Get Hurricane Ready and Be Hurricane Strong
Community Disaster Preparedness Event to be Held on June 2
The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1. Residents should begin preparing now. To help, the City of Tallahassee, Leon County Government and the Capital Area Chapter of the American Red Cross will host the fourth annual Build Your Bucket disaster preparedness expo on Saturday, June 2, from 9 a.m. to noon at the North Florida Fairgrounds, 441 Paul Russell Road. Gates will open at 8:30 a.m.
This year’s Build Your Bucket will be a family-friendly expo with demonstrations, information and exhibits. The first 800 households will receive a free disaster preparedness bucket and critical starter supplies.
There will be four bucket pick-up stations in Building 2 at the fairgrounds. After picking up a bucket, attendees will visit exhibitors at their own pace to collect supplies and learn about local resources for surviving and recovering from any disaster. More than 30 community response groups will be on hand to provide valuable information and supplies.
Disaster events can be scary for children. To help them be prepared, Red Cross will offer special Pillowcase Project workshops during the expo in the meeting room of Building 2 at 9:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Using three steps – Learn, Practice and Share – children learn how to stay safe in an emergency. The Pillowcase Project is taught by trained Red Cross volunteers in a 45-minute session. Children who participate receive their own abbreviated preparedness toolkit, which includes a “My Preparedness Workbook.”
Adding to the activities, a Touch-a-Truck area will be set up outside Building 2. Attendees can explore a variety of vehicles big and small from local response agencies, such as the Tallahassee Fire Department, Leon County Emergency Medical Services, Salvation Army and more. At Touch-a-Truck, families can interact with local first responders to learn about what they do during disasters and become familiar with the uniforms that could arrive to assist them when they need it most.
Attendees should use the Monroe Street entrance to the fairgrounds. Parking is free and will be available on the northwest portion of the property. Handicap parking will be available adjacent to Building 2. Parking attendants will be on hand to help direct traffic.
Expo details can be found at https://adobe.ly/2Ikfca5 or by checking out the event on Facebook. For more information about local preparedness and resources, visit the Leon County Emergency Information Portal at www.LeonCountyFL.gov/EI and the City of Tallahassee Public Safety page at Talgov.com. During a disaster, information is also posted to both agencies’ Twitter accounts, @LeonCounty and @COTNews.
###