VashonBePrepared Blog Posts

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Disaster news and links of interest for Vashonites
By John Cornelison on 11/10/2011 8:19 AM


imageThere were serious issues that presented the first nationwide emergency alert from working uniformly across the county. Some folks reported 30 seconds of dead air, others garbled audio. Some folks instead heard Lady Gaga’s ‘Paparazzi’! It is good we had this test as it points out that there is lots of work to be done – likely in various state’s infrastructures.

More at:

...
By John Cornelison on 11/8/2011 12:38 PM


CBS recently listed a number of sobering facts about earthquake insurance that anyone from a scesmicly active area - like those of us from the Salish Sea would do well to be familiar with. Most know it isn’t included in standard homeowner’s policies, but even with it beware of the large number of restrictions in comparison to fire or other policies.

The topics covered are:

Deductibles Personal possessions Exclusions Loss of use Uncovered losses don't count toward the deductible Cost of coverage Who suffers catastrophic claims Mitigating risks Read the article at www.cbsnews.com/8301-505144_162-57319955/earthquake-insurance-8-things-you-need-to-know/

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By John Cornelison on 11/8/2011 11:34 AM


Get Ready: Set Your Clocks, Check Your Stocks is the name of a new biannual campaign to encourage checking on your emergency preparedness kit of food, water, first-aid supplies, medications and food for pets. Do it when you set your clock forward or backward an hour. American Public Health Association is leading (or at least championing) this effort, as noted in this article: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/11/07/Twice-a-year-Check-emergency-stockpile/UPI-85881320643709 The campaign web site has a number...
By John Cornelison on 11/3/2011 10:53 AM


CommunityDinner.111103The Fire District is sponsoring the community dinner at Vashon High School tonight. The school district puts on these dinners once a month to raise funds for the school’s lunch program.  A suggested donation is $10 per person, but come by, enjoy a dinner and support this wonderful program. 

November 3rd Community Dinner

Vashon High School Commons

5:30-7:00 pm

$10 Suggested Donation

Topics

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By John Cornelison on 11/3/2011 9:12 AM


imageJoin FEMA Tuesday, November 8th to learn how the recently released National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) provides a more inclusive, collaborative and comprehensive approach to addressing disaster recovery issues and challenges. The NDRF defines how we will work together as a nation to best meet the disaster recovery needs of individuals, families, communities, and states.  The NDRF is based on the principle...
By John Cornelison on 10/31/2011 12:13 PM


imagePuyallup’s Emergency Management Department is hosting a free Emergency Preparedness Fair this Saturday at their fairgrounds. Learn to build an emergency kit, learn about their CERT, ARES & related citizen corps programs, fire safety and much more.

www.cityofpuyallup.org/emergency-management/emergency-preparedness-fair/

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By John Cornelison on 10/21/2011 11:31 AM


HAZUS-MH: Earthquake, Wind, FloodHazus is a nationally applicable standardized methodology that contains models for estimating potential losses from earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes. Hazus uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to estimate physical, economic, and social impacts of disasters.

HAZUS-MH is software developed by FEMA that analyzes risk from natural hazards in communities. Although Hazus-MH itself is free, it requires the users to have ArcGIS with ArcView license level.

Existing HAZUS-MH runs for Vashon (i.e. those for our 2005 Earthquake Study,...
By John Cornelison on 10/21/2011 10:37 AM


imageNOAA had already posted news that we were likely to have a wetter than average winter in the northwest. Now they’re also saying there is over a 33% chance it may be colder than average, according to their latest long range forecast...
By John Cornelison on 10/21/2011 9:56 AM


imageIn addition to helping maintain Vashon CERT’s generators at the local fire stations each month, Vashon’s Dennis Schroeder has been a volunteer at the Real Change newspaper for the past five years, as well as serving on its Board of Directors for a two-year term. For those who may  not know, Real Change is the street newspaper that is sold in Seattle and the surrounding areas by homeless and low-income people.

The mission statement...
By John Cornelison on 10/21/2011 8:11 AM


It is not too surprising that it would happen somewhere in California in any given day, but yesterday’s 2011 Great California ShakeOut earthquake drill was punctuated with a few minor quakes yesterday around the Berkeley area. No injuries and only minor damage was reported.

Some 1.3 million...
By John Cornelison on 10/18/2011 9:36 AM


imageIt appears that the ICS Task Books that help evaluators judge ICS performance (2007 versions are online at http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/ICSResource/PositionChecklists.htm) have been newly revised in April 2011, and are now published as a draft docket...
By John Cornelison on 10/17/2011 8:31 PM


Digital_Surgeons_FEMA_Spending_InfographicThanks to King County’s Dave Nichols for spotting this infographic by the Digital Surgeons depicting where FEMA’s funds have gone this...
By John Cornelison on 10/17/2011 8:27 PM

KING 5 News reported today a swarm of earthquakes in recent weeks around Mount Rainier: nothing especially exciting, but an alert that it IS an active volcano!

