A day before the Sept. 11 anniversary and in the midst of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, Tempe citizens learned how to prepare for and respond to similar major disasters.
Health, safety and relief agencies staffed exhibits and presentations at Tempe High School on Saturday in an event hosted by the Tempe Citizen Corps Council, a public-private partnership.
Organizations also took donations of food, blood, and money for the Bush-Clinton Katrina relief fund at the event.
Judy Bottorf, Tempe Police volunteer coordinator and Citizen Corps member, said the event had been in the works for nine months, but the hurricane "highlighted why we need to be prepared."
"The events of the last couple of weeks have made it painfully clear to everyone that being prepared for disaster is, honestly, about the best we can do," Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman said at the event's opening ceremony.
Officials urged residents to prepare an emergency kit because emergency services often cannot immediately reach victims.
"During the first 72 hours in a major disaster, and New Orleans is a good example, the emergency workers can't get to everybody," Bottorf said. "Usually you're on your own for the first 72 hours."
Citizen Corps member Tom Doll said an emergency kit should contain at least a 72-hour supply of nonperishable food, three gallons of water per person, a first-aid kit and any prescription medications.
"If the people in New Orleans had in a kit enough to be prepared for 72 hours, a few days, think about what a difference that would make," Doll said.
Tempe Fire Chief Cliff Jones said even people living in small apartments can store 72 hours worth of emergency supplies.
"If you have space for two cases of water and two boxes of Power Bars, you're set," he said.
Saturday's mock dispatch center handled the aftermath of a hypothetical storm that caused flash floods, power outages, evacuations and brought the usually dry Salt River within inches of spilling over its banks.
"This Katrina disaster is actually something that could happen in Tempe," said police volunteer Richard Gliha, who narrated the demonstration.
Police volunteers working at the mock center forwarded other pre-trained volunteers to a registration desk and quickly sent them out to assist in sandbagging and other tasks.
Untrained civilians who came to the center filled out paperwork and were assessed by the police volunteers before being registered and sent out to help.
The Citizen Corps Council has agreements in place for two sites near the city's northern and southern borders in the case of a real disaster.
Bottorf encouraged residents to go through emergency training to be better prepared for a disaster.
"If they don't do anything more than take care of themselves and their families, that's still a good thing to know," she said.
Reports compiled by Brian Indrelunas. Reach the reporter at brian.indrelunas@asu.edu.
