Preparedness

It finally happened. Nearly four months to the day of the tsunami warning of June 14, the city of Newport Beach managed to allocate some time during its afternoon study session to give our fire chief, Tim Riley, the opportunity to discuss disaster preparedness. If you missed it -- which you probably did, since there were only two of us in the audience -- you missed an excellent presentation. It was impressive, honest and refreshing. I strongly recommend that you try to catch the rerun of the City Council study session, or better yet, watch the rerun on your computer.

Listen to the radio or other media for information on where to go and what to do. Having a battery-powered radio is a must in case the power goes out. Design a family emergency plan. Pick two places to meet in case of an emergency: one outside your house and another outside your neighborhood. Designate an out-of-state friend or relative to be your family contact in case of emergency. Keep important papers in a safe place. Familiarize yourself with how to evacuate your home or office.

Before Sept 11, 2001, Dr. Kristi Koenig belonged to a tiny community of people making careers in disaster preparedness. Then terrorists struck the World Trade Center, and suddenly Koenig and her colleagues were joined by a slew of disaster "experts" hitting the talk show circuit and often disseminating conflicting or bad information. "We call them the 9/12ers," Koenig jokes. Koenig's interest in emergency medicine began long before Sept. 11, when she attended Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and regularly rode on paramedic ambulances through the streets of Harlem.

The Newport Beach Fire Department will host a free disaster preparedness expo Saturday at the Newport Beach Central Library. Disaster supply kit vendors will be at the event, which is from 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Attendees can receive information about building a disaster supply kit and how to prepare families and neighbors in the case of a disaster, according to a Fire Department news release. The event is open to all Orange County residents. — Lauren Williams Twitter: @lawilliams30

Invest a little time, a little effort, and see a big payoff. That?s what Costa Mesa fire officials say residents will see if they enroll in Community Emergency Response Team classes starting Saturday. The Costa Mesa Fire Department is offering free CERT classes for anyone 18 years or older for the next three Saturdays ? April 5, 12 and 19. The free classes help prepare the everyday Joe for natural disasters like earthquakes or flooding, or man-made catastrophes like hazardous materials spills.

Whether it’s for a college applications or high school graduation requirements, nowadays kids everywhere are volunteering community service hours. On Monday, a group of boys were doing that very thing when they stopped by the Bayview Landing Senior Apartment Homes in Newport Beach to hand out disaster kits. Except they weren’t keeping a precise tally on hours for school credit; they were doing it just because. “It feels like more of an accomplishment than when you’re doing it for a job. When you’re working for the money,” said 15-year-old Nick McGuiness, a freshman at Corona del Mar High School.

Newport Beach and Costa Mesa fire departments still need participants in their Community Emergency Response Team program. The program’s participants will gain skills in emergency preparedness and mitigation techniques, fire suppression, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, and team organization. Costa Mesa’s class will be on Saturdays, starting Sept. 29, or on Tuesday and Thursday evenings beginning Oct. 16. For more information contact the program coordinator at (714)

The Newport Beach Fire Department will host an Earthquake Awareness Workshop today from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Newport beach City Hall Council Chambers. Instructors will cover the basics of earthquake preparation, including the type of faults that flow under Newport, the city's plan during a natural disaster and what residents can do to prepare. It will be similar to the recent tsunami workshop. Attendants will receive information on disaster supply kits and how to secure home appliances.

In Newport-Mesa, the Sea Kings are, well, the kings of college-preparedness, according to the Washington Post. The newspaper has ranked Corona del Mar High School the highest in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and placed it nearly 100 spots above the best-ranked Irvine Unified High School. "For the first time any of us can ever remember, Newport-Mesa outranked Irvine this year," Assistant Supt. Charles Hinman said during Tuesday's school board meeting to applause.

The Newport Beach Fire Department will host a free disaster preparedness expo Saturday at the Newport Beach Central Library. Disaster supply kit vendors will be at the event, which is from 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Attendees can receive information about building a disaster supply kit and how to prepare families and neighbors in the case of a disaster, according to a Fire Department news release. The event is open to all Orange County residents. — Lauren Williams Twitter: @lawilliams30

Earthquakes and hurricanes in the East. Fires in Texas. No matter where you turn, Mother Nature is putting police and fire departments to the test. If a major disaster struck Southern California, would you know what to do? The Newport Beach Fire Department is offering disaster preparedness classes twice a week on weekdays or on a Saturday-only schedule. Starting at 7 p.m. Sept. 22, Newport will start its Tuesday-Thursday Community Emergency Response Team classes that teach students everything from search-and-rescue and disaster psychology to CPR and how to put out a fire.

NEWPORT BEACH — Venus de Milo reproductions have been rescued and repaired before, but in the case of one local garden, this plaster Aphrodite has never looked so "green. " The repurposed classical reproduction at Irene Dunlap's Newport Beach home now features lush succulents and trailing vines dripping from its midsection. Now a unique garden planter, it is just one of the many unusual home décor offerings to be auctioned for charity this weekend. Thursday evening through Sunday, Dunlap will open her home and garden to the public for the third annual A Harvest of Hope fundraiser.

Whether it’s for a college applications or high school graduation requirements, nowadays kids everywhere are volunteering community service hours. On Monday, a group of boys were doing that very thing when they stopped by the Bayview Landing Senior Apartment Homes in Newport Beach to hand out disaster kits. Except they weren’t keeping a precise tally on hours for school credit; they were doing it just because. “It feels like more of an accomplishment than when you’re doing it for a job. When you’re working for the money,” said 15-year-old Nick McGuiness, a freshman at Corona del Mar High School.

A group of Orange County residents gathered this week at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, waiting to walk through radiation detectors to see if they had been contaminated by fallout from the San Onofre nuclear power plant. Firefighters and sheriff’s deputies stood by to direct people toward designated processing areas — one for those who had been exposed to radiation and needed to be decontaminated, and another for the fortunate ones who escaped the fallout.

GET READY at the City’s Disaster Preparedness Expo The Huntington Beach Fire Department, coordinating with the Emergency Operations Center, is sponsoring a Disaster Preparedness Expo on Saturday, February 20 at the Central Library from 10:00 am-2:00 pm. Learn from experts what types of City resources are available, at this first of an annual event.  The event is free and will include fun and exciting demonstrations, information about local disaster volunteer organizations, disaster preparedness vendors (no sales only literature)

Corona del Mar residents have a chance to learn the basics of disaster preparedness tonight when the Newport Beach Fire Department hosts an expo at Sherman Library and Gardens, 2647 E. Coast Hwy. From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. the fire department is joining the Corona del Mar Residents Assn. for a seminar on how to prepare neighborhood homes in case of a disaster. Call (949) 644-3112 or e-mail nbcert@nbfd.net . The department is hosting a citywide preparedness expo from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. Sept.