In this issue of the 12 page CERT National Newsletter, Volume 3, Issue 4, you will read about the creative and diverse ways CERT members serve their communities when they aren’t activated for emergency situations.

Also featured in this issue is an article on the Pasadena Community College CERT’s full-scale ShakeOut exercise, and the Denver CERT program’s success in building community partnerships....

The King County Healthcare Coalition is a network of healthcare organizations and providers working together to strengthen emergency preparedness and response. A voluntary organization administered by Public Health – Seattle & King County, the Coalition is open to all organizations and individuals that provide or support health care services in King County.

The Seattle...

36 amateur radio operators and elected officials attended Vashon-Maury Island Radio Club’s 2011 Field Day Saturday and Sunday.

The formal objective for Field Day is:

To work as many stations as possible on any and all amateur bands (excluding the 60, 30, 17, and 12-meter bands) and to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions. Field Day is open to all amateurs in the areas covered by the ARRL/RAC Field Organizations and countries within IARU Region 2. DX stations residing in other regions may be contacted for credit, but are not eligible to submit entries.

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John Galus will give an Introduction to Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) to VIFR firefighters and EMTs at VIFR Fire Station 55 at 7 PM(?) on July 5th.

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment for communications duty in the public service when disaster strikes.

For details on the Western Washington Section see: www.arrl.org/Groups/view/western-washington or wwa.arrl.org. Washington State ARES info is at: www.wastateares.org

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If you’ve not come across them, Paul Nichols has created several time lapse earthquake maps. Working at the University of Canterbury's Digital Media Group, he takes USGS or GeoNet data and plots it using the Google Maps API to create a fascinating animation.

The main message is that “the” quake is actually a “quake swarm” - with a few prominent releases that really stand out amongst a background of thousands of smaller...

The CDC has a slew of professional, tested and vetted PSAs that could come in handy on Vashon after a disaster.

They have both disaster specific PSAs:

Earthquakes Extreme Heat Floods Hurricanes Wildfires Winter Weather As well as generic messages for:

Mobile Devices, Staying Safe After a Storm, Food and Water, Prescription Drugs, Cleanup, and Coping As well as Disaster Information for Specific...

Many answers to questions you may (or may not!) have had are to be found in the following section of law:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=38.52

The current list:

38.52.005 State military department to administer emergency management program -- Local...

The Seattle Times posted a special section on June 10th with useful tips for those with (or concerned about) a landslide. My neighbor who had a very expensive landslide late last year just pointed this useful information out to me. Read the full report at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2015278322_realslidersbar12.html Where to get more information on landslides Chris Winters

Special to The Seattle Times

GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES



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“The United States is the most severe weather-prone country on Earth according to the National Weather Service. Hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and other natural disasters can strike without warning and force you to evacuate your home or cause disruptions in mail service.”

I’ve not found confirmation for this, but this quote comes from a FEMA press release this morning urging electronic deposits for federal benefits (over checks that cost more money, get lost or stolen), so I presume it is accurate.

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There is critical legislation regarding public safety organizations’ ability to communicate – without paying telecommunication companies huge fees (subsidies?!). A reprint on one side of this issue follows. (Note that VashonBePrepared has not taken a stance on this or any other legislative to date. We may in the future – our 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status only prevents us from spending a “substantial” portion of our budget for influencing legislation.)

The Politics of the D-Block: Now is the Time to Communicate with Your Members of Congress

William M. Webb, Executive Director, Congressional Fire Services Institute...

There are many federal entities that sponsor research, but a very few like the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) which provides a critical link between important research findings and practical application. For us in Washington—the second highest...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is pleased to announce that Earthquake-Resistant Design Concepts:...

I heard that “our” very own Don Price recently served as the head of ESF-6 for FEMA’s recovery efforts in Mississippi! He and other locals who have been serving afield will present their debrief on Tuesday, June 21st, from 1 – 3 PM. The location is the King County Office of Emergency Management Room 114 – Main Coordination Center.

