 Emergency management officials from the country of Chile traveled nearly 6,000 miles to the State Operations Center here in Mather. Though on separate continents, California and Chile have a lot in common. With similar geography, climatology, and natural disaster risks such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and wildfires, both are no stranger to responding to or recovering from devastating disasters. Officials from the National Emergency Office of the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security of Chile came to California to further learn about California's emergency management system as they continue to bolster their systems. The visit to Cal OES comes just months after the relationship was further strengthened following the signing of an MOU in Santiago, Chile. The MOU provides the framework for California and Chile to learn from each other and strengthen emergency management capabilities. This visit to California, in essence, is the MOU in action. Chilean officials are also learning from agencies such as Cal Fire, Cal Volunteers, CCC, CERT, and the American Red Cross. California also continues to learn from Chile's long history of experiencing devastating earthquakes, tsunamis, and drought. We are able to help other countries on what we have already experienced and the information that we have. Cal OES is a world leader in emergency management and continues to form and strengthen international partnerships such as the one with Chile. We don't know what the next disaster may be, but we can learn from the past and prepare for the future. For more news and information from Cal OES, visit OESNews.com. From the State Operations Center in Mather, I'm Monica Vargas.