Listos California Preparedness Campaign

Disaster Recovery Roundtable

A California campaign is helping to engage the most vulnerable in that state as they promote five steps for safety and survival from disasters. In this episode of Disaster Recovery Roundtable, we hear from Justin Knighten, the previous co-chair of the Listos California Preparedness Campaign, about how it is reaching targeted audiences to support personal preparedness.

Topics Covered:

• Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) announced that the state’s emergency preparedness campaign (launched in August 2019) has surpassed its goal of engaging at least one million socially vulnerable Californians. The campaign, titled “Listos,” which means “ready” in Spanish, provides the communities it targets with accessible, in-language, and culturally competent disaster readiness information.
• Along with California Volunteers, another state-managed program, Listos California, which is anchored at Cal OES, has provided more than 1.6 million Californians with information they would need in the event of a natural disaster.
• The campaign is aimed at engaging community-based organizations, faith groups, social clubs, schools, civic or neighborhood groups to encourage five easy and free steps to prepare for a disaster like an earthquake, wildfire or flood.
• The campaign provides simple tools and resources to build awareness and help get people in the community prepared.
• Listos California’s tools differ from many conventional preparedness lessons that too often fail to get people to act. Campaign organizers believe their approach will increase the chances of success and bring more communities closer to being ready for a disaster.

Additional Information:

• To learn more on preparing for wildfires and how the state responds to these events, visit the California Listos Preparedness Campaign's website.