There have been ground breaking developments in Children’s issues, FNSS, ADA, ESF 6 multi-agency coordination and more. Lessons learned, best practices and how to apply them to our local operations will all be discussed.

Speakers:

Don Price, Emergency Management Program Manager, King County...

Yet another post on the value of cash – versus unsolicited donations of (often inappropriate) goods and supplies comes from the UPS Foundation’s Humanitarian Relief Program Manager. Just back from the annual meeting of NVOAD, held in Kansas City – hours from Joplin, he had the following take-homes:

Donate Money If Donating Goods, Verify Items Will be Accepted and Used For Volunteers, Take Advantage of Disaster Assistance Training He recommends helpful web tools: Aidmatrix Network and HandsOnNetwork.org....

Are your bookcases secured - or your water heater? There are often personal tasks that we all need to accomplish - but need a bit of advice or to see the basics before tackling these projects. The following were designed for exactly this purpose!

For our media outreach efforts, and for individual preparedness, please be aware of the following videos produced for Washington residents.  These videos were produced in partnership with Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management and the Washington State Emergency Management Division. Funding for the project was made possible through grants from Governor Christine Gregoire, Washington State Citizen Corps and a donation from Puget Sound Energy. 

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Seattle, Washington, June 1, 2011 – On Friday, March 11, 2011 at 2:46 PM (local time), the northeast coast of Japan was struck by a magnitude 9.0 (M9.0) subduction earthquake as the boundary between the Pacific and the North American plates ruptured along an offshore section. The rupture extended about 200 miles along the Japan coast, resulting in approximately 100 feet of vertical slip and causing a series of devastating tsunamis. A similar event along the Cascadia...

Learn about the activities of CERTs across the country in the CERT in Action! stories just posted at the national CERT website:

Bay, Texas CERT Partners with Red Cross, Community, to Respond to Apartment Fire...

Mark your calendars!  The Annual Hazus Conference will be held in Seattle, Washington, August 10 – 12, 2011, at the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building. 

HAZUS-MH is software developed by FEMA that analyzes risk from natural hazards in communities. To register for this FREE conference, please visit www.hazus.net. From their site:

HAZUS-MH is a powerful risk assessment methodology used to analyze potential losses from natural hazards including floods, hurricane winds and earthquakes. HAZUS uses state-of-the-art Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software combined with science, engineering and mathematical modeling to map and display hazard data and the results of damage and economic loss estimates for buildings and infrastructure. ...

As initially announced at VashonBePrepared’s Annual Meeting, King County Office of Emergency Management is making arrangements with Camp Burton...

About 42 million people were forced to flee their homes because of natural disasters around the world in 2010, more than double the number during the previous year, experts said Monday.

One reason for the increase in the figure could be climate change, and the international community should be doing more to contain it, the experts said.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre said the increase from 17 million displaced people in 2009 was mainly due to the impact of "mega-disasters" such as the massive floods in China and Pakistan and the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti.

- Read full story: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/06/501364/main20069401.shtml

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The FEMA publication Are You Ready?: An In-depth Guide For Citizen Preparedness, is a 200-page comprehensive guide that walks the reader through a step-by-step approach to getting informed about local emergency plans, how to identify hazards that effect their local area, and how to develop and maintain an emergency communications plan and disaster supplies kit. Other topics covered include evacuation, emergency public shelters, animals in disaster, and information specific to people with disabilities. Are You Ready? also provides in-depth information on specific hazards including what to do before, during, and after each hazard type.

You can download English and Spanish preparedness guides or order them for free...

 



Vashon Island Fire & Rescue Recruit Video









Vashon's Jojo has produced a great new video aimed at helping recuit volunteers to help the community with the vital work of fighting fires & helping provide medical help. Congratulations!

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Flights of fancy (and a bit of vulgarity) continue over in the editorial offices of the Onion as they present their take on recent disasters: a personified Earth is tired of humans’ presence.

How society views and ‘socializes’ disaster is as important as the ‘science’ predicting and understanding disaster...

