The following is a release from the city of Kirkland:

The city of Kirkland’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is now on Facebook and Twitter: www.facebook.com/kirklandOEM and @OEMKirkland on Twitter.

Currently, both sites provide emergency preparedness information and resources. During major disasters and emergencies, city information will be posted and regional information will be shared on these social media channels.

To officially announce the channels’ launch, the OEM decorated the Cow and Coyote statue on Central Way in downtown and is hosting a T-shirt winning contest. Participants need to creatively respond to “What should the Cow and Coyote put in their emergency kit?” by tweeting @OEMKirkland or commenting on the Facebook post. OEM team members will announce the winners on Nov. 17.

The OEM aims to create a link between the community and the OEM by raising awareness of emergency management and by providing useful links and information on how to prepare the whole community for all hazards. Thus, the Kirkland community and its neighbors are highly encouraged to ‘like’ and ‘follow’ both social media channels.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “Increasingly the public is turning to social media technologies to obtain up-to-date information during emergencies and to share data about the disaster in the form of geo data, text, pictures, video, or a combination of these media.”

“In Kirkland, social media is just one more way to reach out to the whole community. It is a great way to have conversations with people who actively use Twitter and Facebook. It is important to be engaged in as many forms of community communication as we can,” said Pattijean Hooper, the city’s emergency manager.

The two social media channels feature emergency preparedness-related memes and popular hashtags or trends, such as #TuesdayTrivia, #WednesdayWisdom and #ThrowbackThursday.

For more information, contact Hooper at pjhooper@kirklandwa.gov or at 425-587-3630.