September National Preparedness Month

For the past five years, the Ready Campaign and its partners have received a Presidential proclamation designating September National Preparedness Month (NPM). The City of Amarillo will join the nationwide coalition and will issue a proclamation on Tuesday, Sept. 4, raising awareness for emergency preparedness in our community. The Amarillo/Potter/Randall Office of Emergency Management and the National Weather Office in Amarillo have scheduled a variety of activities in September to promote disaster preparedness. Emergency preparedness is the responsibility of every citizen and it takes a team effort to ensure that we are ready for any disaster. Only, by working together as a team, can we be truly ready for emergencies and disasters. Help us become a disaster resilient community and get the ball rolling on getting you and your family prepared to handle any emergency.

Local Activities Planned During September:

•  Sept. 2 – 8 ‘Get the Ball Rolling’ Highlight

•  Sept. 4 (5:30PM) City Commission Meeting Preparedness Proclamation

•  Sept. 9 – 15 ‘Make a Kit’ Highlight

•  Sept. 16-22 ‘Have a Plan’ Highlight

•  Sept. 25 (10AM-2PM) Disaster Preparedness Day at SAMs at I40 & Ross: Come by and pick up disaster preparedness info

•  Sept. 23 – 29 ‘Be Informed’ Highlight

•  Sept. 28 (11:30AM) All Out Warning Systems Test

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West Nile Virus

The Texas Department of State Health Services is urging people to take precautions to reduce the risk of contracting West Nile virus, a mosquito borne illness. There has been a higher than usual number of human West Nile cases in Texas this year due to the warm winter and recent rains, particularly in the North Texas region. Up to 80 percent of people infected with West Nile virus will have no symptoms and will recover on their own, however, some cases can cause serious illness or death. People over 50 and those with weakened immune systems are at a higher risk of becoming ill if they become infected with the virus. Click here for the latest human illness case counts by counties.

Your best defense is to practice these habits, known as the “Four Ds”:
   • Use insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus.
   • Dress in long sleeves and long pants when you are outside.
   • Stay indoors at dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are most active.
   • Drain standing water where mosquitoes breed. Common breeding sites include old tires, flowerpots and clogged rain gutters.

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The Heat Continues...

Stage 1 of the City of Amarillo Drought Contingency Plan has been enacted. Tuesday, July 31, set an all-time single-day water consumption record for the City at 92.1 million gallons. The month of July also goes down as the highest ever monthly water consumption for the City with 2.39 billion gallons being consumed. The Consumption Reduction Goal for Stage 1 of the Drought Contingency Plan is a 5% reduction in consumption. To help towards that goal, the voluntary Watering Schedule is as follows: Designated days for outdoor watering are Sundays, Tuesdays or Thursdays if your address ends with an odd number and Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays if your address ends with an even number.

July has been a hot one. Rainfall totals amounted to only 0.26” for the month of July, which is 2.58” below normal for the month. Although the month of July brought high temperatures mostly in the 90s, there were eight total days where temperatures reached at or above 100 degrees and only three days were in the 80s. Current consensus is that the chance of El Nino developing by this fall is at least 65%. El Nino conditions would likely mean more precipitation, higher snowfall amounts in the winter, cooler temperatures, and more tornadoes in the spring across the Panhandles.

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