On the 12th anniversary of the fall of the World Trade Center towers Gov. Robert Bentley declared the month of September as National Preparedness Month at the ninth annual Ready Alabama Day at Auburn University.
While the events of Sept. 11, 2001, still loom large over the nation, Alabama's multiple natural disasters earlier this year was the main focus of the event.
"We will never forget what happened 12 years ago today, but we've had our disasters in this state also," Bentley said before a crowd of Lee County elementary schools, local police and fire departments and various emergency response teams from around the state.
"On April the 27th we had the greatest natural disaster that's ever struck the state of Alabama. We lost 254 lives, we lost billions of dollars as far as damage is concerned across this state and we are still in a long-term recovery mode," Bentley said.
Ready Alabama Day provides a rare opportunity for Lee County school children to meet and interact with local emergency response teams and put together their own personal emergency preparedness kits to take home.
Guests got firsthand looks at emergency response equipment, demonstrations of what to do in the event of dangerous situations and increase their awareness of goals and safe decisions in the event of an emergency.
"We have not had a hurricane this year we tend to get a little bit lax. You can't do that. We've got to always be prepared, because there will be another natural disaster," Bentley said. "There will be another man-made disaster like the oil spill so we need to always be prepared, and we learn from our experiences that happened before."
Ready Alabama is sponsored by Serve Alabama, the Department of Homeland Security and the Lee County Emergency Management Agency to increase public awareness of the state's emergency response capabilities and maintain a level of preparation in the community and at home.
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