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NEWS
Bnei Brak Leads in Earthquake Preparedness
By A. Cohen
Bnei Brak is one of the leading cities in the country in the
with regard to earthquake planning and preparedness said Maj.
Gen. Yechiel Sofer, commander of the Dan Region, at a special
meeting with Mayor Rabbi Yissochor Frankentahl, deputy
mayors, officials from the municipal emergency services and
high-ranking army officers and police commanders.
Bnei Brak Spokesman Avrohom Tannenbaum said the meeting,
referred to as a "war game" for earthquake preparedness,
followed a large conference held at the municipal meeting
hall and attended by rabbonim, deputy mayors, City Council
and City Executive Board members and public figures. At the
conference a lecture was given by Dr. Efraim Leor, chairman
of the government steering committee on earthquakes, who
called for widespread adherence to earthquake-resistant
building standards and spoke of the need to prepare the
public for various scenarios.
The Mayor opened the conference with a call for cooperation
between the army, police, fire fighters, Magen David Adom and
the municipality, noting the high level of preparedness of
the city's Department of Emergency Services. Mayor
Frankentahl said that a pamphlet should be prepared to
provide residents with information on earthquake safety and
he announced that he plans to erect electronic signs in the
city to publicize directives on various matters, including
emergency information.
Maj. Gen. Sofer said that in the event of an earthquake,
choliloh, the primary response will have to come not
from the military and the police but from municipal bodies
with the public's cooperation. Commander Yitzhak Asraf, head
of the Department of Cooperation at the National Police
Headquarters, spoke of the unique conditions in Bnei Brak,
much of which was built many years ago before earthquake
standards were up to par. He noted that in the event of an
earthquake, choliloh, residents will not be kept in
isolation but will help evacuate the injured.
Chaim Nogelblatt, head of Bnei Brak's Department of Emergency
Services, presented various possible scenarios, saying that
since the vast majority of residents do not have a television
or radio in the house—and certainly not in operation on
Shabbos and chagim—there would be a problem conveying
information during an emergency. Therefore the city, with the
assistance of the Jewish Agency, has set up 800
communications devices to update rabbonim, gabboim and
public figures. These devices have already proven themselves
in incidents where children and elderly people were reported
missing and, during last year's tremor, when directives were
dispatched to schools to evacuate students to open areas.
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