From Mayor Walsh: National Preparedness Month

If the power goes out, do you have flashlights and backup batteries? Do you rely on medication or medical devices that require electricity? If you need to leave your home, do you know where to go or do you have a designated family meeting spot?

Emergencies don’t wait for you to prepare before they strike, and we know all too well that they can happen at any time, anywhere. ‘Emergency preparedness’ sounds daunting, but by taking small actions every week or every month, getting prepared can become part of your regular routine, just like buying groceries or doing laundry.

September is National Preparedness Month and I am asking all Bostonians to join us in taking steps to prepare our households, neighborhoods, and communities. We are constantly working to improve the way we provide vital services to residents and visitors during an emergency. The actions you take now can help keep the City strong and resilient, improving our ability to bounce back and recover more quickly when an emergency does happen.

I encourage you to visit our Ready Boston website where we are providing you with 30 preparedness tips -- one for every day in September. ReadyBoston’s guidelines are modeled from the FEMA ReadyAmerica initiative, and provide steps to help you prepare your household through emergency plans and kits, awareness of hazards, and involvement in community preparedness organizations. Each tip gives an action that you can take to prepare your family, home, work or school, and community. In addition, you can learn more about Community Preparedness Basics by taking our online course at: https://delvalle.bphc.org/readysafehealthy.

We also want you to join us throughout the month with these three events:

September 16, at 1:00 p.m. -- ‘Preparing Your Home’ Twitter chat (#readybos)
September 25, at 6:00 p.m. -- Emergency Response and Recovery Panel: Coming Together to Keep Boston Strong, at the Stephen M. Lawlor Medical Intelligence Center (785 Albany St.)
September 27, at 10:00 a.m. -- National Preparedness Month Event, at the Tobin Community Center (1481 Tremont Street, Roxbury)

Our goal is to educate and empower you. We work hard to ensure that Boston residents and visitors are prepared, but we can’t do it alone. Individuals like you are the most important members of our emergency management team.