SDG&E Donates to PNEC and City of Poway

Thanks to SDG&E for donating $2,500 to PNEC and the City of Poway for preparedness. The PNEC funds are for the Poway Fire Safe Council. Susy Turnbull (City of Poway) and Terri Sorensen (PNEC) are shown receiving the checks.

2017 Poway Emergency Fair Photos

The 2017 Poway Emergency Fair was well-attended and a great source of information on emergency preparedness. In addition to First Responders, community service organizations, and local providers of products and services, Amateur Radio operators conducted an “Extreme Fair Weather Drill” to demonstrate the use of Ham Radio in an emergency.

Smoke Alarm Installation Day was a Success!!

Almost 100 smoke alarms were installed in the Poway Royal Estates neighborhood. Thanks to Mayor Steve Vaus, the San Diego Red Cross, Poway Fire Department, and the many volunteers who participated for making Poway safer.

Amateur Radio Operators from the Poway NEC were on hand to assist with communications between the Command Center and the installation teams, and were able to redirect teams on-the-fly and save a lot of unnecessary trips.

Missed the Meeting on Financial Preparedness? Download the Materials.

If you missed the PNEC meeting featuring Merrilee Boyack as a guest presenter on the topic, “Financial Preparedness: What to do for money emergencies small to great”, you can still download the meeting materials.

Is Your Pool Overflowing? Read This to Learn How to Lower the Water Level.

Due to the rain forecast, it’s important to know how to drain your pool in case it’s getting close to overflowing. Please only drain your pool if it’s in danger of overflowing. If you have an autofill feature, it will stop itself from overflowing.

Do not try to drain water from the pool using the backwash valve, as this will damage the filter. In order to properly drain your pool, please do the following:

Locate the hose spigot on top of the pool pump and attach a garden hose to it. Place the other end of the hose anywhere you might want the water to drain. Once the hose is in place, turn on the pump and open the hose spigot. Water should start to drain out of the pool. We are projected to get around 6 inches of water in this storm, so drain as much water as needed, but do not drain your whole pool.

Preparedness Materials available – have you seen them?

We have preparedness materials available, including some new items (Red Cross Emergency Contact Card and Help Sign for Windows).

Visit our Preparedness Page for useful tools. Even more will be coming soon!

Help Provide Poway with a Fully-Equipped Emergency Communications Trailer

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The Poway Neighborhood Emergency Corps is raising funds to provide Poway with a fully-equipped emergency communications trailer to better prepare and protect our residents in the event of an emergency or disaster. Our mission includes complementing the City of Poway’s emergency preparedness efforts through networking and sharing emergency information with the citizens of Poway. The trailer will be staffed and operated by licensed amateur (“ham”) radio operators volunteering their services in any emergency. Currently we have over 30 ham radio operators who have formed a Poway radio net called the Poway Amateur Communications Team (PACT), which meets on the Mt. Woodson VHF repeater on Tuesday evenings each week at 8:30 pm. Once a month after these nets, we practice a simplex drill to see who we can reach without the benefit of the repeater. These same operators would be able and ready to deploy the Communications Trailer in times of communications exercises and real emergencies. In the event of a real emergency, PACT has a chair in the Poway Emergency Operations Center, insuring accurate emergency information being disseminated to our Neighborhood Coordinators and ultimately the residents of Poway.

Our goal is to raise $50,000 to make this dream a reality. We already have a commitment of $5000, and we need the community’s support to reach the goal of $50,000. We are hopeful you may be able to help us achieve this goal.

The Poway NEC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and your donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Our Taxpayer Identification Number is 26-1722021, and tax donation receipt letters will be provided to all donors.

If you’d like to help by donating, you can make a secure donation via PayPal:

Thank you for your consideration in this important matter!

Sincerely – Terri Sorensen, Chair, PNEC

The Poway Simulated Emergency Drill was a big success!!

A simulated emergency drill was held on Saturday, September 17 from 9:30 to 11:30 AM. The simulated emergency was a Magnitude 6.8 earthquake hitting the San Diego area, and the drill involved local first responders, Pomerado Hospital, and local amateur (ham) radio operators. The drill was held to test the emergency communications systems that will be used in the event of a real emergency. Ham radio operators participated from each of the Poway Fire Stations, city properties, emergency shelter locations and several neighborhoods. Communications were established via the Mt. Woodson repeater, and gave participants the opportunity to practice sharing information with first responders (Poway Fire Department, Sheriff and City Management) as would be needed in an actual emergency. The Mayor and City Council members observed the drill, as did Fire Chief Sanchez.

Drills will be held in the future with the aim of improving the communications systems across Poway, and ensuring that ham radio operators maximize their contributions during a real emergency.