You might already know this through your workplace, or your kid’s school – tomorrow is the annual “Great Washington Shakeout” earthquake drill, with more than a million people expected to fake a quake at 10:17 am (on 10/17). The goal this year: To be sure you know how to “drop, cover, and hold on” to protect yourself as best you can once the shaking starts. P.S. For West Seattle-specific preparedness info – covering more than quake readiness – go here!

With 7.1 and 6.4 magnitude quakes in Southern California the past two days, you might be thinking about preparedness, since we’re in quake country too. So here’s one simple thing to do: Know where your nearest Emergency Communication Hub is. The map above shows the ones in our area. These are spots where community volunteers will set up alternative ways of communicating, from amateur radio to paper-and-pen message boards, if we’re hit by a disaster that disrupts regular communications. They can be rendezvous spots too, so know where yours is, and be sure your loved ones know too. If you wish there was one closer to you – get involved and make it happen.

P.S. For more preparedness info, plan to visit this year’s Delridge Day festival five weeks from today – Saturday, August 10th, at Delridge Community Center Park – which will include the next Urban Survival Skills Fair, just like the one at the West Seattle Bee Festival back in May.

This past weekend, amateur-radio operators and emergency-preparedness specialists gathered at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) for the annual Field Day. Community members were welcome to stop by, observe, and learn. In case you weren’t able to, local videographer Mark Jaroslaw created the video above explaining how – in case of catastrophe, particularly The Big One – what was happening on Field Day ultimately will help you be safer in the aftermath. Participating entities included the Puget Sound Repeater Group, Seattle Auxiliary Communication Service, West Seattle Amateur Radio Club, Western Washington Medical Services Team, Red Cross, Search And Rescue, Seattle Emergency Hubs, and the Seattle Office Of Emergency Management.

Do you know where your nearest Emergency Communication Hub is? If you don’t, finding it on the map and memorizing it is the single most important takeaway from that story. Two of the hubs – volunteer-staffed rendezvous points that would be set up in case of catastrophe – are “activated” right now as part of a citywide drill, explained in the announcement:

The drill simulates conditions the day after a magnitude 6.7 earthquake along the Seattle Fault has caused extensive infrastructure damage. The damage from such a quake would likely include a failure of grid power and cellular service, making communications and emergency services a challenge. Because the Hubs are key gathering points for neighborhoods, communications between the Hubs, (Auxiliary Communication Service), and the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) are critical. Much of the exercise will involve moving simulated messages around the city using field- deployed, off-grid communications.

The two hubs participating in the drill, which continues until noon, include Hiawatha and Morgan Junction Park. We stopped at the latter:

Though to the unknowing passerby it might have looked like a lot of standing/sitting around, everyone has a role, and periodic drills like this are vital to keep plans and skills top-of-mind.

Again, these preparations – and what would happen if disaster struck – are all-volunteer efforts. It’s been stressed time and time again that the “officials” will be overwhelmed so especially in the early aftermath, you have to be ready to help yourself, your family, your neighbors. And if you are interested in setting up a hub – here’s how.

If you were in this area 18 years ago, right now you were coping with the aftermath of the Nisqually earthquake, which hit at 10:54 am on February 28, 2001, with a magnitude of 6.8. Someday, the experts say, something even bigger will hit. It’s the natural disaster you most need to prepare for, and you are lucky to have neighbors who are dedicated to helping. To mark the anniversary, they’re sharing the video (by local videographer Mark Jaroslaw) from two of the keynote presentations at a full-house preparedness event in West Seattle back in November:

Journalist Sandi Doughton and preparedness Dave Nichols were just two of the presenters; we covered the entire event and published this report afterward. As our headline noted, the most important preparedness plan is the one for your home, your family, your neighborhood – especially in the early aftermath, even the professional responders will be overwhelmed, and you need to be ready to be self-reliant. Lots more resources, by the way, are available at West Seattle Be Prepared.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

On the long to-do lists that usurp most days for most people, it’s easy to let the maybes slide beneath the certainties.

Thanksgiving? Definitely a week and a half away.

Catastrophic earthquake? Could happen tomorrow … or not in your lifetime, or your children’s lifetimes, or their children’s lifetimes.

Still, about 200 people filled the auditorium at Hiawatha Community Center a week ago to start their weekend getting practical advice for getting ready for the latter.

It was a power-packed few hours, going beyond the standard advice you might have tuned out despite best intentions.

