Now is the time to prepare for an earthquake, wind-driven wildfire, or other emergency. When natural disaster strikes, you will have to act fast.
You might want to start by reading What to Expect in an Emergency in Dillon Beach, then return to this page.
Also, here's an excellent guide from the San Francisco Chronicle that gives life-saving information you can use. Download How to Survive
And here's some good advice from the LA Times on what to do when everything starts to shake. How to protect yourself.
We all need to think about how we will contact family members not with us, how to feed and shelter ourselves in the likely event that Dillon Beach is cut off from the rest of the world, what to do if we have to evacuate, and how we will help our neighbors deal with the emergency.
The resources on this page can guide you through the planning process to help keep you and your family safe when the time comes.
Family Contact Plan
You’ll want to be able to contact family members who might not be with you when an event occurs. Take 5 minutes and plan now so everyone knows what to do.
Pick two family meeting places:
A location that is a safe distance from your home in case of fire.
A place outside your neighborhood in case you cannot return home.
Set a schedule for everyone to check into those locations until the entire family is together. For example, go to the first location at the top of every odd-numbered hour and the second location at the top of every even-numbered hour.
Choose an out-of-area contact person for everyone to call.
With more time, download and complete these guides to organize and record important information for you and your family:
FEMA’s Family Communication Plan (PDF)
ReadyMarin's Emergency Plan Cards (PDF)
Grab & Go Checklist
Don’t wait until it’s time to leave the house to think about what you’ll want to take with you.
If you had 10 minutes to evacuate, what 10 items you would take? Filling out this checklist is a great planning exercise to do by yourself and with your family (every family member can do his or her own).
Put the list in your Evacuation Backpack. You could even collect some items ahead of time and put them in the Backpack with your list. Or keep them together in another safe and convenient place.
ReadyMarin's Grab & Go Checklist (PDF)
Evacuation Plan
Evacuate immediately if told to do so, as delaying could risk your life.
If you determine that you should evacuate your house or if fire department personnel or other authorities direct you to leave, you should know in advance what to do and where you’ll be going. Put a plan together now.
The Evacuation Plan Checklist is a detailed guide to prepare and plan for the evacuation process. Print it out, review it, and keep it on hand. For information on how to talk to your children in such an emergency on the ReadyMarin Ready Kids page.
ReadyMarin's Evacuation Plan Checklist (PDF)
If You’re Ok and Can Help Your Neighbors
Your first responsibility in an emergency will be to take care of yourself and your family. When you’ve done that, it will be time to help neighbors in need.
DBERT has a detailed Emergency Plan (PDF) in place to mobilize community resources — including you — to make sure we all get through any emergency in the best shape possible. You might want to read the plan. But the most important thing to know is where to go to help.
DBERT managers will be organizing resources at neighborhood Emergency Sheds.