Washington’s annual moment of earthquake preparedness takes place Thursday morning, October 21st, at 10:21 AM.
The state is again marking the third Thursday of October’s International ShakeOut Day with drills and awareness efforts. With the ongoing pandemic’s changes to the workday, this year’s training emphasizes how to safely get through a quake at home.
“If you’re continuing to work from home, take this opportunity to examine your environment for hazards and talk to family about where everyone would gather if your home was damaged and you were separated,” a statement from the Washington Emergency Management Division reads. “If you’re at a workplace or have kids in school, ask about what plans are in place for when an earthquake happens.” Continue reading →
Seattle wants you to help prepare your neighbors for emergencies and natural disasters. The city’s Office of Emergency Management is putting out a call for volunteer Emergency Preparedness Public Educators in each of the city’s seven City Council districts:
Are you interested in helping your neighborhood and the Seattle community prepare for disasters? We are looking for community members within the seven Seattle Council Districts to serve as Emergency Preparedness Educators with the Seattle Office of Emergency Management (OEM). Our volunteer educators are trained to provide emergency preparedness education to Seattle’s diverse community through presentations, tabling events, neighborhood meetings, and special events. On any given day, our volunteers may give a presentation in a living room, an office building, at a community center, a condo building, an assisted living facility, or a neighborhood council. We are looking for flexible individuals who know their neighborhoods well and share our passion for educating the community about the importance of emergency and disaster preparedness. Join our growing team!
The city is looking for two volunteers in each district. Continue reading →
“Come experience an 8.0 earthquake!,” the Seattle Office of Emergency Management invited. Wednesday afternoon at the Seattle World School along E Union, dozens of people took them up on the offer. Continue reading →
The largest earthquake drill in Pacific Northwest history is taking place this week and includes residents gathering at neighborhood hubs to act out emergency scenarios. But you won’t find a meet-up on Capitol Hill.
Neighborhood Hubs and Seattle Neighborhood’s Actively Prepare groups are intended to be the main units of organizing emergency preparedness in the city, developed by the Office of Emergency Management. Hubs are organized around pre-determined locations where neighbors agree to meet to share information and resources.
Currently Capitol Hill has no active Hub groups. Madison Park has the closest Hub participating in the June 11th drill.
The bulk of the Cascadia Rising drill has taken place behind the scenes this week among government and emergency management agencies across the Pacific Northwest. The exercise simulated an emergency response coordination following a 9.0 earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Seattle Fire Department will conduct helicopter drills from the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5 on Saturday.
You can learn more here about building emergency kits and preparing your home in the case of a disaster.
with the CAP-SNAP – Capitol Hill SNAP Disaster Preparedness Group
Meet your neighbor, test your preparedness and plan for the big one!
Chances are, you or someone close to you has medical experience, training, technical skills, experience or equipment that is needed in times of emergency.
Come join the CAP-SNAP Network!
SNAP or Seattle Neighborhood’s Actively Prepare is a city Emergency disaster preparedness plan where groups or SNAP are main units of organizing around locations where neighbors agree to meet and share information and resources to prepare themselves on how to react in emergency situations, so residents can react quickly and appropriately when a real emergency situation occurs.
Currently Capitol Hill has NO SNAP groups although in the past there were Hubs at Cal Anderson Park, Volunteer Park and Miller Playfield.
“Using the safety plan experience and existing network of the Capitol Hill Pride Festival March and Rally – the largest community event on Capitol Hill with residences and businesses, the festival is spring boarding the development of a Disaster Preparedness Group, hopefully permanently and again establishing Cal Anderson Park as a Hub or meeting place to share resources and prepare for emergencies in one of Seattle’s most densely populated neighborhoods,” the announcement from Charlette Lefevre reads.
“We would like as many Neighborhood Leaders, Activists, businesses, organizations, residents, students and youth as possible to participate,” she writes.
There are reminders all around us. 12th Ave’s Piston and Ring building, pictured here, has seismic bracing that elegantly gives the auto row-era structure added support for the next time the earth quakes in Seattle.
Sunday’s anniversary of the 6.8 magnitude Nisqually earthquake marked 15 years since the last truly big shaker hit the city.
Last fall, officials said they had shifted advice for city dwellers for being prepared for the next big quake from having enough supplies for three days to “a more realistic” 7 to 10 days. Kits should include one gallon of water per person per day, food, a light source, and a first aid kit. The anniversary seems like a good excuse for you to do some shopping. Continue reading →
The Really Big One was a scary reminder of how vulnerable Seattle is to not one, but two disastrous earthquake scenarios. City Council members recently asked the Seattle Office of Emergency Management to run down what exactly we’re doing to prepare for them.
A couple weeks back, OEM director Barb Graff laid out the city’s recent preparedness efforts. Among the most notable changes over the past two years was OEM has shifted its advice to being prepared for three days to “a more realistic” 7-10 days. Kits should include on gallon of water per person per day, food, a light source, and a first aid kit.
OEM also directly trains and facilitates training for emergency preparedness. According to Graff OED has:
Trained 713 people in disaster skills
Delivered Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare (SNAP) programs to nearly 4,300 people
Trained 20 Community Safety Ambassadors who teach preparedness to their own cultural communities
Formed 18 new “hubs” (more than 50 in place now) where people gather to help or be helped
Unfortunately, Capitol Hill lags behind with no active hubs or SNAP groups mostly due to a lack of involvement, OEM’s community planning organizer Debbie Goetztold CHS earlier this year. While Capitol Hill has three designated hubs where people are supposed to gather after a natural disaster, there are no point groups tied to those locations.
In June, the group Capitol Hill Prepares announced it would dissolving its earthquake preparedness activities at the Cal Anderson Park hub and shutting down its website and social media accounts, which were the most active in the neighborhood.
OEM has also used Federal Emergency Management Agency grants for projects like seismic retrofitting on low income homes and a public awareness campaign about unreinforced masonry buildings.
Over the past two years, the agency has activated the City’s Emergency Operations Center 15 times. The agency is also preparing for a multi-day preparedness exercise in June 2016. Cascade Rising will include local, state, and federal agencies in Western Washington and Oregon.
In August, the city launched AlertSeattle — a service that gives users real time updates in emergency situations through text messages and email. So far, 16,000 people have signed up.
OEM hosts a “Preparing for the Big One” class. The next open class is on November 17th at the Green Lake public library.
Washington’s annual moment of earthquake preparedness takes place Thursday morning, October 21st, at 10:21 AM.
