2012

Training and Accommodations Slow Assistance after Sandy

In an admittedly narrow look at just one operation during Super Storm Sandy, professional disaster professionals wasted several days waiting for deployment. Fox’s sensational article quotes Michael Byrne, a FEMA federal coordinating officer, saying the delays were to find accommodations and training. Even then workers said they were deployed without good information to tell the residents.

BC’s 7.7 Quake is One of the most Significant in 60 Years; Reapportions Stress elsewhere along the NW Coast

Workers at the University of Washington’s Seismology Lab have concern that the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that occurred on the British Columbia coast over the weekend may pretend future seismic activity in Washington.
As reported at King5:

USGS Study-- Tundra Warming Could Double Atmospheric Carbon

Vashon’s second radio repeater nears fruition!

Congrats to the variety of people (but especially Randall Bardwell with assistance by Tim Hardy) for huge new progress on getting a second repeater up and (soon) operational for Vashon’s amateur radio community. While it will be able to serve as a backup to the existing W7VMI club repeater, it also is vastly more modern with a super flexible architecture that will allow a much broader array of services and modes in the future. This likely will play a role in enhancing emergency communications in coming years.

Vashon Island Fire & Rescue Celebrates 70 Years with an Open House Oct. 13th

So Much for Earthquake Independence

After April’s huge strike-slip earthquake, the USGS reiterated the one earthquake doesn’t jolt others (out of the region) into existence.

Free Quake App Released by Red Cross

Be ready for an earthquake with Earthquake by American Red Cross. Get notified when an earthquake occurs, prepare your family and home, find help and let others know you are safe even if the power is out – a must have for anyone who lives in an earthquake-prone area or has loved ones who do.

Record-Breaking 99 Disasters Declared in 2011

President Obama has declared 20 more disasters than in 2010 and 2 times the numbers declared by President George W. Bush in his first two years in the White House.

September is National Preparedness Month-- A Reminder to Check your Supplies for the winter storm season…

President Obama has proclaimed September as National Preparedness Month.

Study reveals melt welts dynamics inside larger earthquakes

U.S. seismologists at CA’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography have released a study indicating fault zones weaken in select locations shortly after a fault reaches an earthquake tipping point. This can then transform a smaller series of quakes into a large mega-quake.

Washingtons Own Shake-Out Drill-- October 18th

You only have seconds. Do you know exactly what to do the moment the ground starts shaking? If it involves a doorway, a triangle, or running – these are not quake-safe actions. Register now at www.ShakeOut.org/washington/register to learn more and practice updated quake safety. Be a part of Washington’s ShakeOut drill.

You are invited to join thousands of people who will Drop, Cover, and Hold On on October 18th at 10:18 a.m. in the 2012 Great Washington ShakeOut!

CERT Forms Equestrian Team

The Vashon Beachcomber has just published a nice story about CERT’s new equestrian team which has been organized by Beth Kellner with help from Penni Symonds, Wanda Moore, Mary O’Brien and Craig Harmeling.

North America facing 'megadrought'?

Western North America experienced the strongest drought in 800 years from 2000 to 2004 – but that may be the new normal for the next century. Reduction in carbon uptake during turn of the century drought in western North America – pg 551 – 556, by a group of 10 researchers in the current issue of Nature Geoscience, looks at the reduced carbon uptake (by 51%) in drought stressed forests, based on a study of the 2000-2004 drought throughout western North America.

Historical Evidence Reinforces Seattle Fault Tsunami Threat

U.S. Geological Survey’s Brian Atwater has found evidence of a powerful tsunami near Bremerton recently – due to an earthquake which was “much more dangerous than previously thought”. Their conclusion: climb to safety after an earthquake.

Tracy Connelly is Seattle OEM’s new Community Planning Coordinator

Unmanned Drones for Disaster Response?

Funny that DHS is getting criticism for NOT using drones, when my take is that drones further compromise our civil freedoms, but apparently their use helps some key corporations' bottom lines – and their use can be more palatable by using them for Disaster Response.

FEMA’s new web-based, independent study training course for citizens and businesses-- IS-325—Earthquake Basics-- Science, Risk, and Mitigation

As they indicate below, this appears to be a pretty basic course, but by clicking on one of the initial pages you can see much of the complete course outline and quickly skim it to see how much of it is applicable to your family or business.

