A disaster preparedness training providing practical tips and resources to help people stay safe during hurricanes, severe weather, power outages, and other emergencies will take place Thursday, Aug. 20, at 2 p.m. in the Sampson County Senior Services center, and people of all ages are invited to attend.
The program’s goal is to prepare people for emergencies before they happen
The event will be held in the office of Angela Faircloth, a dementia care specialist, family caregiver specialist, and North Carolina options counselor for Sampson County Aging Services, and hosted by Eileen Coite, an extension agent for the North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
Coite disclosed that she hasn’t done this exact workshop before, but she has several resources she can pull from to provide the best training possible.
“It’s somewhat new, but at the same time, we have the resources. … We (North Carolina Cooperative Extension) have an extension disaster website, and we have several resources within that website, so I’m gonna maybe summarize some of those things, like an evacuation kit to take with you if you have to leave your home and go to a shelter. Some things like that.”
Coite came on board at the urging of Faircloth.
“She reached out to me and some others in Cooperative Extension about helping with putting on some kind of program. She was not real specific about what she was looking for, but she does a great series of monthly events for seniors and caregivers, so when she reached out, I told her that, as far as my responsibilities, the only thing I felt would fit the needs she was looking for was possibly some guidance with disaster preparedness, especially during hurricane season, with that coming — or with that here. I don’t say ‘coming’ — we’re in the middle of it.
“We haven’t had a whole lot of rain this year, but the rain we have had, there have been some times when it was fast and furious. We’ve had some crop damage, but as far as buildings and structures, I can’t tell you for sure; I don’t know anything about that,” Coite said.
Dawson McLamb, the Emergency Management coordinator for Sampson County, commented that while “there’s been isolated storms, some straight-line winds, and some pretty nasty thunderstorms,” no major incidents have occurred in Sampson County so far this year.
Coite explained that she also serves on the local Emergency Planning committee. She hopes her resources in the department may help further educate the public. Coite mentioned that she’ll be providing resources about food-related preparedness, whether it’s items to stock up on that are more shelf-stable, or steps homeowners can take when a power outage occurs.
“That committee is not specific to storms and hurricanes, but that’s another reason I thought, ‘Well, this is an opportunity for people to know it exists.’ It’s coordinated through our county Emergency Management department. … I may also have someone from their staff pop in and let people know about what Emergency Management will be doing if we’re faced with a storm-type event, and just let people know what kind of resources are available, both on the county- and state-level.”
The disaster preparedness training will be provided by the Sampson County Aging Services’ Family Caregiver Support Program. The program holds monthly unique events, with the disaster preparedness training being the event for Aug. The Family Caregiver Support Program offers services such as respite, supplemental assistance, assistance for seniors raising children, and support groups. Faircloth leads the program.