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Long Beach highlights National Preparedness Month, relaunches Ready Long Beach and schedules preparedness events
Summary
City officials marked National Preparedness Month, described recent responses to fires, tsunami advisories and extreme heat, relaunched the Ready Long Beach neighborhood program and announced an October preparedness expo and Great ShakeOut drill.
Long Beach officials on Sept. 16 marked National Preparedness Month and urged residents to prepare for natural and man-made disasters, citing the city's recent responses to regional fires, a July tsunami advisory and ongoing extreme heat.
The presentation, led by Reggie Harrison, director of disaster preparedness and emergency communications, summarized the city's recent deployments and outreach. Harrison said 20 non‑sworn city staff assisted neighboring jurisdictions during January fires that killed 12 people and destroyed structures. He noted the city issued tsunami advisories in July and opened cooling centers repeatedly during the recent heat wave.
Harrison said the city relaunched its Ready Long Beach neighborhood program to train neighbors to support each other in the hours after a disaster before first responders arrive. He announced a Ready Long Beach preparedness expo on Oct. 12 at Veterans Stadium and encouraged participation in the Great ShakeOut earthquake drill on Oct. 16.
Mayor Rex Richardson and other council members thanked Harrison and staff from the health department, emergency management and 911 communications for their ongoing work preparing the city. Richardson said residents should feel confident that city staff “spend all day full time preparing” for disasters.
The city did not present new budget figures or changes to staffing during the presentation. Officials framed the announcements as outreach and preparedness activities and did not take formal action during the meeting.
Looking ahead, the city is promoting neighborhood-level drills and the October expo to expand public preparedness training and awareness.