NASA-- Sudden massive melt Greenland

According to an interesting AP report, “Nearly all of Greenland's massive ice sheet suddenly started melting a bit this month, a freak event that surprised scientists.

Major modern-era Puget Sound earthquakes

The University of Washington Seismology Lab, has released a new map of major semi-recent quakes and fault lines around Puget Sound.

Underground carbon dioxide storage would result in earthquakes

Cancel another innovative idea. According to a commentary published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, storing harmful carbon dioxide gas underground is not practical. Why? Because it would cause earthquakes!

Beachcomber Assesses Operation Lifeline Portion of the Evergreen Quake Exercise

The Vashon Beachcomber has done a nice article on a key aspect of last week’s 2012 Evergreen Quake exercise. Entitled, “Emergency drill shows a marine lifeline could be established for Vashon”, Editor and author Leslie Brown included a number of great quotes from islanders and county officials and crew. She noted key advances such as actually testing gurneys with the boat to be aware of potential issues ahead of time.

King County tests disaster response with regional earthquake exercise

Drill includes delivering critical supplies to Vashon Island by boat

2012 Evergreen Quake Exercise An Excellent Learning Experience

Washington State Geologic Information Portal

If you like maps and haven’t checked out the Washington State Geologic Information Portal, it is a wealth of useful information! More than just interactive maps, they also have geoscience data and collections and links to other earth science information sites.

1st WA DNR Study of Rainier Lahar Damage-- up to $40 Billion

Every 500-1000 years the slopes of Mount Rainier produce liquefied mud flows called lahars that can flow like rivers but have a density similar to liquid concrete. Based on the last Electron Mudflow ~550 years ago, and using HAZUS software, the DNR released a new report that estimates potential damage to property (but not life) based on these lahars for the first time.

Historic 2012 Evergreen Quake Exercise

Washington Emergency Management Division is working with FEMA and a slew of local partners in the Puget Sound region to conduct the state's largest (i.e., most coordinated) earthquake exercise ever: Evergreen Quake 2012™.

Tsunami & Earthquake Games!

A few months back I notices an exciting new source of disaster preparedness info: Sesame Street! Yep, FEMA apparently hired them to start educating tots early – in a variety of languages too. Fun! (I wish I had received that contract.)

ShakeOut Finally Reaches Washington State

The ShakeOut™ moniker started a couple years back in California I believe – which perhaps accounts for it’s subsequent adoption thought the galaxy, and soon in Washington too! I’m a bit jaded about such marketing obviously, but it has generated LOTS of publicity and made many aware that otherwise wouldn’t have a clue.

WA Emergency Management Division–What’ve they done?

Quite a bit apparently! They don’t crow about it much, but they are fairly consistently busy apparently with some 4372 state-wide incidents to track last year! They only activated 14 times, but obviously spent a lot of time tracking activities throughout the state, but especially olde King County – with 865 of those 4372 incidents: 670 of our county’s incidents were Hazmat, 121 Search & Rescue, 73 Other & 1 Fire incident.

WA a Top State in 8th “Ready or Not? Protecting the Public from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism” Report

Arkansas, North Dakota & Washington all received perfect 10 out of 10 scores in the most recent “Ready or Not? Protecting the Public from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism” study, conducted by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

2012 Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference Presentations

The Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference is an annual meeting held in Tacoma that is an excellent way to network with others in the disaster preparedness field – and get an excellent overview of the state of the art. Though a good deal, it doesn’t always fit folks schedules and may be too big a time and financial commitment for others. Fortunately, they make many of the presentations available after the conference. Here they are:

Vashon ARES Updates their Interface to the Sky

The local ARES team worked on the antenna candelabra at VIFR Station 55 last spring as noted in this post:

Natural Disasters loophole allows USAF drone spying on Vashon

An April 23rd Air Force intelligence brief allows unmanned drone surveillance of Americans to be used for up to 90 days if obtained in scenarios like natural disasters or environmental cases.

Emergency Preparedness becoming a hobby - for Preppers

The Seattle Times published an interesting look yesterday at a new hobby (as they call it) – Emergency Preparedness. Less than 1 in 1,000 might be members of this new group of “Preppers”. At times the similarities to survivalist mentality sound some personal warning bells – though much of what they do is working in communities – not isolating themselves. They have a national group: the American Preppers Network – and even a Washington state presence – with only 2 likes so far…

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) service starting this month

As part of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) program, the Wireless Emergency WEA) service is starting up this month. Consumers do not sign up for the free, location-based 90 character text messaging service - but if they wish can opt out of weather and AMBER alerts – but not presidential alerts. Alerts will be issued for tsunamis, extreme winds, ice storms, blizzards, and other life-threatening events – i.e., weather warnings – but not less severe weather watches.