Up to forty percent of businesses affected by a natural or man-made major disaster never reopen

Washington, D.C., June 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Up to 40% of businesses affected by a natural or man-made disaster never reopen, according to the Insurance Information Institute. In a nationwide effort to raise the business community’s awareness about how to prepare their businesses and employees...

The goal of this free forum is to bring together government, non-profit, faith-based and other partners who would have a role in Mass Care (shelter, feeding, distribution of emergency...

Scientists now can track the minuscule motions of shifting plates as they happen, thanks to an expanded network of GPS sensors that covers the region like a blanket and beams back data almost instantly.



"If the Pacific Coast or Mount Rainier moves a couple of centimeters, we'll see it within five seconds," said Tim Melbourne, director of the Pacific Northwest Geodetic Array, or PANGA. Once the network's "real-time" functions are fully operational, PANGA will be able to pinpoint some earthquakes more quickly and accurately than traditional seismometers — and eventually issue warnings before destructive shaking hits cities or tsunami waves slam the shore.

Scientists use the GPS data to calculate the gradual buildup of strain on faults and identify the places most likely...

Carbon emissions from energy use reached a record level last year, up 5% from the previous record in 2008, the International Energy Agency said.

The Paris-based agency called the findings a "serious setback" to limit global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F), which was set at the U.N. climate change talks in Cancun, Mexico, last year.

"Our latest estimates are another wake-up call," said Fatih Birol, chief economist at the IEA. "The world has edged incredibly close to the level of emissions that should not be reached until 2020 ... it will be extremely challenging to succeed in achieving this global goal agreed in Cancun."

Carbon emissions climbed to a record 30.6 gigatonnes in 2010. For the 2-degree goal to remain attainable, emissions in 2020 can't be greater than 32 gigatonnes.

-- www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/05/31/world.carbon.emissions/index.html?hpt=T2

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Vashon Maury Island Radio Club will celebrate Washington’s Amateur Radio Week on Vashon with our own Field Day. (We’ll actually be over achievers by holding a two day event, on June 24 & 25!)

Events kick off Saturday with breakfast at Sporty's (an hour early at 8:00 AM) with a procession to the venue on Sunrise Ridge where we’ll...

Federal support is growing for tribes to have increased resources and lines of communication with the federal government when natural and other disasters strike.

Several tribal officials have complained in recent years that when snowstorms, floods, or other emergencies have occurred in their areas, they have faced a slow response from the federal government in ways that might not happen to other communities. Lack of direct communication, poor coordination, and slow outreach have all been cited by tribal leaders as reasons for the problem.

- Full story by Rob Capriccioso on May 25 at: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/05/tribal-sovereignty-disaster-legislation-introduced/

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A second disaster threatens to overtake Joplin MO by way of a tidal wave of unsolicited goods (things like clothing, miscellaneous household items, mixed or perishable foodstuffs, diapers...) and volunteers who just show up to help.  Critical resources are being redirected from the important work of response and relief to managing what has become a crush of unneeded donated items.  Social networking sites are promoting collection drives while radio stations, small and...

Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN) is a new public safety system, announced May 10th, to send free text alerts to cell phones. Geographically-targeted Presidential, emergency and AMBER alerts will use unique vibrations and tones to send alerts of imminent threats to safety. PLAN complements the existing Emergency Alert System (prior to 1998 known as the Emergency Broadcast System) and will be implemented by the FCC and FEMA. While the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) Is apparently voluntary, the Warning, Alert and Response Network (WARN) Act requires those wireless carriers to activate PLAN technology by April 2012.  AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon have pledged earlier support.

The...

“900 security cameras feed into a central command center”

Last week, a senior DHS official examined security measures at the nation's largest ferry system; Betsy Markey, DHS's assistant secretary of intergovernmental affairs, rode aboard a ferry last Thursday in Seattle as it sailed from Colman Dock to Bainbridge Island; Markey's visit comes as a part of...

