Crime & Safety
Culver City Disaster Drill Set For Thursday
A disaster preparedness drill will be happening in town today, in conjunction with the California Shake-Out statewide earthquake drill.
Culver City residents are encouraged to Drop, Cover and Hold On on Thursday morning, then practice their household Disaster Plan in the evening at 7 p.m.
The California Shake-Out statewide drill happens at 10:20 a.m., when residents and employees are encouraged to drop to the ground, seek cover under a table, desk or other heavy piece of furniture and hold on to practice what to do during an earthquake. City employees will also grab emergency kits and evacuate buildings, including members of the public.
Also, the will be present at , as students practice for the emergency.
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In addition, for the later city-wide evening drill, residents are asked to place their Okay Signs somewhere easily seen from the street so that they can be counted by area Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members. In an emergency, the signs indicate that there are no injuries on the property, making it easier for CERT members to help the injured faster and direct resources where they are most needed.
Placing the signs for the drill will help the city gauge community response and preparedness.
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"We'd been doing it every Dec. 7, rain or shine," said Christine Parra, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for Culver City, about the drill that has been happening for the past eight years. "We began to receive requests making the recommendation that we switch it over to the day of the Shake Out."
The city made the switch last year. Parra said that it didn't really affect participation then, with roughly the same 4,000 households participating that had always participated. However, she said that she has been getting more phone calls about the drills this year, thanks to publicity about the Shake Out.
City emergency responders will also be running drills Thursday as well.
"We're going to have a drill that night with our Emergency Operations Center," said Lt. Ron Iizuka, of the Culver City Police Department.
While he did not disclose details, he said that the police officers would be working with fire fighters.
Parra said that the drill would help city emergency responders see how the new Emergency Operations Center works in a variety of scenarios, including having their radios go out.
"It's a big deal for us," she said. "It's a really important drill."
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