The public will see some aspects of a drill in June that simulates the response to a catastrophic disaster, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami, but much of the exercise will go unnoticed.
The Cascadia Rising 2016 exercise will be essential for different agencies to work together in the wake of a disaster, officials said.
“There won’t be much of anything for the public to see, as this is a tabletop exercise” in Jefferson County, said Bob Hamlin, Jefferson County emergency management director.
“There may be some visible activity around NAVMAG Indian Island,” he said, referring to Naval Magazine Indian Island across Port Townsend Bay, “as military assets simultaneously exercise their roles after a disaster of this magnitude occurs.“
In Clallam County, the exercise is predominantly for the rescue agencies, but the public will see some activity, according to Penelope Linterman, program coordinator for Clallam County emergency management.
Coastal communities
The event will take place from June 7-10 and will include coastal communities throughout Washington, Oregon and British Columbia and their emergency responders.
It will simulate a 9.0-magnitude subduction zone earthquake off the Washington coast, where the Juan de Fuca plate collides and dives under the North American plate.
Such an earthquake is expected to cause a massive tsunami that will inundate coastal areas.
Geologists believe major earthquakes occur along the Cascadia Subduction Zone about once every 500 years.
The last big earthquake happened in the zone in January 1700.
Mock air rescue
Sometime on June 10, a simulated air rescue will take place from Carlsborg to Sequim “where people will be able to see someone hanging from a helicopter on a rope,” Linterman said.
At noon June 8, a “tsunami saunter” will take place in downtown Port Angeles where people in costumes will walk from the Feiro Marine Life Center to high ground, Linterman said.
William R. Fairchild International Airport in Port Angeles, the Clallam County Fire District No. 3 station in Carlsborg and Bob Bates Little League Field in Port Hadlock each will host a Joint Incident Site Communications Capability installation, an array of communications equipment inside a tent that is meant to take over local systems that will most likely fail in a disaster.
Nixle
One way the public can stay apprised of the drill is through Nixle, a text message/email communications channel that can alert residents to ongoing events.
Currently, Nixle subscribers receive a test message every Wednesday along with reports about heavy traffic and accident situations.
During the exercise, several messages will be sent prefaced by an all-capital-letter “this is a drill” so subscribers can readily see that the information pertains to the exercise.
This is a command and control exercise designed to test and improve joint operations between federal, state and local emergency management and response agencies; tribal nations; select private sector businesses; and non-governmental organizations across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia.
Other key partners include major U.S. military commands, including U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Transportation Command and the National Guard.
Time spent planning
Exercise planning has taken a huge amount of time for agency personnel, according to Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Keppie Keplinger.
“This will give us the opportunity to see the things we do well and the things we do not so well,” she said.
“We will be working with a large cast of characters and need to be familiar with each other.”
After the exercise, an after-incident report will be published on the Jefferson County Emergency Management website, www.jeffcoeoc.org.
Jefferson County Emergency Management has been preparing for this exercise for the past two years.
“This is heavy-duty stuff,” Hamlin said Thursday.
Linterman added that the exercise has a “lot of moving parts.”
“Things are proceeding with the normal amount of organized chaos,” Linterman said of the preparations.
At the local level, emphasis will be on the ability for Jefferson, Clallam and Kitsap counties to work together to provide resources among the three county emergency management agencies.
“The Olympic Peninsula could very quickly become isolated after a catastrophic disaster like a 9.0-magnitude earthquake because of widespread road damage making it impossible for resources from larger communities to get to us,” Hamlin said.
“For an unknown period of time, we may have to rely on what is already here on the Peninsula for resources.”
Hamlin said he is encouraging local preparedness groups, businesses and individuals to take advantage of this moment in time to stage an earthquake drill, check their preparedness supplies and learn where the closest evacuation routes are to their homes and workplaces.
“This exercise presents a worthwhile opportunity for everyone to refresh the steps they will need to take following a catastrophic earthquake,” he said.
“We’ve been told more than once, it’s not a matter of if this could happen, but when.”
A series of articles about the exercise can be found on the Jefferson County Emergency Management website. Click on the header “Current” and scroll down to the Cascadia Rising newsletters.
For Clallam County Emergency Management, visit www.clallam.net/emergencymanagement.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
