King County Executive Dow Constantine came to West Seattle on Oct. 2 to honor Cindi Barker and the Emergency Communication Hubs that serve communities from Ballard to West Seattle and beyond.

"Disasters happen on an ongoing basis," Constantine said, "and we want to be prepared to do our part for our community." He noted that in emergencies, often the "first, first responders are your neighbors, and that's why I'm pleased to recognize the Seattle Emergency Communications Hubs, an enthusiastic group of volunteers who support quick response and robust communication through emergencies."

The Executive pointed out that a lot of his job is going through emergency preparedness work."In all of that it is constantly clear that one of the most important things is to have people in the neighborhoods where they will immediately begin to help neighbors and community members, to keep things calm an orderly, to help provide access to services as they are needed. And it's very, very reassuring to know that the Emergency Communication Hubs are in place. This is something that happened because we saw a problem and decided to solve it."

The Hubs now number more than fifty including the Shilshole Hub, the West Queen Anne Playfield Hub, the Lake City Hub, the Ballard Hub, the Rainier Beach Hub, P-Patch Hubs and the Fauntleroy Hub will in the event of an emergency:

1. Collect information on local situations, needs and resources
2. Relay communications between Hub Sites and to from the City of Seattle, as well as be an information resource for residents.
3. Assist in the allocation of resources to needs.

The Fauntleroy Hub is located at the Fauntleroy UCC Church at 9131 Calfornia Ave. SW. You can learn more about the West Seattle specific hubs at West Seattle Be Prepared here: http://westseattlebeprepared.org/about-the-hubs/

Using a radio network the hubs will offer a communication resource for residents in weather emergencies, earthquakes or other natural disasters.

Debbie Goetz of the Seattle Office of Emergency Management spoke to those gathered at the event many of whom are volunteers in the effort and said, "This is a group of individuals who are the walking talking epitome of preparedness."

Cindi Barker in accepting the Proclamation said, "That neighbor helping neighbor thing sounds deceptively easy but what we've found is that it really isn't. It takes a lot of thought and a lot of preparation and it takes a lot of partners to set that in place." She explained that the local hubs have done preparedness drills with County organizations and built the relationships with them as well as with the City of Seattle to understand what role each of them might play in a disaster."