The longtime local volunteers of West Seattle Be Prepared and the West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs were elated by the turnout. It was the second of two nearly identical weekend sessions they had organized, the first one a month earlier at High Point Community Center. They’re hoping to do it again in 2019. Before our toplines: Highlights from videographer Mark Jaroslaw:

The event provided more than preparedness advice – it gave a bigger view, too, as well as a behind-the-scenes window into how public servants are, and are not, getting ready:

Read More

It was a one-shop preparedness stop at High Point Community Center on Sunday afternoon – the first of two big educational events local volunteers led by West Seattle Be Prepared are presenting this fall. Thanks to Karen Berge for sharing photos and notes! And yes, it wasn’t all deadly serious – above, Brian Nozynski from the West Seattle Amateur Radio Club shared a “MacGyver Moment” of improvisation with Cindi Barker of WSBP. (What he’s wearing is a “giant contractor’s bag” you can buy and carry everywhere – it can be used as clothing, sleeping cover, and more.) Informational displays were of course part of the event:

KING TV journalist Glenn Farley moderated; speakers were from a variety of organizations and areas of expertise, including Harold Tobin of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, who Karen reports “talked about the science of earthquakes – the different types, the frequency and potential magnitudes and the damage that might occur. He also talked about the new early warning system and what some of the benefits of that technology are. Even if it provides only 5 to 10 seconds of warning, it would allow time for citizens to drop-cover-hold and for critical operations to be paused or stopped.” Local Scouts helped present disaster-skills training:

Their presentations included disaster kits, water purification, and disaster sanitation. A recurrent theme: Emergency responders will be overwhelmed, so you have to be prepared to care for yourself and your loved ones – advice included having 2 weeks of provisions, and have disaster kits in your home, workplace, and vehicle. Before the three-hour-long event concluded, attendees were urged to get familiar with their nearest Emergency Communication Hubs and the volunteer captains for them.

P.S. Though signups are already full for the next presentation in November, there are other things you can do if you didn’t register in time – request SNAP training for your group, block, building, etc.; go play Disaster Trivia this Wednesday; browse the WSBP website and learn lots more about being ready.

Lots of reminders about this today but there still might be somebody who hasn’t heard about it, so we’ll join in too: An emergency test message will be sent to cell phones, TV, and radio tomorrow (Wednesday, October 3rd). From the official FEMA webpage explaining the test, which starts at 11:18 am our time:

The WEA test message will appear on consumers’ phones and read, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” Phones will display this national test using the header “Presidential Alert.” These nationwide alerts, established pursuant to the WARN Act of 2006, are meant for use in a national emergency and are the only type of alert that can be sent simultaneously nationwide by FEMA.

… Many members of the public will receive the WEA test message on their cell phones. Specifically, beginning at 2:18 p.m. EDT, cell towers will broadcast the WEA test for approximately 30 minutes. During this time, WEA-compatible wireless phones that are switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless provider participates in WEA, should be capable of receiving the test message. Wireless phones should receive the message only once.

The same FEMA page has details about the TV/radio test set to start two minutes later (11:20 am our time).

That’s your video invitation to a free preparedness event unlike any other you’ve attended. 2-5 pm Sunday, October 7th, at High Point Community Center (repeated 9-noon November 3rd at Hiawatha Community Center), West Seattle Be Prepared and the Emergency Communication Hubs invite you to learn and talk about how to be ready for The Big One. This isn’t just somebody showing you how to put together a kit – though that kind of preparedness is part of it – the event will include:

*MC Glenn Farley, natural-disasters reporter from KING 5 News

*Opening keynotes by Dave Nichols, certified Emergency Manager and West Seattle resident speaking on community preparedness, and Northwest earthquake science (Harold Tobin, Director, Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, for October, Sandi Doughton, Seattle Times science reporter, for November)

*Hear about response plans from Seattle Police, Fire, Emergency Management, and King County Public Health.

*Skills training including utility shutoff, water purification, disaster sanitation, home retrofitting, even “MacGyver tips – what you can do with a Garbage Bag”

There’s still space but sign up ASAP – go here to do that.

P.S. Here are flyers you can share with neighbors, in four languages:
*English
*Spanish
*Vietnamese
*Somali

After that early-morning 7.9-magnitude Gulf of Alaska earthquake, we want to remind you about the West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs – shown on the map above (and here – plus there’s a list under the map on this page, as well as printable files). Memorize the location of the one nearest your home, and be sure your loved ones know about it too. Each is a spot, maintained by volunteers, that would be set up for neighborhood communication in case of catastrophe (a big earthquake is the most likely, in our region). Government leaders have long been warning that resources will be overwhelmed if something major happens, so neighbors have to be ready to help each other – and these are the places where that help will be coordinated. If you’re not near one, here’s how to get one going in your area.