Block Captains / Emergencies

BLOCK CAPTAINS PROGRAM & EMERGENCY PREP/RESPONSE PROGRAM

In 2010 the WHCCA Board of Directors resurrected a volunteer Block Captains program that focuses on within-block communication and neighborhood cohesiveness. An older program that focussed on "Emergency Preparedness and Blockwatch" activities had drifted away from the WHCCA board and had become largely inactive. Going forward, the WHCCA Board will manage the volunteer group and a board member will serve as official liaison to this group and will facilitate their efforts.

Because emergency preparedness is an important and often neglected activity in any community, the board will also work towards building awareness and work with the city to encourage neighbors to become knowledgeable, trained, and to volunteer for emergency response roles.  The WHCCA board will attempt to maintain a member as liaison with the city and the block captains for issues of emergency preparedness.

 

Emergency Preparedness:

  • https://www.pse.com/outage/outage-map
  • Disasters, e.g. earthquake, heavy windstorm that can topple big trees, wildfire, volcano eruption etc. We are in an earthquake fault zone – I-90 and I-5.  It is important to develop an awareness.
    • Per City of Bellevue, be prepared with 2 -3 weeks of food, water etc. in case of an emergency/disaster to the area.    We can expect to be on our own, as a neighborhood helping each other.  If emergency personnel can get to their stations and they are not damaged, they will attend to high population concentration areas first.
    • However, our Pacific Northwest earthquake experts suggest preparing for a bit longer for a major disaster.  Think in terms of one-two months in a few categories like medications, non-perishable food, toilet paper etc. Storing that much water is trickier, so store as much clean water as practical for your situation.  Add water filters to your kits. 
    • A volcano could erupt and spew heavy ash over the area like happened in 1980 when Mount St. Helens erupted and covered Yakima with several inches of ash – face masks were essential.  Or we could be downwind from wildfires like we have experienced in the past, making masks essential.
    • Refill your vehicle gas tanks when they reach ½ empty, which is actually more than half of your gas used.
    • Also suggest having some actual cash tucked away in a secure place, to give you more options in any situation, when credit cards do not work due to power outages.

o   Local cell and landlines will be tied up, so establish a person outside of this area that each person in your household can contact to let them know your status and what you plan to do.

  • Latch key kids need to know who they can go to in case of emergency when they come home from school and parents cannot get home. 
  • Be sure each child has all contact names and phone numbers in their backpacks.  Know what your child’s school’s disaster plans are in case of an emergency.
  • BEFORE an emergency strikes, get to know your neighbors. When a tree falls on your house or your house crumbles from an earthquake, that is not the best time to introduce yourself to the neighbors and ask for help.

WHCCA Emergency Disaster Plan - Actions

 

List of items assumed to be in each house to meet their own minor first aide needs, and food/water for at least 2 weeks.

  • Fire extinguishers

  • Tylenol for adults (and children if in the household)

  • Toilet paper

  • Paper towels

  • Food

  • Water

 

Overall plan

In case of major disaster affecting our houses.

  • Each block’s residents meet at the Block Captain’s house for assessment and instructions as soon as it is safe. If Block Captain is not home, one of the neighbors needs to step up to organize and coordinate actions that need to be taken.

    • List who has what type of equipment needed for rescue etc.

    • Set up teams as needed

      • Search & Rescue – Pool tools for rescue.

        • Make sure everyone is accounted for and rescue anyone trapped in their house.

      • First Aid – Use first aid supplies from WHCCA emergency kits stored in the Block Captains garages or other locations as designated on the Block Captain Roster.

        • Pool supplies available from homes.

        • Set up Triage to determine seriousness of injuries and treatment needs.

      • Special Needs – Provide comfort/help for elderly and children whose parents are not around or are injured.

        • Identify a house with the least damage to shelter and provide for them.

      • Damage Assessment – which houses are safe/unsafe to stay in and which have functioning utilities.

        • Erect a shelter if necessary, using the tarps with each kit.

      • Communications – between residents and with other blocks – may need to identify runners if communications are out.

      • Safety & Security – Protect neighborhood from intruders/looters around the clock.

  • The WHCCA President (or VP or available Board Member) contact each block captain by phone to establish a meeting time and place, e.g. Lattawood Park Shelter or some other location. If Block Captain cannot be reached, then send a runner(s) to communicate with who has taken charge of each block’s actions.

    • Determinate damage within each block.

    • Determine who has the type of equipment needed to extract someone from their house, first aid etc.

    • Assign resources as needed to the different blocks.

    • Communicate with Bellevue, by phone or runner, our status and needs.

Resources:

·       WHCCA Facebook Page  https://www.facebook.com/MyWHCCA   This is the place for immediate needs, or to communicate with the neighborhood as a whole.

·       Nextdoor  https://nextdoor.com/invite/hhmzbbizqqmynfwqhnbp    A great resource for finding out what is going on in the surrounding neighborhoods.  Our Nextdoor group is Cougar Mountain/Horizon Village.

·       MyBellevue app. is an excellent resource. The app allows you to request services, access city news, peruse jobs and check social media.

·        Below is a link to Bellevue By the Numbers brochures in English, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean.  This is a Bellevue City website for contacting various city resources.   https://bellevuewa.gov/resident-resources/bellevue-by-the-numbers


Block Captains Program

Beginning in 2011, the WHCCA now has a fully-developed Block Captains Program. There are just over 500 households in our area and they are divided into 18 blocks designated with letters A thru R. Each block has a volunteer Block Captain. Names of current block captains are maintained here and a map of the geographic breakdown of the blocks as well as the name, telephone number, and address of each block captain is published periodically in the Whispers newsletter published by the WHCCA Board of Directors.

The Program managers on the board of directors have several goals which include:

 

  • Maintain a current list of block captains by block,

  • Update annotated block maps annually with updates provided by block captains so they can be distributed to block residents by the block captain,

  • Alert block captains of local safety and crime concerns,

  • Keep close contact with Bellevue Police and Fire Departments, provide an avenue for inputs and outputs to and from them,

  • Encourage the block captains to maintain a friendly and concerned neighborhood.

 

Stylized map showing block captain sections:
The overview map below shows each block captain section, identified by letter. To see an enlarged view, just click on it. To learn more about the neighborhood block captain program, go to the block captains page.

All Blocks

Block Map Captain   Block Map Captain
Block A Yi   Block J Gina
Block B Jeff   Block K Jay
Block C Polly & Neil   Block L Tim & Trish
Block D GiGi   Block M Jeff & Lori
Block E Doug & Linda   Block N Dana
Block F Hal   Block O Larry & Donna
Block G Scott & Danielle   Block P Joanie
Block H Christine   Block Q Julie
Block I Don   Block R Barbara

Questions about, inputs, and suggestions may be made to any member of the WHCCA board of directors.