Read the full story here. For the latest view of regional quakes, always visit www.pnsn.org/req2/.

By John Cornelison on 10/17/2011 5:46 PM


imageIf you appreciated my 14 March post that mentioned the ABC site showing before & after images of some tsunami scenes, you’ll likely also appreciate this somewhat similar set of photos from the Sacramento Bee that show 3 sequential images shot from the same perspective – of maybe a dozen different scenes. Thanks to Cathy Rogers & Jill Watson for alerting us to these.

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By John Cornelison on 10/15/2011 7:09 AM


Feeds into the Washington State's Emergency Alert System



Prepare. Plan. Stay Informed.

 

The first ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System will occur on Nov 9 at 2 pm ET and last for about 3 minutes, according to Damon Penn, of National...
By John Cornelison on 10/15/2011 4:57 AM


A posting to the northwest DStar email list reports that a new Amateur Radio organization is being formed in Tukwila that will help to foster volunteerism, offer radio and emergency management training and build a sense of community.

The purpose of the club is to:

Volunteer radio skills, equipment and experience to the Tukwila Office of Emergency Management to provide volunteer resources, that in turn will work with the Tukwila Fire and Police in a civilian capacity Train those interested in becoming licensed radio operators and help them achieve their radio licensing goals Build a sense of Community by hosting monthly club meetings to introduce club members to new technology, best practices, equipment discussions and anything...
By John Cornelison on 10/14/2011 8:27 AM


VIFR Recipe FormDo you want to see your name in print? 

Give Linda, Susan or Barbara your recipe(s) before the 21st  and your name and recipe(s) will be included in the  VIFR Cookbook.

Hope to have available for the holidays, if not VIFR will make up gift certificates.   If interested in purchasing a cookbook let us know and we can get an idea of how many to order.

To those that have already submitted recipes – Thank you!

Barbara, Linda and Susan

See my earlier post (at http://vashoneoc.org/Blogs/VashonPreparedness/tabid/164/EntryId/105/Submit-a-Recipe-to-Support-Vashon-Explorers.aspx) for a copy of the entry...
By John Cornelison on 10/13/2011 11:36 AM


Vashon Chamber of Commerce's Executive Director Debi Richards addresses an initial meeting of Vashon's Business NERO groupOver the last year Debi Richards, the Vashon Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Director has been thinking about how to encourage businesses to get better...
By John Cornelison on 10/13/2011 10:21 AM


VashonBePrepared's partners

On Saturday October 22, starting at 9:00am and running till 12:00 noon, VashonBePrepared is holding an introduction to all the various partners in the local disaster preparedness effort and how they serve when activated for an emergency. A number of the groups will be there at main fire station (either the Emergency Operations Center or Penny Farcy, depending on number of participants) so you can get more specifics on the organizations’ goals and style.

Expanding from the previous EOC 101 courses, there still will be a good introduction to the basics of our EOC operations.

Jan Milligan, VashonBePrepared’s Volunteer Coordinator is organizing the effort and would appreciate knowing who is coming to plan for space and refreshments!...
By John Cornelison on 10/12/2011 6:40 PM


imageThe following is from FEMA:

The Department of Homeland Security recently announced the release of the country's first-ever National Preparedness Goal. The goal is the first deliverable required under Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 8: National Preparedness, which was released in April 2011. The goal sets the vision for nationwide preparedness and identifies the core capabilities and targets necessary to achieve preparedness across five mission areas laid out under PPD 8: prevention, protection, mitigation,...
By John Cornelison on 10/12/2011 2:26 PM


Formally accepting the 2011 King County Executive Award for Community Preparedness from Dow Constantine and Joe McDermott were VashonBePrepared President John Cornelison and VIFR Fire Chief Hank LipeThe residents of Vashon and all the volunteers and organizations under the VashonBePrepared banner were honored Friday, September 30th by King County Executive Dow Constantine and King County Councilmember Joe McDermott - the final day of National Preparedness Month. As described by the actual 2011 King County Executive Award for Community Preparedness, and by the official King County press release, the award was to the entire community and emphasized the many contributors to Vashon’s preparedness. The Carnation-Duvall Citizen Corps Council was likewise lauded with a similar award.

...
By John Cornelison on 10/12/2011 9:23 AM


According to 1st Alert, 79% of families have a fire escape plan, but 51% have never practiced it, and 29% have only done so once.

The National Fire Protection Association recommends practicing your emergency escape routes twice annually. Other fire safety organizations promote monthly drills – as a way to bolster reaction times during a real emergency.

This likely should also hold for other preparedness plans for Vashon families – and businesses.

