“It feels extra poignant this year,” said Kelly Johnson, emergency management coordinator. “Utah has experienced so much in the past couple of years. I think it shows why having a good communication plan in place is so important.”

Every year, city leaders formally evaluate the drill and use lessons learned to improve. The evening of the citywide drill is often used as a chance to do specialized training for city officials and first responders.

“Sometimes we have to pivot due to circumstances. For example, in 2020, everything was done by phone and email instead of in-person because there was no COVID-19 vaccine available yet,” Johnson said. “It sounds simple in concept, but it was an incredible learning experience trying to get the details right.”

This year, Johnson will be doing a short presentation on disaster recovery for local city, school and business leaders.

The city will also be reinvigorating Community Emergency Response Teams. Anyone in Lindon who is interested in learning a variety of life-saving skills can go to the Lindon City Community Center, 25 N. Main, on the night of the drill at 7 p.m. to sign up and participate.

Those already trained are encouraged to come and check in with their CERT bags and sign up for refresher classes or other special skills courses. “We’ll be hosting events to help people put those skills to good use, and we’ll be working with other nearby cities to make CERT the best it can be for the whole region,” Johnson said.

This year, block captains have been asked to teach community members about the city’s primary emergency notification system, Everbridge. Johnson hopes that everyone in Utah County registers for Everbridge.

“It’s an excellent rapid alert system that we have used for many years here in Lindon to help communicate about and even to solve emergencies multiple times. Block Captains can help get anyone interested registered right there in-person the night of the drill at their block gatherings,” Johnson said.

Every year, the city includes a ham radio element to the emergency drill. Lindon’s ham operators are welcome to listen to a training item and check in when invited at 146.56 MHz (simplex), according to Johnson.

She said the drill was originally developed as a way to communicate citywide during a power outage or in any other circumstance when it is critical to reach everyone, but infrastructure damage makes that a challenge.

“We try to communicate with and account for every resident, including our senior living and care centers, in only two hours without using technology,” Johnson said. “That’s a huge task.”

That task will be accomplished using a hybrid approach of in-person and cell phones in order to meet everyone’s health and safety needs this year. A major purpose of the yearly drill is to provide an opportunity for people to get to know their neighbors.

“After all, in a big event, like a large-magnitude earthquake, it’s your neighbors who will be your true first responders,” Johnson said. “Additionally, in a real post-disaster situation, this drilled down communication would help city officials rapidly assess citywide damages and other needs, so we could appropriately prioritize available resources. It would also help us to coordinate volunteers in an organized fashion. We practice so that our whole community can play a role.”

Johnson said that, after 13 years, sometimes residents wonder if they will ever use their block captains for a real event. But, block captains were almost engaged this past year on several occasions, including when a Silver Alert was issued for a missing person.

“Block captains and other organizers are the ones responsible for our excellent 90 percent citywide participation rate and for helping our residents catch the vision of disaster planning. We’re very proud of this drill, and I have a lot of gratitude for the effort so many folks put in to make it a success,” Johnson said.

The drill has not only become a needed emergency preparedness exercise, but a city tradition. “A lot of people are pretty excited to get back together in person. If you drive around the city just after 6 p.m., you’ll see blocks gathering outside in small groups to have barbecues or doughnuts with adults chatting, kids playing and our residents simply enjoying being together,” Johnson said. “It’s really beautiful.”

For more information about the drill, go to http://lindoncitydrill.com. A link to sign-up for Everbridge can be found on the city’s website, http://LindonCity.org.