(May 19) Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced the release of FY 2011 grant guidance and application kits for 12 DHS grant programs totaling $2.1 billion to assist states, urban areas, tribal and territorial governments, non-profit agencies, and the private sector in strengthening our nation's ability to prevent, protect, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies. In FY 2011, DHS grants were reduced by $780 million from the FY 2010 enacted level, nearly a quarter of FY 2010 DHS grant funding.  Read the full announcement here.

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“According to the regional climate simulations being done by my group and others at the UW, global warming will bring MORE low clouds during the spring around here.” – Cliff Mass in his June Gloom and KUOW Weekday blog. While he thinks most people will like the hotter summers also forecast - I’m not so sure I like that!

Sadly, if you hadn’t heard KUOW has ‘fired’ Cliff Mass over editorializing on the Weekday Show. His shows have been insightful – and even brilliant. I’m surprised KUOW thinks their audience can’t handle an occasional opinion.

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It was a different type of Judgment Day and it came early on Thursday when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the 2011 Homeland Security Grants and the numbers were not pretty.  Most funding was down significantly and for others the funds were nonexistent.  The only true winners in the process were the big cities like New York that retained their full funding amounts--based on risk. See the Wall Street Journal article Some Cities Lose Funding to Prevent Terrorism

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There’re a few hot new releases from this weekend’s Hamvention over in my old home state. And I’m not referring to the sewage issue there!

The Elecraft KX3 is a new 1.5-2 pound, 10W PEP (& KXPA100 100W companion amp), 160-6 Meters, Software Defined Radio (SDR), Trail Friendly Radio (TFR, i.e., light, small, ~150 mA current) with many cool features like 8 AA batteries/internal charger & optional microphone, for ~$800. It does all modes: SSB/CW/AM/FM/DATA - including built-in PSK31 and RTTY encode/decode/display....

An article published May 11, 2011 in Knowledge@Wharton, an online resource from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School, looks at the question "what motivates individuals to listen to warnings and act" using the virtual world as a laboratory.  Robert Meyer, a Wharton marketing professor who is co-director of the Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, developed an "interactive simulation to study such factors as news media reports, storm warnings and the level of concern expressed by friends and neighbors" motivate people to act before an impending disaster.

Excerpts from the article include:  "The group that was bombarded with news about very bad storms actually prepared less in the simulation that followed than the other group. 'You have a crowding out effect with disasters,' according to Meyer. 'As you have one after another, people care less about the next one.'"  "...the group that viewed a graphic showing the most likely path...

The American Red Cross (ARC) launched a newly designed website, ReadyRating.org, to help businesses, schools and other organizations better prepare for emergencies. The announcement was made at an event involving business, education and government leaders at Red Cross national headquarters in Washington DC.  Ready Rating™ is a free, self-paced, web-based membership program that helps a business or school measure...

VashonBePrepared is delighted to partner with the Vashon Island School District (VISD). We added them about a month ago to our list of key partners (see list with their logos on our home page), in recognition of their vital role in the island’s disaster preparedness and response roles.

In reality, the VISD have long been an informal partner, through their participation...

A few handy videos are available on this topic courtesy of TechSoup. While oriented to nonprofits, many of the lessons also apply to small businesses:

After the Crash: Minimize your Downtime Disaster Planning: Backup, Backup, Backup! Disaster Planning: What Organizations Need to Know to Protect Their Tech ...

Help! Can anyone figure out how to squeeze our long name into a tiny 50 by 50 pixel logo for use on our new Facebook page?! Our policies state we can’t abbreviate our name either. Hmmm.

Hundreds of people and a score of emergency agencies will participate in Snohomish County’s largest disaster drill ever. "Shake, Rattle and Roll 2011" will be held Wednesday at Arlington's municipal airport. The scenario is a 7.5 magnitude earthquake along the South Whidbey Fault, which runs through Snohomish County.

Participants include Medical Reserve Corps and community volunteers from Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan, Island and Snohomish...

