November 3, 2023 |
Photo – Emergency Bucket cache – Bigfoot99 file photo
An update on a story Bigfoot 99 had for you last week:
Carbon County senior centers have begun to receive emergency supply buckets. With the buckets, the Office of Emergency Management is giving an emergency preparedness presentation.
Last winter’s ice and snow caused a lot of problems for Wyoming residents, especially the elderly. Seeing that seniors needed extra help, the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security distributed five-gallon buckets packed with emergency supplies across the state.
The buckets contain life-saving supplies like blankets, first aid kits, and emergency information. Carbon County Emergency Manager Lenny Laymen received 96 of the emergency supply buckets. The equipment will be delivered to the eight senior centers in Carbon County.
When a senior center receives the buckets, Layman will give a presentation about how to be prepared for an emergency. The Baggs and Dixon senior centers were the first to receive the emergency buckets.
The Baggs senior center emergency presentation was Wednesday. In a written statement to Bigfoot99, Layman said 12 people attended the emergency preparedness meeting. The emergency manager said many of the attendees signed up for the county-wide emergency warning program, Alert Sense.
Alert Sense is a phone warning system run by the Carbon County Office of Emergency Management. The program provides residents with advanced warning of potential emergency situations, such as floods or fires.
Yesterday, Layman gave his presentation at the Dixon senior center. The emergency manager told Bigfoot99 that four people attended and all four signed up for Alert Sense.
With the southern part of the county covered, Layman said he will now work his way north. Next up are the senior centers in Rawlins, Saratoga, and Encampment.
Layman will be at the Rawlins senior center, at 545 15th Street, on Wednesday, November 29th, at 10:45 am. The next day, Thursday, November 30th, Layman will be at the Saratoga Senior Center at 214 Constitution Avenue, at 11:30 am. The Encampment Senior Center, at 302 4th Street, will host Layman’s emergency meeting on Wednesday, December 6th, at 11:30 am.
Layman said the Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow senior centers have not been scheduled yet.
Layman held the first emergency preparedness meeting at the Hanna recreation center in September. The community’s Senior Center Manager, Debbie Schasteen, arranged to have Layman speak to residents about how to prepare for emergencies. Schasteen said she was motivated to organize the meeting after seeing the impact last winter had on Hanna residents, especially senior citizens.
Bigfoot99 will have the dates and times of the Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow emergency preparedness presentations when they become available.
