PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia's Office of Emergency Management stands ready to help residents on their worst days, but there are ways you can help yourself too.
OEM's Community Preparedness Program Manager Olivia Gillison and Community Resilience Officer Joshua Nussbaum said Philadelphia has been socked with different types of emergencies than in years past.
"These storms that we used to only have once every few years, they are going to be more frequent," said Gillison. "It really is very important that folks figure out, 'Is my house in a flood plane? Could my house be flooded?'"
Nussbaum added, "We need to do a better a job explaining to the public that there is a lot of individual and family responsibility that comes with this. As a society, we think that the first responders are going to rush in and save the day. And that is not always the case."
Both say knowing who to call is crucial.
"Everyone knows 911," said Gillison, "but do you utilize 311 our local municipal city services number, 211 which can get you connected to state health and human resources or 8-11 to make sure you are accidentally dig and break a water or gas pipe?"
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