Project Overview and Goals

The City of Fort Collins is dedicated to the concept of making our community a safer place to live by becoming more disaster resistant. We know that to achieve this goal, our citizens need to be aware of the effects a disaster can have on them, and how to be prepared for an emergency should it happen. Heightened disaster resistance must include the concept of early warning of the approach of danger. The sooner we can prepare the community for an approaching event, the greater our ability to minimize damage, injury, and death.

Our experience during the Spring Creek Flood highlighted the need for a better system of notifying the community of an imminent emergency. Over the ensuing two years since the flood, the City of Fort Collins has been developing new methods to accomplish this task. These innovative new technologies are now in the implementation stage and will greatly improve our ability to receive early, event specific information, and in turn notify citizens of the impending emergencies much sooner.

We realize that these new early warning and emergency notification methods cannot prevent natural disasters from happening, but we hope to mitigate the potential outcome by providing our citizens with as much information and lead time as possible so they can make the best choices to keep themselves safe.

The communications objectives of our disaster awareness promotion would be:

• To inform the community about current emergency plans, early warning, and notification methods available in the City of Fort Collins, and what they can expect will happen during a natural disaster or emergency.

• To help community members in Fort Collins understand the potential consequences of natural catastrophes, and to promote individual responsibility and personal preparedness. In other words, what things can the public do to help themselves in the event that they are unable to communicate with emergency services during an emergency.

With the help of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, we have been able to secure funding under the Project Impact initiative and in the form of hazard mitigation grants to improve our ability to notify our citizens in the event of a disaster. Now that many of these projects are complete, we want the citizens who will benefit from these efforts to be educated and aware of the preparedness and mitigation methods available to them.

Disaster Awareness Promotional Plan

Promotional Theme: "Growing Toward Disaster Resistance"

Under the Project Impact Initiative, we have been striving to make our community a "Disaster Resistant Community." We would like to continue promoting this ideal, featuring the OEM 'Mitigation Tree' as a symbol of our integrated, all hazards approach.

Our intent is to communicate our overall message to as much of the population of Fort Collins as possible. We would, however, concentrate additional efforts toward specific groups that may be more vulnerable to the effects of a natural disaster.

Direct Marketing

• Brochure: Develop an all hazard brochure designed to inform the community about what to expect during an emergency in Fort Collins, and how they can individually prepare for and mitigate a disaster.

• Utility Billing Mailing: Provide the same information as the brochure in a format that can be inserted and mailed with the utility bills in Fort Collins.

• Disaster Awareness Packet: Create a packet of disaster awareness information to distribute to community members through realtors, apartment owners, and the Chamber of Commerce.

Public Relations

• Newspaper Articles: Develop and write a series of newspaper articles designed to education the public on disaster awareness.

• Direct Public Relations: Promote activities and distribute written promotional items at community events, i.e., booths, community meetings, speaking opportunities, city functions, etc.

• Disaster Awareness Week: Activity development of a local "Disaster Awareness Week," and promotion of a National Disaster Awareness Week. Develop a plan and activities to heighten the community's awareness of disasters and how to prepare for them.

Advertising

• Radio Public Service Announcements: Scripts written about various seasonal hazards to be aired throughout the year on local commercial radio stations as well as 530 AM, our local emergency radio.

• Direct Advertisement of Local Notification Techniques: Direct advertising with information about notification advertised in places such as bus benches or sides of buses, or the local newspaper.

• Refrigerator Magnets: Design and distribute refrigerator magnets listing vital emergency information and phone numbers.

Educational Materials

• Educational Video: Develop an educational video depicting a local "mock" disaster, showing what a citizen can expect to happen during a disaster in Fort Collins. Video will show activation of early warning systems (gages, weather), OEM mobilization, public notification, preparedness activities of citizens, emergency response, and sheltering.

• Educational Presentations: Develop educational presentations or topical outlines designed and targeted at different population segments i.e., grade school, young adults, civic groups, businesses, elderly. The presentations will strive to meet the two communications objectives listed above.

Partnerships

Blue Knight Graphics - Promotional Creation and Design
City of Fort Collins, Channel 27 - Video Production

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