Why South Whidbey Prepares

What happens when a disaster strikes our island? How extensively will homes be damaged? How many will be injured? Will we have reliable ferry service? How passible will our roads be? Will our bridge be damaged? Will there be massive power outages and cell towers down? If the disaster is a wildfire, where will you go? If you aren’t at home, who will ensure the well-being of your kids, your pets, your farm animals?

How prepared are you for the unimaginable?

We know that a major disaster will overwhelm our emergency personnel. No cavalry will be coming to save the day. The good news though, we have each other. Research shows that “it is the personal ties among members of a community that determine survival during a disaster, and recovery in its aftermath.” – Daniel Aldrich, NPR 

Our job is to (1) prepare our family and to (2) create relationships among our neighborhood to share resources and help each other. The ancient adage “united we stand, divided we fall” is apt for us here on South Whidbey.

If you live south of Lagoon Point road, welcome to South Whidbey Prepares. If you live outside our area, contact our Island County’s Department of Emergency Management DEM@islandcountywa.gov  to learn about similar efforts in central and north Whidbey.

Next steps:

●       Consider becoming a Neighborhood Champion or find a neighbor who would like to become the Champion.

●       Go to the "If you are a neighborhood champion..."  page to find out more about the program and start to get resources to help each neighborhood.

●       Begin your own family’s planning. We have some suggestions listed on the Resource page; there are myriad others on the internet

●       Have fun

We hope you will get excited about the possibilities and immediately begin a conversation with your neighbors.

CONTACT SW PREPARES

To sign up to help, ask questions or get on our email list, mail us at southwhidbeyprepares@whidbey.com