Store food & water–or secure your furniture? Maybe do both…

National Public Radio’s Lucy Craft has a number of interesting posts about life in Japan post last year’s tsunami and earthquake. Today’s post, “After The Quake, Japanese Shop For Survival”, notes that local stores are selling lots of all-in-one emergency flashlights-radios-etc. – but concludes with the observation from one survivor of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, “city dwellers should focus on how to keep their furniture from crushing them alive” – not storing food as that will quickly arrive.

FEMA releases National Preparedness Report today

Today, FEMA and its partners released the National Preparedness Report (NPR). The Report identifies significant progress the nation has made in areas of prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.  Overall the Report found that the nation has increased its collective preparedness, not only from external threats, but also for natural and technological hazards that face its communities.

New Regional Preparedness Website-- MakeItThrough.org

There’s a new Puget Sound regional disaster website up and live today, known as www.MakeitThrough.org.

Would a Major Earthquake Sink Portland or Seattle in Liquefied Soil?

PBS Newshour just did a special segment about the risk to northwesterners of liquidification during quake tremblers. Thanks to Jill for noticing this. Read the transcript and see the video on their site here:

Sound Shake Facilitating Earthquake Preparedness-- A Workplace Guide

Click the following link to download a guide for facilitating earthquake preparedness at your workplace. Identify your organizational risks and hazards and develop an emergency plan.

Statewide "Drop, Cover and Hold" Earthquake Drill April 25 at 9--45 am

Earthquakes are one of the greatest natural hazards for Washington residents. Practicing what you should do when the ground begins to shake is an important part of being prepared.

Independent Earthquakes and New Maximums for Strike-Slip Quakes

With all the recent earthquakes around the ring of fire it isn’t too surprising we want to connect these occurrences as having some pattern. But we shouldn’t, according to Lucile Jones, Science Advisor for Risk Reduction at the USGS, in an interview with ABC News.

Vashon Beachcomber Covers Vashon’s Potential Tsunami

Today’s Vashon Beachcomber had a bunch of great quotes that Susan Riemer got from next week’s expert speakers. She especially covered the little reported tsunami risk that could damage our ferry docks, certain waterfront locations (those perpendicular to the surge), and perhaps the isthmus between Vashon and Maury Islands. Some information on this can also be found on our tsunami page.

Update on New Scientific Research of Earthquake Hazards to Seattle

Art Frankel and Craig Weaver of the U.S. Geological Survey gave a presentation to the Seattle City Council on Monday (as noted in this agenda) that has raised some eyebrows – and reaffirms our sensitivity to upcoming seismic disturbances. See their PowerPoint presentation or read on for a few copies of a few of their slides.

New Emergency Bulletins Page

Thanks to the EOC Team’s Public Information lead, Jill Janow, for cleaning up how emergency bulletins will be posted to our web site in a future disaster. All Emergency Bulletins will be put on a dedicated page, so they will have the full width and will download as fast as possible.

Two State Experts on Vashon Earthquake & Tsunami Risks + What You Can Do for your Home, Family & Pets!

Fortunately these experts can help homeowners and families understand what each of us can do to protect ourselves, families, pets, livestock, businesses and property from these predicted disasters. A large portion of the evening will be set aside to get your questions answered. Handouts for families, home and business owners will also be available.

USGS Seismic Hazards Investigations in the Puget Sound

An ‘ongoing’ effort (but apparently in abeyance since 2002?!) to create an accurate seismic model for the Puget Sound region and British Columbia is the USGS’ Seismic Hazards Investigations in the Puget Sound (SHIPS) project. Since March 1998 SHIPS has conducted a series of seismic studies to better describe earthquake hazards in the Puget Lowland and British Columbia.

Citizen Corps Offers Community Preparedness Webinar Series

210 Foot Ghost Ship from Japan nears Canadian Coast

Video-- 2011 Earthquakes Worldwide–Plotted with Magnitudes

Video– 2011 Earthquakes Worldwide–Plotted with Magnitudes

Scare Tactics

Some of our descriptions of potential disasters that might befall the Puget Sound region - and Vashon in particular - might sound a lot like crying “Wolf” to some. But there is a very serious reality out there, even if most of us haven’t been exposed to it in our brief lives here on earth.

