Neighborhoods prepare ahead of severe weather



SEATTLE -- As severe weather is expected to sweep through the area, at least one neighborhood is getting a head start on preps. Eastlake Community Council had a meeting Tuesday night to discuss neighborhood preparedness in case disaster strikes.

After 25 years of living near Alki Beach, Beth Dewey is making it her mission to get to know her neighbors through the SNAP program, Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare.

The program encourages neighbors to get to know one another and the skills or needs they may have, which could be important information in case of severe weather or other natural disaster.

“You know a lot of times people focus on that big event like an earthquake but a lot of times, when we go into the winter weather season, we could have windstorms, power outages,” said Matt Auflick with Seattle Office of Emergency Management.

Auflick heads up the SNAP program in Seattle. He even talked about the importance of neighborhood preparedness at the Eastlake Community Council, as the state recently launched a similar program called ‘Map Your Neighborhood.’ It’s now gaining traction in Snohomish County and Mill Creek.

“The more places people are connecting and supporting each other, the better we will all be in a large disaster because some of these large disasters won’t just hit Seattle,” said Auflick.