Take part in disaster preparedness, join CLEPC

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Want to learn more about Canyon Lake’s disaster preparedness and perhaps become a volunteer in the Canyon Lake Emergency Preparedness Committee? All are invited to the next CLEPC meeting on Thursday, September 2, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the City Multi-purpose Room/Council Chamber.

Preparing for Disaster

By Nancy Carroll, CLEPC

Special to The Friday Flyer

The Canyon Lake Emergency Preparedness Committee currently is made up of 130 volunteers. Everyone has a job. Some volunteer many hours, some only a few. But everyone is trained in something.

The most important job CLEPC has and the job that needs the most volunteers is Damage Assessor. In a disaster, the most important and most immediate job is to send Damage Assessors out into the community to assess where the most need is. Our first priority is to our citizens and their well being.

Damage Assessors give us information as to whether we need  a casualty collection point or a shelter. They also provide information with regard to property damage. Within a very short time and with enough volunteers we can get a good handle on what we have to deal with.

This gives us the information we need to assist our citizens who might be injured or homeless from the event. It also tells us where the worst damage is and where we need the most resources and the type of resources.

For a small city such as ours, we need many trained volunteers. Any outside help will be very little to none for at least 72 hours or more. Since many Canyon Lake citizens work outside the community and/or travel often, we need three times more volunteers than we would use at any one time. That way, when our disaster hits, enough people will be here to do the job until the others get home.

Our biggest need is a trained force of Damage Assessors. They meet at one of the City’s five designated areas in the community by joining a team of three to four other members. They drive some of the streets in their area and report what they see and find out from the people they talk with.

This gives the command post the big picture and lets them know where the biggest problems are. The training for this job is easy and clear to understand.

Other areas that we train in are Sheltering, Casualty Collection and our Emergency Command Post. Training is free and painless and, once trained, we practice once or twice a year.

The Canyon Lake Emergency Preparedness Committee meets once a month on the first Thursday of each month, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the City Multi-purpose Room/City Council Chamber (downstairs from City Hall). Speakers speak on subjects related to Emergency Preparedness. The next meeting is September 3.

The “Great California Shake Out” is coming up on October 15. CLECP will be participating along with other cities, schools, hospitals and businesses. Let’s show them what we’ve got.  To learn more about Canyon Lake Emergency Preparedness and the five designated areas of the community, see the section by that title near the center of the Canyon Lake Residential Directory; or visit cityofcanyonlake.org and click on “Services” and “Disaster Preparedness.”