King County Executive Dow Constantine Recognizes Vashon with Inaugural Community Preparedness Award

The residents of Vashon and all the volunteers and organizations under the VashonBePrepared banner were honored Friday, September 30th by King County Executive Dow Constantine and King County Councilmember Joe McDermott - the final day of National Preparedness Month. As described by the actual 2011 King County Executive Award for Community Preparedness, and by the official King County press release, the award was to the entire community and emphasized the many contributors to Vashon’s preparedness. The Carnation-Duvall Citizen Corps Council was likewise lauded with a similar award.

Formally accepting the 2011 King County Executive Award for Community Preparedness from Dow Constantine and Joe McDermott were VashonBePrepared President John Cornelison and VIFR Fire Chief Hank Lipe.

“Vashon residents and business share an ethic of preparedness, but it is wonderful that everyone’s hard efforts can be recognized. Hopefully this can inspire others – on and off our island – to also prepare for the inevitable storms and earthquakes ahead,” according to John Cornelison.

Constantine and State Senator (elect) Sharon Nelson had come over to Vashon last fall at the height of the “Gizzard Blizzard” and were impressed with what they saw – a team of volunteers working alongside professionals. Dow Constantine & Joe McDermott noted this, but also the ongoing work over the years by all of Vashon’s residents and the numerous organizations striving for preparedness – working closely with Washington State and King County, especially through King County’s Office Of Emergency Management.

Participating in the awards ceremony (from the left in this photo) were: Joe Ulatoski (NERO), Al Francisco (ARES), King County Executive Dow Constantine, Patricia McClements (PSE), Rex Stratton (VIFR), Catherine Rogers (VEPC), Jill Janow (PI), John Galus (ARES), Fire Chief Hank Lipe (VIFR), John Cornelison (VashonBePrepared), Synthia Downs (MRC), Michael Cochrane (CERT), Catherine Cochrane (CERT), King County Councilmember Joe McDermott. At least six of those have amateur radio licensees. Numerous other volunteers were not able to attend.

VashonBePrepared is a coalition of disaster preparedness organizations on Vashon-Maury Island in Washington's Puget Sound region.

Under the umbrella of VashonBePrepared and operating under the auspices of Vashon Island Fire and Rescue and King County’s Office of Emergency Management, continued emphasis has been placed on individual and community preparedness:

• A functioning Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has been established,
• The Vashon Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) organization trained in excess of 200 islanders in minor firefighting, first aid, search and rescue and communication;
• Vashon Radio Club (an ARES affiliate) organized a parallel emergency communications network;
• The Medical Reserve Corps set up an emergency response structure to augment existing medical personnel and facilities;
• Over 100 informal Neighborhood Emergency Response Organizations (NERO's) have been activated and businesses are now organizing;
• Voice of Vashon (VoV) established an island wide emergency public information radio network;
• The Vashon Emergency Preparedness Committee (VEPC) continues the process of expanding plans for shelter and feeding of personnel in the aftermath of a disaster.

VashonBePrepared helps recruit, train and coordinate volunteers, works closely with Vashon Island Fire & Rescue (VIFR) to mitigate effects of disasters, and educates the public and local businesses on how to best prepare for disruptive events. Over 3% of island residents have volunteered with VashonBePrepared at one time or another and an unusually high percentage of islanders have lain in supplies. Maintaining this level of preparedness is a key challenge. Winter storms regularly knock out power for days and – along with periodic ferry outages – help residents maintain their alertness. Vashon residents are also aware of earthquake potential from Seattle and Tacoma Faults that lie near and under our island.

Afterward VashonBePrepared’s Joe Ulatoski (father of Vashon’s disaster preparedness efforts) and John Cornelison were interviewed by KPCQ, Seattle Channel 13 TV, who were curious how other communities could learn from our successes.

According to Joe Ulatoski,

“1) Create a family communications plan. Everyone should know who – outside the Puget Sound Region – they can call.

2) Communicate with your neighbors who will be your first source of help after an event.

3) Store food, water and other basic supplies  - enough for 10 days! See www.VashonBePrepared.org for checklists and other advice."