San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management (DEM) marks the ninth annual National Preparedness Month today, with an emphasis on celebrating our community’s social connections and to share what we have done to be ready for an emergency or disaster with our family and friends.

This em4SF Blog is written by Jill Raycroft, DEM's Exercise Planner. In this Post Jill shares her thoughts about exercise planning and its importance to emergency management.

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 h

Since we first started using social media in spring 2009, @SF_Emergency has become a major public information tool for DEM. In this journey of learning how to integrate a culturally unprecedented mode of communications (we liken it to when the internet was first used), we have learned A LOT about crafting messages for the public on this medium, of particular importance being how to master the art of…brevity. With that magical 140 character maximum, us govies have really worked that muscle.

Occasionally, staff members at San Francisco DEM have an opportunity to travel abroad. They frequently write back with their observations.

The flag stands as a sentinel over a landscape strangely desolate. This is not the neighborhood I remember.

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 2 - Hai Phong, Vietnam

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