Federal Alliance for Safe Homes Offers Free Business Earthquake Preparedness Summits in the Bay Area

News provided by

Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)

Sep 28, 2015, 01:27 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The nonprofit Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)®, Alameda Sheriff's Department, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, and the San Francisco Division of Emergency Services will present QuakeSmart® Earthquake Business Preparedness Summits in the East Bay and San Francisco areas on November 3 and November 4. The Summits will feature David Swartz, USGS Geologist, and Rob Dudgeon, San Francisco Division of Emergency Services Deputy Director. Other experts will discuss the implications of a large-scale disaster as well as specific, actionable steps businesses can take to improve preparedness and avoid business interruption.

The Summits will continue a series of free earthquake damage prevention workshops offered nationally that feature the FEMA QuakeSmart Community Resilience Program. QuakeSmart provides comprehensive earthquake assessments and engineering and retrofit information designed to keep businesses open after a seismic event. Cal OES Earthquake Program Officer Kate Long remarked, "After the next damaging earthquake, how well the business community can recover is vital to whole community. The QuakeSmart Summit events provide businesses of all sizes the right tools to prepare and mitigate, so they can get back to business after a disaster."

Summit attendees will complete initial QuakeSmart assessments, and learn how to budget for business retrofit projects. The information is relevant for all personnel, especially business owners and managers, facility managers, maintenance staff, risk managers, and anyone with disaster preparedness responsibilities. The workshops are free, but registration is required:

Tuesday, November 3, 2015, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
East Bay QuakeSmart Business Preparedness Summit
Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Services
4985 Broder Blvd
Dublin, CA 94568
Assembly Room

Wednesday, November 4, 2015, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
San Francisco QuakeSmart Business Preparedness Summit
The San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street (at Grove)
San Francisco, CA 94102
Koret Auditorium—located in the lower level of the Library, enter 30 Grove Street and proceed downstairs.

Summit co-presenters include the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, Bay Area Earthquake Country Alliance, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, Disaster Resistant Business Toolkit, ETC Building & Design, FEMA, FLASH, Safe-T-Proof Earthquake Fasteners, San Francisco Division of Emergency Management, and Simpson Strong-Tie Co.

About FLASH
Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)^®, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is the country's leading consumer advocate for strengthening homes and safeguarding families from natural and manmade disasters. FLASH collaborates with more than 100 innovative and diverse partners that share its vision of making America a more disaster-resilient nation including: BASF, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Florida Division of Emergency Management, The Home Depot^®, International Code Council, Kohler^® Generators, National Weather Service, Portland Cement Association, Simpson Strong-Tie^®, State Farm™, and USAA^®. In 2008, FLASH opened the interactive weather experience StormStruck: A Tale of Two Homes^® in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Learn more about FLASH and gain access to its free consumer resources by visiting www.flash.org or calling (877) 221- SAFE (7233).

SOURCE Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)