A Red Cross recent survey...
By John Cornelison on 10/11/2011 9:36 AM


imageSeattle Chapter, American Red Cross, is Sponsoring an Amateur Radio General Class Licensing Course

The course meets on Monday nights starting October 24, 2011 at 6:30 PM and continues through November 21, 2011.

Class hours are generally from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM.

The course is at the Seattle Red Cross, 1900 25th Ave., South, Seattle, WA 98144, room 130 (lower level).

The course is built to give you confidence in passing the licensing test and knowledge and...
By John Cornelison on 10/7/2011 4:17 PM


imageWhile last winter didn’t seem that cold (skiing was NOT as epic as I had hoped or the dramatic forecasts had predicted), it did have lots of rain and this year is likely to be colder and wetter than average also. According to the national Climate Prediction Center’s announcement yesterday, it looks like a wetter, but not necessarily colder winter...
By John Cornelison on 10/7/2011 3:48 PM


Thanks to Steve Allen for installing a new automatically activated alert system this afternoon at the North End Fire Station. The system has been improved gradually overtime and no longer relies on monthly volunteers swapping out manually charged batteries for instance. The new system is actually located inside the fire station and so has a trickle charger that will keep the batteries topped off.

...
By John Cornelison on 10/7/2011 2:42 PM


ff_1276766.600x778On September 30th, King County Executive Dow Constantine presented the citizens of Vashon and the organizations that comprise VashonBePrepared with his 2011 Award for Community Preparedness as noted in the King County press release and my comments on...
By John Cornelison on 10/7/2011 1:51 PM


clip_image001

Sept. 30, 2011

ff_1276746.1024x1278Two King County organizations honored...
By John Cornelison on 9/30/2011 6:17 AM


tower22After years of championing the cause, Atmospheric Scientist Cliff Mass, should certainly be happy as Washington’s first coastal Doppler radar site opened yesterday. The new site at Langley Hill is already operational and photos can be viewed on this site.

Congratulations to all for their help in getting this huge project finished! This should help improve the accuracy of longer range weather forecasting in the Puget Sound dramatically.

image

By John Cornelison on 9/29/2011 9:49 PM


Mars Global Geologic Map 1802ABC, prepared from Viking orbital photographs and Mars Global Surveyor MOLA dataUPI reports that the Seismological Society of America said yesterday that the 2 mile complex sedimentary basin underlying Seattle can amplify earthquake shaking in a way not well modeled. Existing models assume more uniform rock substrates – ours will take more study to properly model.

Recent measurements by UW seismologists have...
By John Cornelison on 9/23/2011 2:43 PM

According to the Herald Tribute, Paine Field is the 1st non-military federal staging area to receive certification to launch evacuations or medical treatment for disasters anywhere in the U.S. See the Press release here.

By John Cornelison on 9/23/2011 2:35 PM


image"Public Health Preparedness: 2011 State-by-State Update on Laboratory Capabilities and Response Readiness Planning," is the latest report by the CDC’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response that evaluates the nation’s ability to respond to public health emergencies such as disease outbreaks and natural disasters. This report focuses on public health laboratories, which are critical for identifying and understanding health threats and disease outbreaks, and response readiness planning, which...
By John Cornelison on 9/23/2011 7:12 AM

The Heritage Foundation’s David Muhlhausen challenged the efficacy of the DHS's Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) grant program. While there may not be adequate independent review of the results, I know there is good competition for these funds in King County and they are going to solid programs. Read the interview at: http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/many-dhs-grants-ineffective-lack-proper-oversight

By John Cornelison on 9/21/2011 11:32 AM


imageConnect to https://connect.hsin.gov/pets/ 1:50 pm (PST?) on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011. (Enter as a guest.)

No registration is required, and the webinar is free.

From the home to the farm, pets, livestock, and animals are an important part of our lives.  However, when it comes to preparing for disasters, they can pose some unique challenges and it's important that they are included in emergency and disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

If you are part of an organization that does work in the...
By John Cornelison on 8/26/2011 4:48 AM


VashonTrueValueIt’s great to note that Vashon True Value’s online store has a special section for Emergency Preparedness! (Hopefully they will soon round this out to include all the items from VashonBePrepared’s disaster checklists.) Other local stores...
By John Cornelison on 8/23/2011 12:27 PM

The region between Richmond and Charlottesville in Virginia received a 5.9 magnitude earthquake at 1:51 p.m. on Tuesday.

Colorado got a 5.3 quake near Trinidad just before Noon. The only larger quakes since 1882 were from human activity: explosives or drilling – pumping waste underground that apparently lubricated the fault line!

The USGS reports there was no correlation between the two quakes.

