Capitol Hill residents form emergency preparedness team

A new group on the Hill wants its citizens to be ready for the worst.

Capitol Hill Preparedness People (CHiPP) is a new community group that asks neighborhood residents to be proactive in preparing for a major disaster.

Group founder Angela Wallis became interested in disaster preparedness when she moved to Seattle four years ago.

"It suddenly struck me that I was living in an earthquake zone," Wallis said. "I knew that I needed to be prepared for the worst."

Prepare she did. Wallis completed more than 30 hours of disaster training through Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) and Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Preparing (SNAP). Through these organizations, she learned to prepare disaster kits, give first aid, shut off utilities and manage people in the event of a major disaster.

Wallis started formulating ideas for CHiPP after she finished her SNAP training. The city provided her with some disaster preparedness literature to hand out, and she reserved a meeting space at Bluebird Ice Cream, but aside from her preliminary planning Wallis said she wants the group to "grow organically."

"My major goal is to get 30 or more people to prepare kits with a three-day supply of food and water this year," Wallis said. "I want it to become whatever people want it to become."

The first CHiPP meeting was more popular than Wallis expected. Roughly 40 Capitol Hill residents of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels convened in Bluebird's small recreation room on Monday to share ideas and hear what Wallis had to say.

Some attendees cited the recent earthquake in Haiti as a reason for their interest in the group.

"This whole Haiti situation really hit home for me," said Paul Warner, Seattle resident."This isn't just disaster preparation. It's life preparation."

At the meeting, Wallis spoke about the importance of disaster preparedness kits. She emphasized having an emergency supply of food and water as the most important way to prepare for a disaster. Capitol Hill is one of the densest neighborhoods in Seattle and in a time of disaster, Wallis hypothesizes, the neighborhood would run out of supplies quickly.

"Most grocery stores only have about a two-day supply of food and water," said Wallis, "That isn't enough to sustain a neighborhood like this in a major disaster."

Those attending the meeting offered their own ideas for preparedness kits—radios, flashlights, cash, tents, plastic bags, first aid supplies, kettles, blankets and heavy shoes were among the listed important items.

Most everyone in the group had personal interest or past experience to contribute, from ideas for evacuation sites to interest in improving city-wide disaster planning.

Attendees were asked to sign up on an e-mail list and to identify their available tools, skills and training that could be of use in a disaster. The group decided to meet again Feb. 11 but has not yet announced a location.

Capitol Hill resident Cristin Carey said she was comforted by the idea of a group like CHiPP.

"There was a disaster preparedness group in my apartment building, but no one was really interested," Carey said. "People here seemed more engaged, community-focused and community-minded."

Katy may be reached at kmccourt@su-spectator.com.