Thurston County Emergency Management recommends that anyone who lives, works, and plays in Thurston County learn about local disasters, have a plan, build a kit and stay informed.

Learn About Local Disasters

Learning about hazards where you work, play, and live will help you, your household, workplace, and community get prepared.  Thurston County is at high risk for a major earthquake and flooding just to name a couple.  Knowing what could happen is important, depending on where you are in Thurston County.  Visit our Hazards page for more detail on Thurston County hazards.

Map Your Neighborhood

Map Your Neighborhood workbooks were discontinued in 2021. The other information continues to be provided for your use.

Neighborhoods that are prepared for emergencies and disaster situations save lives, reduce the severity of injuries and trauma and reduce property damage. In addition, contributing as an individual and working together as a team helps develop stronger communities and improve the quality of life in the community.

The Map Your Neighborhood program guides you and your neighbors through simple steps to help enhance your preparedness for an emergency. These steps will help you to quickly and safely take actions that can minimize damage and protect lives. It is designed to improve disaster readiness at the neighborhood level, 15-20 homes or a defined area that you can canvas in 1 hour.  It teaches neighbors to rely on each other during the hours or days before fire, medical, police or utility responders arrive.

For more information visit https://mil.wa.gov/map-your-neighborhood

Have a Plan

Having a disaster plan gives you peace of mind when an emergency happens. Decide as a group where your meeting locations are and who your out-of-area contact is.  Be aware of what threats and hazards are most likely to occur where you work, play, and live.  For more information, visit Washington State Emergency Management's Be Prepared: Make a Plan page.

Build a Kit

You may be on your own for at least two weeks when a disaster happens. But, it is possible that a major earthquake could leave residents on their own for a month or more. The first step is to build a 2 weeks ready kit at home. Plan for smaller kits for work, school, and in vehicles .  Once you have started a 2 week plan, consider adding supplies for a longer event.  For more recommendations on what to put in your kit, visit Ready.gov.

Stay Informed

Thurston County Emergency Management, in an effort to keep our citizens safe and apprised of hazardous conditions in the area, uses several types of alerts to warn the public of potential hazards within the cities and unincorporated Thurston County. These systems are intended to be used for emergency alerts, as well as non-emergency incidents that may have significant impacts to residents. Emergency Alerts could be related to specific hazards that require some kind of action be taken such as evacuation, shelter in place, boil water orders, etc. Non-emergency alerts could include significant transportation problems with prolonged impacts or significant ongoing police or fire activity. In addition to receiving information on your wireless device, you may also receive notification on your land telephone line or via email.  

Prepare in a Year

Don’t have the time or money to become prepared all at once? We recommend you take it in smaller steps.  Approach emergency preparedness, one month at a time, over the course of a year with this guide.

Different people have special considerations in emergencies.  We hope you will take the time to learn how area threats and hazards may impact you and your situation.

Access and Functional Needs

Disasters impact everyone in Thurston County, but emergencies affect people with access and functional needs more than others. Whether you are a caretaker or someone who lives with special considerations, making a plan and knowing what to do is important.   Please visit the Washington State Emergency Management Division for more resources https://mil.wa.gov/afn

EVACUATION - KNOW WHAT TO DO

Sometimes evacuating is necessary for your safety. Local law enforcement, first responders and emergency management try to give residents and visitors as much notice as possible so they are ready. It is important to know the evacuation levels and what they mean. 

 LEVEL 1 - BE READY: Be aware of the danger in your area and start preparing for possible evacuation. Monitor local media and check on neighbors. If you do not already have an evacuation plan or a go kit, assemble these now. Know how and where you will evacuate. Conditions can change suddenly, and you may not receive a LEVEL 2 - BE SET warning before you are ordered to LEVEL 3 - GO NOW.  Prepare both the inside and outside of your home. Leave if you feel unsafe, do not wait for an official evacuation order.

LEVEL 2 - BE SET: Be prepared for sudden evacuation. People who need help or more time to evacuate — people with disabilities, people with small children, people with medical conditions and people with large animals — should evacuate at this level. Have your go kit in your vehicle. Stay informed with local law enforcement and fire departments. Always remember to leave if you feel unsafe, do not wait for an official evacuation order. 

LEVEL 3 - GO NOW:  Danger in your area is current or imminent. Follow directions from law enforcement or fire departments and do not return home until officials have determined it is safe. Notification it is safe will be given as soon as possible.

Are you interested in learning more about preparedness?  We are happy to speak with you and learn more about your needs and how our preparedness programs can help you become better prepared.  Please contact us at 360-867-2800 or email cherie.carey@co.thurston.wa.us 

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training 

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is a nationally supported, locally implemented initiative that teaches people how to better prepare themselves for hazards that may affect their communities. Since 1993, CERT trains the public in basic disaster response skills such as team organization, disaster medical operations, fire safety, and light search and rescue. The ability for CERT volunteers to perform these activities frees up professional responders to focus their efforts on more complex, essential, and critical tasks.

Thurston County Emergency Management in cooperation with our Thurston County Disaster Assistance Response Team, hosts Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).  Our next CERT Basic Training will be held in April 2025. 

Please contact cherie.carey@co.thurston.wa.us for additional details.