Social media (Twitter) carried many reports on these…

By John Cornelison on 8/13/2011 11:58 AM


2011 Hazus Conference, Seattle, WAThe Associated Press came to this week’s 5th Annual Hazus conference held at the federal building and wrote up a nice piece citing (yet again) that we are not ready for the huge quakes possible from any number of faults, but especially the Seattle and Cascadia faults:

   Of particular worry to government agencies - and emergency planners like Schelling - is the 680-mile long Cascadia fault line, which runs just 50 miles off Washington's shore. Scientists have found that a big 8.0 to 9.0 earthquake has hit that fault line about every 500 years. The last one struck in 1700.    According to a 2005 study that used Hazus data, such a strong earthquake would level parts of the region, bringing landslides,...
By John Cornelison on 8/7/2011 1:54 PM


In case you are following the debate on auctioning off the “D” block – dearly desired by public safety officials for helping solve the interoperability issues so notable during the 9/11 attacks – check out this latest story by the National Journal which reports the legislation is definitely in play with the latest budget battles. (VashonBePrepared has not taken a stand on this issue, but knows many of you are tracking this issue!)

...
By John Cornelison on 7/14/2011 3:10 PM


 

Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference 2012 April 10-11, 2012 Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center, Tacoma, WA

 

Call for Presentations - Deadline - September 15, 2011

Complete the application online at www.piepc.org

Researchers, scholars, and practitioners in emergency management are invited to participate in the Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference to be held at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center in Tacoma, WA on April 10-11, 2012.

Partners in Emergency Preparedness has conducted a very successful regional conference each spring for over 15 years. The Conference has grown into the largest...
By John Cornelison on 7/9/2011 9:54 PM


imageOregon and Washington are likely to have a very serious earthquake in future decades, according to a disturbing article in the Oregonian.

“Within the next 50 years… Washington and northern Oregon face a 10 to 15 percent probability of an offshore quake powerful enough to kill thousands and launch a tsunami that would level coastal cities. … the Northwest is dangerously unprepared...
By John Cornelison on 7/8/2011 8:42 PM


Hazard Mitigation Grant ProgramsFEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant programs provide funding for eligible mitigation activities that reduce disaster losses and protect life and property from future disaster damages. Currently, FEMA administers the following HMA grant programs:

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)

Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM)

Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA)

Repetitive Flood Claims (RFC)

...
By John Cornelison on 7/8/2011 7:23 PM


President Obama and FEMA Administrator Fugate at White HouseThe key Washington insider’s news organization has a new positive interview with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. It sounds like he wants to involve the community, and actually go beyond the...
By John Cornelison on 7/8/2011 9:49 AM


An oil spill off Vashon was one of the first incidents where a team of Vashon CERTs and Public Information volunteers deployed, back on October 14, 2004. As an island with precious habitat and adjoining shipping channels, Vashon residents need to think not only of land based but water based incidents too.

Responses to a water based incident, such as an oil or hazardous materials spill, are based on the annually updated Northwest Area Contingency Plan (NWACP). The Northwest Area Committee (NWAC) and Regional Response Team 10 (RRT10) are currently completing updates to the NWACP for the 2011 version.

Here is...
By John Cornelison on 7/5/2011 11:40 AM


ReadyBusiness_LogoSeptember is National Preparedness Month (NPM)! This awareness month is sponsored by the Ready Campaign in partnership with Citizen Corps. NPM is held each September and is designed to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities

September 2011 is the eighth annual NPM and this year’s slogan is: “This September: A Time to Remember. A Time...
By John Cornelison on 7/5/2011 9:25 AM


Registration is open during July ONLY for the upcoming NW Citizen Corps Expo, to be held from 7:30 AM to 5 PM on August 20th at the Washington State Fire Training Academy (east of North Bend on I-90).

Begun in 2003 as the CERT Expo, the scope was broadened in 2008 to be a Citizen Corps Expo. The intended audience is trained and registered CERT volunteers, MRC medical professionals, and ham radio operators. The cost is $30, and includes a full-day of training and exercise, light breakfast, lunch, snacks and beverages. The NW Citizen Corps Expo 2011 is operating under Mission Number 11-T-336, which provides liability coverage to locally registered Emergency Workers.

Learn more about the Citizen Corps at www.CitizenCorps.gov

Agenda

The...
By John Cornelison on 6/29/2011 3:16 PM


US_CERT_Presence.110629In 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....
By John Cornelison on 6/29/2011 9:38 AM


imageThe 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...
By John Cornelison on 6/27/2011 10:53 AM


Field Day 2011 - June 25-26!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.

...
By John Cornelison on 6/27/2011 10:50 AM


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

...
By John Cornelison on 6/24/2011 5:56 AM


6-24-2011 at 6.47.55 AMIf 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...
By John Cornelison on 6/22/2011 1:14 PM


cdc_logoThe 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...

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