Organizations trying to find areas of concern for disaster preparedness

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Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - The Onondaga County Department of Emergency Management and the Department of Health are working with the Food Bank of Central New York and the Red Cross to determine how prepared communities are to handle natural disasters.

The various organizations are trying to identify and fill the critical gaps in communities’ plans for disasters.

“Our objective is to make preparedness second nature for everyone – like wearing a seat belt or recycling – we just want them to do it automatically,” said Maureen Perkins , Regional Director of CNY Red Cross Emergency Services.

Filling out a survey at CNYPrepare.org will not only help residents learn what they need, it will help organizations like the Red Cross and the Food Bank tailor their responses to their community.

“We really are striving to have our citizens be more aware and prepared during times of natural disasters or man-made disasters and be able to sustain themselves for up to 72 hours,” said Commissioner of Onondaga County Department of Emergency Management Kevin Wisely.

Onondaga County has been selected to be the first medium-sized area in the country to pilot the new program, which is centered around community resilience. It is receiving more than $150,000 from National Grid in grant money to complete it.

The survey is part of an effort to determine how prepared individuals are in the event of a disaster, as well as how prepared the organizations they rely upon are.

The data collected will help those organizations obtain the resources they need to be prepared for disasters should they arise.

Residents should expect calls to their home or cell phones beginning in early June.

To fill out a survey, visit the CNYPrepare.org website.