BE READY WHEN LIGHTS, WATER GO OUT.

Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer

CHATSWORTH - Firefighters and emergency relief groups joined California first lady Maria Shriver on Monday to kick off a high-profile campaign to prepare residents for earthquakes, floods, fires and other calamities.

The multimillion dollar, yearlong campaign - backed by corporate sponsors and Hollywood glitz - is aimed at prompting local families to ``be smart, be responsible and be prepared.''

``This is a disaster-prone state,'' Shriver said. ``It's really up to all of us to be smart, prepared and ready.''

Shriver launched the campaign at a Vons supermarket, just a few miles from the epicenter of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, which killed 57 people, injured about 12,000 and left thousands more without electricity or running water.

``Having a plan and a kit is an assurance that you have your basics and you aren't afraid nobody is going to get there,'' said Ellis Stanley, general manager of the city's Emergency Preparedness Department.

According to the state Office of Emergency Management, there's a disaster-supply kit in less than 50 percent of households. Even fewer are prepared for a natural disaster or terrorist attack.

At the heart of the campaign is a 10-point disaster-preparedness guide that will be available at all Enterprise-Rent-A-Car and Allstate insurance offices. It includes such tips as learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid and eliminating home hazards by securing loose objects.

Beginning next month, Vons, Safeway and Pavillions stores will sell disaster-supply starter kits, prepared by the American Red Cross, which contain an emergency blanket, flashlight, light sticks and breathing mask. Home Depot will sell the same kits in June, and they will be sold at Target nationally in September.

Shriver will appear in public-service announcements with Raven Symone, star of the Disney teen sitcom ``That's So Raven.''

A $1 million school and family emergency-training program, dubbed SAFE-T, will also be launched this fall in 9,200 public schools.

Shriver and actress Jamie Lee Curtis helped Glendale resident Lourdes Marta and her 7-year-old son, Marcel, pull together a disaster kit. Trailed by a gaggle of TV camera crews, the women plucked out not-to-be-without family items, such as disposable diapers for Marta's 2-year-old daughter, Eva, and dog food for the family pooch.

Marta said she learned her lesson during the Northridge Earthquake, when she was living near California State University, Northridge.

``I wasn't prepared,'' she said. ``It was a wake-up call.''

Rachel Uranga, [phone]

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) Lourdes Marta of Glendale and her 7-year-old son, Marcel, get some help from California first lady Maria Shriver and actress Jamie Lee Curtis shopping in Chatsworth for earthquake-preparedness supplies.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Box:

PREPARE FOR THE BIG ONE

Source: The Los Angeles Fire Department Disaster Preparedness Unit

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist