With September being National Preparedness Month and October being the 24^th anniversary of the Loma Prieta Earthquake, this fall the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management encourages you to take these reminders as incentives to build upon your preparedness and resilience.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last week or two, you've likely noticed that Curiosity has la

I am a native of Colorado. Born and bred on wildfires, flash floods and the occasional winter blizzard. Far different than the pesky hazards that plague the Bay Area. I've seen shelves empty from seven weeks of winter storms that delayed trucks hauling loads of groceries. I've seen avalanches from heavy, wet snows and landslides from nature-less burn scars. The first natural hazard I remember facing was a flash flood in my neighborhood. I remember once the waters had crested walking outside to see the river flowing, hell-bent, down the street.

Occasionally, staff members at San Francisco DEM have an opportunity to travel abroad. They frequently write back with their observations. The following is an observation from Assistant Deputy Director, Bijan Karimi, during his visit to Hanoi, Vietnam.

Dispatch 1 - Hanoi, Vietnam

Last April the San Francisco Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) conducted its annual citywide drill. For those of us who were there, wasn't it cool?! And for those of us who were not, join the Neighborhood Empowerment Network (NEN) Director Daniel Homsey, NERT Program Coordinator Lt. Erica Arteseros and Advisory Board Member Lynn Jacklevich and experience the camaraderie of this social preparedness activity. Want to feel the camaraderie first-hand?

Last week the California Academy of Sciences opened its newest exhibit: Earthquake. It is an awesome combination of seismic science (who’d have thought that African ostrich chicks and earthquakes have so much in common) and earthquake preparedness education. We were fortunate to be able to work with the exhibit designers regarding the earthquake preparedness section content, and are elated to see the exhibit come to ‘life’.

The 45^th Cherry Blossom Festival is taking place this weekend in San Francisco’s Japantown. What great way to spend the weekend and enjoy one of San Francisco’s most beautiful neighborhoods. This year’s festival will celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. and will also pay tribute to the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service comprised of all Japanese American soldiers receiving the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor.

As we commemorate the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, which took place at 5:12 a.m.