Is Vashon at Risk for Tsunamis?

Most folks think of an overseas or Cascadia based quake as generating a terrible tsunami – and they are right. However such a tsunami is not likely to cause massive damage to Vashon from what I’ve heard – largely due to the moderating influence of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. (It will be interesting to verify this at our upcoming April 18th community meeting with Washington State experts).

Tsunami Evacuation App Released

DHS Preparedness Grant Funding Changes under Criticism

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed consolidating their grants program for fiscal year 2013. This was met with criticism in Washington DC Tuesday.  Democrats particularly questioned the proposed consolidation of 16 individual grant programs into the National Preparedness Grant Program (NPGP)  during a hearing of the House Homeland Security emergency preparedness subcommittee. There were calls for the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), port grants, transit grants and the State Homeland Security Grant Program to remain separate funds. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter testifying for the US Conference of Mayors said NPGP grants would not guarantee any funding to large urban areas like Philadelphia.

Weather Spotter Training - Apr 26

Ted Buehner, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service has announced a new Weather Spotter Training opportunity for the evening of April 26th. 

Cascadia Quake Potentially More Damaging than San Andreas or Japan’s Tōhoku

In “Quake catastrophe like Japan's could hit Pacific Northwest, new data show” M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com also reports on last month’s reports at the American Association for the Advancement of Science – noting that the Cascadia quake has numerous parallels with Japan’s Tōhoku disaster one year ago.

15% Chance of Local Cascadia Quake & Tsunami in Next 50-60 Years

According to Bill Steele, the public is woefully unprepared for a certain disaster: we just don’t know when. Mr. Steele is Seismology Lab Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network (PNSN) at the University of Washington Department of Earth and Space Sciences where he has worked since 1993.

In Memory of the 2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami

Just a brief note to commemorate those whose lives have been disrupted and lost by the Tōhoku disaster one year ago today.

PSE Crews working on West Side Power Outage

Just a quick report that power (and phone) has been out for parts of the west side (near Redding's Loop Road at least) for ~3 hours. Apparently a large tree fell across the power line near 216th St. on 111th Ave. The tree has been removed at this point and crews are working on repairing the line. Hopefully power will be restored within a couple more hours or less.

DHS grant funding slashes preparedness - in favor of terrorism prevention

The DHS recently released the FY 2012 guidance and application kits for seven grant programs that support the National Preparedness Goal. Grants total more than $1.3 billion, a reduction of nearly $1 billion from FY 2011 and $1.5 billion below the President Obama’s FY 2012 request. The DHS preparedness grants give priority this year to applicants in the nation’s highest-risk areas, including urban areas, with a focus on terrorism prevention. “Given the significant reduction in grant funding this year, we are maximizing limited grant dollars by setting clear priorities and focusing on the areas that face the greatest risk,” DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement.

38% of Americans Never Considered Getting Prepared; 20% to “Wing It”!

Not too surprisingly, disaster preparedness is not at the forefront of most Americans priority – but many don’t even have any plans. The original research was done by the Persuadable Research Corporation with reports of the survey released by PRWeb and the Homeland Security News Wire.

Basic Animal Emergency Services Training (BAEST) March 17th Class Deadline is this Friday

Basic Animal Emergency Services Training (BAEST), taught by the American Humane Association, costs $180 per person though CERT Volunteers who register through Catherine Cochrane can get in free! Registration is on a first come, first served basis. The registration deadline is this Friday, March 2nd. Click graphic to the right for details.

Steps to Comprehensive Business Planning and Preparedness

Got a business on Vashon? Here’s what you need to know to avoid disruption after a fire, a storm, a pandemic, or an earthquake. It is courtesy of the Washington State’s Emergency Management Division’s Business Preparedness Website, that includes a ton of additional resources to help your business survive!

Vashon Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training Starts March 16th

iPhone (and Android) Apps for Ham Radio

This handy list (and mini-reviews) of iPhone apps for ham radio enthusiasts is courtesy of Keith Francisco – or more likely from http://www.k0nr.com/wordpress/2011/04/the-incomplete-list-of-ham-radio-iphone-apps/ – in either case, thanks!

Amateur Radio (Ham) License testing session on Vashon

Vashon Maury Island Radio Club announces an Amateur Radio (Ham) License testing session will be held on Vashon Island around the middle of March. Test costs about $14. Take advantage of these Technician, General, and Extra levels tests given on island.

