the response to H1N1 (swine flu) in Southwest Washington is available at www.flunewsswwashington.org.

It's National Fire Prevention Week

October 4-10th is National Fire Prevention Week. In recognition of National Fire Prevention week, we encourage you to follow these simple steps to protect yourselves and your loved ones from fire and burn injuries.

• Keep hot foods and liquids away from table and counter edges.

• Have a 3-foot "kid-free" zone around the stove.

• Never hold a child in your arms while preparing hot food or drinking a hot beverage.

• Be careful when using things that get hot such as curling irons, oven, irons, lamps, heaters.

• Install tamper-resistant receptacles to prevent a child from sticking an object in the outlet.

• Never leave a child alone in a room with a lit candle, portable heater, lit fireplace or stove, or where a hot appliance might be in use.

• Wear short or close-fitting sleeves when cooking.

• Set your hot water temperature no higher than 120 degrees.

• Install anti-scald valves on shower heads and faucets.

Be sure to come check out the DEM table at the Cowlitz 2 Fire and Rescue Open House this Saturday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. See you there!