The King County Mass Care Workgroup is hosting the annual Mass Care Regional Forum on June 8 and you are invited! The goal of this free forum is to bring together government, non-profit, faith-based and other partners who would have a role in Mass Care (shelter, feeding, distribution of emergency supplies, etc.) for disasters in King County. Information will be provided and exchanged on planning efforts, emerging issues, resources, and channels for receiving and offering assistance during a disaster.

This year’s Forum features keynote speaker Joy Portella from Mercy Corps sharing her experience in going to Japan after the earthquake and tsunami. Presentations will include an overview of the development of a King County Disaster Behavioral Health Plan, how to apply the new Guidance on Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS) in shelters, and emerging issues and current activities in King County Emergency Management. Additionally, questions, concerns and ideas submitted by attendees will be addressed...

The USGS is trying to achieve a denser and more uniform spacing of seismographs in select urban areas to provide better measurements of ground motion during earthquakes. These measurements improve our ability to make rapid post-earthquake assessments of expected damage and contribute to the continuing development of engineering standards for construction.

To accomplish this, we developed a new type of digital seismograph that communicates its data to the USGS via the internet. The seismographs connect to a local network via WiFi and use existing broadband connections to transmit data after an earthquake. The instruments are designed to be installed in private homes, businesses, public buildings and schools with an existing broadband connection to the internet.

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The Seattle Red Cross will conduct a free two-day Volunteer training on Saturday June 4, and Saturday June 11, 2011, from 9:00am-6:00pm. (Both days are obligatory.) The training will be held at Vashon Island Fire & Rescue, 10020 Southwest Bank Road.

According to Jeff Isaacson, Volunteer Recruitment Coordinator for American Red Cross Serving King & Kitsap Counties, people will be trained in both Mass Care and Disaster Action Team (DAT). So the classes will cover sheltering,...

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at 11 AM PST

In times of disaster, a trained and informed public is better prepared to protect themselves, their families, their workplace and their neighbors. This webinar will showcase several disaster training resources that are available in communities across the nation. FEMA recognizes that it takes a “whole community” approach to meet the needs of the public before, during and after a disaster. Learn how your community can train and educate its citizens to be better prepared and involved in your community’s disaster response and recovery efforts.

Join us for brief presentations by representatives from the American Red Cross, the Community Emergency Response Team program, ARRL National Association...

Glenn Thomas WB6W has refreshed the website of the Western Washington Section of the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL). Check it out at: http://wwa.arrl.org

Also of interest is the joint Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) of King County website: www.AresOfKingCounty.org

Everyone interested in King County Mass Care issues should plan on attending an all morning forum to be held June 8th at the King County Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) in Renton. Organizers include Jill Watson (Seattle), Dave Nichols (PHSKC), Sarah Miller (Auburn), Mike Ryan (Zone 1), Howard Ferrucci (American Red Cross), Rachel Myers (Renton) and Jan Beck (Bellevue).

The day will begin at 8 AM with an introduction to Mass Care. Resources will be available throughout the morning and a number of exciting information sharing opportunities are also under consideration in addition to a list of great speakers. Details should be published here at www.VashonEOC.com, but you can also contact Cathy Rogers as the day gets closer. Hopefully we can car pool together to this.

The Vashon Maury Island Radio Club’s May meeting will be this coming Tuesday, May 3rd. 7:00PM at Vashon Fire Station 55 in the EOC room. Our first Show & Tell "Topic - Randy Bardwell, K7RDB presents his home-brew, high tech "uber go-box" and also VMIRC Business Meeting.

- Sharon Danielson KE7HBZ, VMIRC President

Several major source of funds for Vashon – as distributed from FEMA to the State and then to the King County OEM have taken a major hit. Future funding is going to be tighter:

The State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSP), which supports a variety of state and local endeavors, including exercises, training, planning and equipment was cut by $225 million. That’s slightly more than 26 percent of the program, leaving a 2011 budget of $725 million. FEMA asked for $1 billion for the SHSP program. ...