The HRPDC Emergency Management staff and Ready Hampton Roads encourage Hampton Roads citizens to heed this year’s National Preparedness Month campaign message and take time during September to “Be Disaster Aware, Take Action to Prepare.”

Established in 2004, National Preparedness Month is an annual event sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Ready Campaign and Citizen Corps  that focuses on promoting preparedness education and awareness to citizens, businesses, and communities throughout the month of September.

This year FEMA is encouraging citizens to participate in America's PrepareAthon! This is an opportunity for individuals, organizations, and communities to prepare for specific hazards through drills, group discussions, and exercises. The goal of this campaign is to increase the number of individuals who understand which disasters could happen in their community and what to do to be safe and mitigate damage. More importantly, the campaign hopes to encourage people to take action to increase their preparedness at home and within the community at large.

National PrepareAthon! Day is September 30, 2014 and will focus on preparing for these six specific hazards:

• Earthquake

• Flood

• Hurricane

• Tornado

• Wildfire

• Winter Storm

To find out how to participate in the National PreapareAthon Day, visit the campaign’s website. If you want information on ways you, your family, or your organization can get prepared this September visit Ready.gov, ReadyVirginia.gov, and ReadyHamptonRoads.org.