Cascadia Mega-Quake Threat-- Even Larger than Previously Thought?

Japan’s Tohoku earthquake last year has provided valuable data that is altering scientists’ understanding of our local Cascadia earthquake potential. Geologists have documented some 22 megaquakes over the last 10,000 years - every 200 to 1,000 years, averaging some 500 years. The region’s last was on January 26, 1700.

Reducing the Risks of Nonstructural Earthquake Damage—A Practical Guide, Fourth Edition (FEMA E-74)

Reducing the Risks of Nonstructural Earthquake Damage—A Practical Guide, Fourth Edition (FEMA E-74)

Course Description

Nonstructural components of buildings include all elements that are not part of the structural system; that is, the architectural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, as well as furniture, fixtures, equipment, and other contents. During the recent earthquakes in Chile, New Zealand, Japan, Virginia and other earlier earthquakes in California, Washington, and other parts of the U.S., nonstructural failures have accounted for the majority of damage and injuries. In many cases, businesses, schools, hospitals, and other organizations had to spend excessive time and dollars for clean up and repair due to nonstructural failures; therefore impeding continued operations and rapid recovery. Moreover, nonstructural component failures also impeded safe evacuation, delayed rescue, and caused additional hazards such as fire resulting in serious life safety issues.

All Island Forum-- 27 Feb, 7-9 PM at Open Space

ALL ISLAND FORUM

What’s the link between our warming planet and our extreme weather?

A new National Center on Atmospheric Research (NCAR) web site titled “Weather on Steroids” explores the connection between all the unusual weather and climate change. Getting a handle on the true changes due to global warming requires massive statistical and scientific analyses.

Earthquakes Maps Updated–For Eastern US

Thanks to the NY Times for noting the first update to eastern US earthquake maps in almost a quarter century. Sad that it was apparently only done to spur permitting of nuclear power plants.

About The Kids Foundation Releases Free ICE Standard App

2nd Food Storage for Emergencies Workshop Announced

Due to the high demand, a SECOND series of Food Storage for Emergencies workshops will be held on three Monday evenings, 7-9 pm! See details below. Please pre-register and pass the word!

Cascadia Mega-Fault Due to Rupture

…sometime in the next 500 years, according to a great blog a couple weeks back by the PSSN’s John Vidale, a regular contributor to their “Seismo Blog” How likely is it to go? Well you’ll have to read his blog that breaks down some of the inputs to evaluating the actual risk factor – which I think he never actually stated…

Do you know Washington’s four kinds of earthquake sources?

Cascadia Subduction Zone
Example: the 1700 earthquake that caused shaking and a tsunami that inundated the Oregon coast and reached as far as Japan.

New Fault Lines Revealed in Washington State

Two new articles from the Homeland Security Newswire and the Yakima Herald discuss new fault lines (maybe better described as extended and remapped fault lines) that the U.S. Geological Survey’s Brian Sherrod has been studying. It is too early to not consequences for these and the discovery doesn’t inherently up the likelihood for quakes, but will make future predictions more accurate and does expand our understanding of the mechanisms at work underground – where real faults are much more complex than simple two dimensional lines on a map. Click on the map to the right to see several views of the newly unveiled faults.

Global Warming Moves us Closer to the Ultimate Disaster

Doomsday clock moves closer to midnight

Numerous articles (including USA Today’s) note that scientists have moved the hands of the doomsday clock toward midnight – as a visible metaphor for our lessened security due to our fuelish ways.  It is notoriously hard to change our social (i.e., automotive) ways, but the consequences of our not taking a long term view are increasingly resulting in massive storm and economic damage today to societies across the globe.

DHS-- Fusion Centers & EOCs Need to Talk

According to the inspector general (IG) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), state and local fusion centers and emergency operations centers could improve the response of their jurisdictions to terrorism and natural disasters if they talked to each other more often. Many fusion centers and EOCs surveyed do not exchange information.

FEMA P-811-- Earthquake Publications for Businesses (QuakeSmart Toolkit)–Just Released!

VashonBePrepared has been working with the Debi Richards and the Vashon Chamber of Commerce and a large number of local businesses this fall to promote business disaster preparedness. A useful new national program has just been announced that promises to provide some great guidance for all of us. The big aim:

VIFR Cookbook Out!