The Cascadia Rising exercise a few months ago cemented the realization that an earthquake could seriously cut off the island from timely mainland help. Now, September is National Preparedness Month and islanders are urged to join with local organizations to learn about getting prepared for everything from power outages, to serious winter storms, to earthquakes.

The weather is still favorable, but Labor Day traditionally marks the end of summer, and with that day gone, the windy and stormy days of winter are creeping into the minds of islanders.

The message local organizations preach this month extend all year through and is nothing new: Be prepared before the incident. While the saying has been drilled into the heads of islanders and people around the country from childhood, what exactly does “being prepared” actually mean? Having food, water and a plan are things islanders may have heard many times over, but may not have taken action on. The time to do so is now.

Once completing those tasks, if you have not done so already, take the time to put away important documents such as birth certificates, Social Security cards, passports, wills, medical and insurance information for both property and medical in a place safe from disaster. When a disaster strikes, insurance and the importance of documents proving such, as well as who you are, do not lose their importance.

Beyond those steps, VashonBePrepared provides many opportunities for enhanced preparedness — at home, in neighborhoods and throughout the community as a whole.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program offers free classes annually that teach basic response skills, including search and rescue, disaster response and first aid. The Medical Reserve Corps continues to look for medical providers and others to assist with medical response after disaster. The Emergency Operations Center team — critical in the days following a disaster — needs more volunteers. And the Neighborhood Emergency Response Organization helps neighbors connect with neighbors to help one another in an emergency or disaster.

Beyond these options, the ham radio club often offers classes for people to become licensed ham radio operators—essential in disaster. In a world of cell phones and near-instantaneous communication, if a disaster knocks out power for an extended period of time, causing no cell service and no internet, radios will work as long as they have battery or solar power backups.

Act now. We think you will be glad you did.