Preparedness Starts Before the Emergency

Imagine turning on your television or looking at your cellphone and seeing reports of widespread power outages impacting communications, transportation, emergency services, and wastewater treatment plant shutdowns resulting from cyberattacks in Colorado. Then imagine reports of attacks by drones targeting government buildings throughout the National Capital Region.

To be clear, these events did not happen.

They were among the hypothetical scenarios underlying FCC's participation in the annual Eagle Horizon continuity exercise, led by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. The exercise is designed to pressure-test our ability to keep essential government functions operating during a catastrophic or "dark day" event.

Federal agencies are required to regularly test their readiness and resilience so they can continue providing essential services during a national emergency, whether caused by a terrorist attack, natural disaster, cyberattack, or other threat. For the FCC, that means making sure the people, equipment, information systems, and facilities we depend on are available when they are needed most-from supporting national defense and our economy to maintaining critical public safety services such as 911 and emergency alerting.

We hope we never have to put these plans to the test in a real emergency. But preparedness is not just a responsibility for government. It is something we all share. That is especially important as we recognize September as National Preparedness Month.

Whether it is a hurricane, flood, wildfire, severe storm, or another unexpected emergency, taking a few simple steps before disaster strikes can make a meaningful difference for you and your loved ones. A good place to start is Ready.gov's National Preparedness Month resources, which can help you make an emergency plan and prepare for the emergencies most likely to affect your community.

The best time to prepare for an emergency is before it happens. Take a few minutes this September to make a plan, talk about it with the people you care about, and make sure you know how you will stay connected when it matters most.