Insights

Subcommittee Reviews Status of U.S. Earthquake Preparedness

• John Cornelison
• 4/8/11

• Tags

  Legislation , Earthquakes , Funding

Yesterday a lightly attended hearing was held by the Committee on Science, Space and Technology’s Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation looking at renewing funding for earthquake preparedness. Two northwesterners testified: Mr. Jim Mullen, Director, Washington State Emergency Management Division; President, National Emergency Management Association & Dr. Vicki McConnell, Oregon State Geologist and Director, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries.

It’s Disaster Preparedness Month in Washington

• John Cornelison
• 4/5/11

If you haven’t seen this yet, there’s a fun preparedness campaign going on in April. Even if folks aren’t part of the first 200 people to sign up and get a free crank flashlight/radio or emergency kit, everyone will be entered for the Grand Prize! Note that the campaign is for people in King and Snohomish County. Please spread the word!

Vashon Awarded $16K for Disaster Emergency Response Trailer

• John Cornelison
• 4/5/11

• Tags

  Funding , Kcoem , Shelters , Vashon

At today’s Region 6 Homeland Security Council’s EMACS meeting, approximately $16K of unused funds from the FFY2009(or 2008?) Homeland Security Grant Program previously designated for Disaster Emergency Response Trailers (DERT) in King County, was re-allocated for Vashon! The trailer will primarily be used to store ADA compliant cots, blankets and pillows for use in community shelters to be set up for off-island visitors and workers unable to get home, or for residents with damaged houses.

New Guidance for Seattle Citizens to Survive Tsunamis and Earthquakes

• John Cornelison
• 4/3/11

• Tags

  Seattle , Individual preparedness , Earthquakes , Tsunami

www.seattle.gov/emergency has a new set of nice publications for citizens with very basic advice to citizens for surviving and earthquake or tsunami.

Seattle OEM 2010 Accomplishments

• John Cornelison
• 4/3/11

• Tags

  Seattle

A great list of 2010 accomplishments by Barb Graff, Director of Emergency Management, and her staff at the Seattle Office of Emergency Management can be downloaded at: www.seattle.gov/emergency/docs/accomplishments_2010_seattle_oem.pdf

Free Ham Radio Technician License Exam Preparatory Class-- May 20, 2011 to May 22, 2011

• John Cornelison
• 4/3/11

• Tags

  Arrl , Class , Vmirc

Amateur Radio operators are people from all walks of life--no matter what age, gender or physical ability. Did you know that most of the astronauts are Amateur Radio Operators? You're never too young or old. And, getting started in Amateur Radio has never been easier! Now, you no longer have to learn Morse Code to get your first Ham Radio License, the Technician Class, as in years past! Just pass a 35 question multiple choice exam given by volunteer Ham Radio Operators and you will be "on the air" in no time!

Preparing for disasters is as easy as 1-2-3

• John Cornelison
• 4/1/11

• Tags

  Vashon be prepared , Kcoem , Individual preparedness

April is Disaster Preparedness Month. VashonBePrepared, in conjunction with the King County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) urges citizens to take simple steps to prepare for earthquakes, floods, man-made disasters and other emergencies.

VashonBePrepared Meeting to Discuss Little Known Vashon Earthquake Hazard

• John Cornelison
• 4/1/11

• Tags

  Meetings , Earthquakes , Study , Tsunami , Usgs , Vashon be prepared , Vashon

In just the last two years, federal earthquake scientists have completed analysis of the Tacoma Fault. As it turns out, the Tacoma Fault actually runs directly across the center of Vashon, the community that could be most affected if it ruptures. The latest computer analysis indicates that shaking from the fault could be as severe as the recent earthquakes in Christchurch and Sendai. That makes it doubly or even triply important for all of us to be prepared to sustain ourselves for as long as 10 days at home until help can arrive.

Antenna Remount at VIFR Station 55

• John Cornelison
• 3/30/11

• Tags

  Vifr , Vmirc

Thanks to Phil W7PDZ, Tim W7TRH, Jim WA7KYI & VIFR’s Bob Larsen for dismounting and initiating repairs on the aged mount for the 3-30 MHz HF antenna at the EOC at VIFR Station 55 yesterday.  The antenna fit over an aluminum cylinder that was welded to the mast. That cylinder fatigued over time and snapped & is being replaced with something heavier. Jim kindly agreed to oversee the repairs and I understand Bob Powell has been recruited to help out too.

Crowd Sourcing and Crisis Mapping

• John Cornelison
• 3/28/11

• Tags

  Crowdsourcing , Gis , Situation awareness , Critical locations , Planning , Crisis mapping

  You’ve no doubt heard about volunteers across the globe helping assist with Haitian, Libyan, and other crises by crowd sourcing: geolocating and tagging new reports and data from a wide variety of news sources like phones, web forms, tweets, email and more. By filtering for keywords and locating these reports on a map, a wide variety of emergency managers, researchers, and citizens can rapidly get a better feeling for late breaking information – well before a reporter or others have had time to synthesize the data into a summary or overview.

Your first move when the earth shakes-- “Drop, Cover, and Hold”

• John Cornelison
• 3/25/11

• Tags

  Earthquakes , Individual preparedness , Kcoem

Release Date and Time:03-25-2011 08:19:00 AM

"Triangle of Life" theory is dismissed by quake experts. The technique is not applicable for earthquake experiences in the U.S. The safest response is to "Drop, Cover, and Hold" until the ground stops shaking.

Now is NOT the time to Cut Back on Disaster Preparedness Funding

• John Cornelison
• 3/21/11

• Tags

  Funding , Legislation , Wemd

Jim Mullen, director of the Washington State Emergency Management Division and president of the National Emergency Management Association, wrote an excellent op-ed in yesterday’s Seattle Times, citing the value in maintaining funding for disaster preparedness – which is currently under threat. Read it online at: