Disaster Highlights 2007 0709 v2

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Leandro. Mr. Telehala from the Red Cross explained that recent disasters across the nation have demonstrated that the Red Cross may not be able to meet all of the shelter needs of a community if the disaster is widespread, as was the case with Hurricane Katrina. Local government will likely be called upon to establish and operate its own shelters, with peripheral support from the Red Cross. He also reported that the Red Cross is looking to the Faith Community to become active in shelter training since past experience has shown that many people turn to their place of worship for aid after a disaster. Mr. Telehala introduced Brenda and lack Starr as San Leandro residents who are Red Cross volunteers assigned to assist the City should a disaster occur. They would report to the EOC, determine what level of assistance is needed, and activate Red Cross resources to the extent possible. Mr. Jermanis concluded that staff will work with the Red Cross to establish some training for the City's EOC organization, then work with Ms. Blagg and the Red Cross to take shelter training further into the community. 4. Public Comments Diana Gentry from the Chamber of Commerce reported that she will be working with Marla Blagg to start working with the industrial community on emergency preparedness, then expanding the efforts to other commercial areas. The Chamber recognizes the importance of emergency preparedness but also recovery planning to get the business community back up and functioning as quickly as possible after a disaster. Sabrina Almazon from 4-Paws Society emphasized how important it is to include planning for pets. She also hopes plans can be made to accommodate people with pets at shelters. She has offered her services to help educate the community. 5. Committee Member Comments Mayor Santos shared a handout that he received at a recent meeting of Mayors and ABAG regarding soft-story building mitigation. 6. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 11 :00 a.m. J