Public safety, emergency preparedness and management, and other organizations whose purpose is to help residents when things fall apart will gather for a sunny Saturday in Aberdeen for the county’s Emergency Preparedness Expo.

Beginning at 10 a.m., more than 40 organizations will be represented at the free event, including many local fire and police departments and their equipment, as residents have a chance to win prizes or dunk first responders.

“We’ve been working on this since the beginning of the year,” said Nick Falley, project manager with county emergency management, in a phone interview. “The Moore Wright Group opened up their parking lot for us.”

Previously held at the South Shore Mall, Moore Wright’s parking lot on Simpson Avenue will host the 7th iteration of the event, Falley said.

“We’re a smaller footprint this year,” Falley said. “We’re definitely more compact and not as spread out this year. Hopefully that will allow people to see more booths.”

Organizations from the local, state, and federal level, including the Washington State Patrol, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, and FEMA will be present at the event. Falley said his hope is that guests would gain knowledge so they could be more prepared for Washington’s many possible emergencies.

“Education. Knowledge of the local hazards,” Falley said. “How to best prepare yourself, your family, your neighborhood.”

For early guests to the event, there’s free merch, Falley said, and activities for all ages, including raffles and a dunk tank with “volunteers” from various public safety organizations.

“They are ‘eager volunteers,’” Falley said. “They sign up or they’re voluntold by their agency or organization.”

There will be worms for early birds, Falley said.

“For the first 100, we’re giving out go-bags,” Falley said. “We’re doing kind of a scavenger hunt. Different vendors will have different items to go in your go-bags.”

Falley said they got the inspiration from Quinault Indian Nation’s emergency management division at last year’s expo.

“Last year Quinault Nation did some sort of scavenger hunt at our expo. That’s kind of where we got the inspiration to do this,” Falley said. “We got overwhelming support that (the participating organizations) wanted to do it.”

There will also be emergency vehicles on display, mascots, search dogs, and other engagements for guests, Falley said. “A lot of the emergency response vehicles have props for kids. Aberdeen Fire usually has a little wooden house with little wooden flames,” Falley said. “We try to make it as family friendly as possible.”

For those who can’t come but still want to do the most to protect their families, Falley recommended signing up for the county’s emergency alert system as the easiest and quickest way to stay abreast of emergencies.

“If you can’t make it on Saturday, take a look at our website,” Falley said. “Make sure to sign up Grays Harbor County emergency alerts on our website.”

Know and Go

What: 7th annual Grays Harbor Emergency Preparedness Expo

Where: 1401 Simpson Avenue in Aberdeen, at the Moore Wright Group

When: Saturday, 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.

Cost: Free, with free parking at the MW Building