By John Cornelison on
1/11/2012 3:21 PM
…sometime in the next 500 years, according to a great blog a couple weeks back by the PSSN’s John Vidale, a regular contributor to their “Seismo Blog” How likely is it to go? Well you’ll have to read his blog that breaks down some of the inputs to evaluating the actual risk factor – which I think he never actually stated…
There’s a whole list of interrelated blogs on this topic which I saw after reading Ben Jervey’s nice post on the subject – which is a commentary of the NY Times post...
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By John Cornelison on
1/11/2012 3:15 PM
Cascadia Subduction Zone
Example: the 1700 earthquake that caused shaking and a tsunami that inundated the Oregon coast and reached as far as Japan. ...
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By John Cornelison on
1/11/2012 1:51 PM
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By John Cornelison on
1/11/2012 1:34 PM
Doomsday clock moves closer to midnight
Numerous articles (including USA Today’s) note that scientists have moved the hands of the doomsday clock toward midnight – as a visible metaphor for our lessened security due to our fuelish ways. It is notoriously hard to change our social (i.e., automotive) ways, but the consequences of our not taking a long term view are increasingly resulting in massive storm and economic damage today to societies across the globe.
Disaster risks are judged by multiplying the estimated...
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By John Cornelison on
1/11/2012 1:11 PM
According to the inspector general (IG) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), state and local fusion centers and emergency operations centers could improve the response of their jurisdictions to terrorism and natural disasters if they talked to each other more often. Many fusion centers and EOCs surveyed do not exchange information.
While Washington State’s fusion center’s near-daily briefing tends toward being a fear based police blotter, extracting news...
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By John Cornelison on
1/5/2012 8:18 AM
VashonBePrepared has been working with the Debi Richards and the Vashon Chamber of Commerce and a large number of local businesses this fall to promote business disaster preparedness. A useful new national program has just been announced that promises to provide some great guidance for all of us. The big aim:
Identify your risk
Make a mitigation project plan
Implement techniques for ensuring and enhancing business resilience
What a great new goal for Vashon businesses in 2012!
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)...
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By John Cornelison on
1/5/2012 7:39 AM
The new Vashon Island Fire & Rescue (VIFR) district cook book, “What’s Cookin’ at VIFR” is now here! Find a wide variety of savory and sweet treats inside with names such as Hanks’s Homemade Salsa, Duey’s Margarita, Milt’s Rib Roast for 1,000, and the infamous “Mom’s Hamburger and Biscuit Thing”! There are sections on appetizers, soups & salads, main dishes, breads and rolls, desserts, cookies and candy, and ‘this & that’.
The...
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By John Cornelison on
12/14/2011 9:24 AM
The fall 2011 CERT Newsletter is out and contains a nice overview of CERT activities happening around the country. These serve as a good introduction to the wide range of purposes CERT volunteers are capable of. There is an emphasis in this newsletter of college campus CERTs - including an impressive photo of the Pasadena Community College (PCC) CERT trailer. Check...
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By John Cornelison on
12/11/2011 6:51 PM
A car accident snapped off the power pole at Dockton and Pt. Robinson roads last night about 6 PM. Unfortunately the accident curiously snapped the pole up about 20 feet high and took out the island’s primary electrical power feed. While most of island only experienced a 10 second outage, about 500 PSE customers had a couple hour service interruption. 1200 Maury Island people didn’t have power (and Comcast service) fully restored until about 3:30 PM today.
During the event Rick Frye wrote the following note to the Vashon-Maury Island Radio Club’s email group, which I thought a great reflection on the event:
And while I don’t know anything about the particulars in this case, I do know that sometimes – especially when a pole breaks – a lower voltage line can come into contact with a higher voltage line and this will cause the lower voltage line to become hyper-energized leading to problems along that line that might wipe out a...
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By John Cornelison on
12/8/2011 8:43 AM
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By John Cornelison on
12/1/2011 9:47 AM
Here’s a reminder to attend the December 1st Community Dinner at the Vashon High School Common Room, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. This month’s theme will be energy conservation, emergency preparedness and how to access and use the wonderful resources on this island to help in the event of an emergency. PSE will be handing out Take Winter by Storm ice scrapers, CFL bulbs, and low...
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By John Cornelison on
11/10/2011 8:19 AM
There 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: ...
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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
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By John Cornelison on
11/3/2011 10:53 AM
The 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
Join 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...
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By John Cornelison on
10/31/2011 12:13 PM
Puyallup’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 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,...
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By John Cornelison on
10/21/2011 10:37 AM
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By John Cornelison on
10/21/2011 9:56 AM
In 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...
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By John Cornelison on
10/21/2011 8:11 AM
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By John Cornelison on
10/18/2011 9:36 AM
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By John Cornelison on
10/17/2011 8:31 PM
Thanks to King County’s Dave Nichols for spotting this infographic by the Digital Surgeons depicting where FEMA’s funds have gone this...
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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/.
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By John Cornelison on
10/17/2011 5:46 PM
If 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
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...
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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...
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By John Cornelison on
10/14/2011 8:27 AM
Do 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...
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By John Cornelison on
10/13/2011 11:36 AM
Over the last year Debi Richards, the Vashon Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Director has been thinking about how to encourage businesses to get better...
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By John Cornelison on
10/13/2011 10:21 AM
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!...
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By John Cornelison on
10/12/2011 6:40 PM
The 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,...
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By John Cornelison on
10/12/2011 2:26 PM
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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...
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By John Cornelison on
10/11/2011 9:36 AM
Seattle 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...
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By John Cornelison on
10/7/2011 4:17 PM
While 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...
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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. ...
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By John Cornelison on
10/7/2011 2:42 PM
On 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...
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By John Cornelison on
10/7/2011 1:51 PM
Sept. 30, 2011
Two King County organizations honored...
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By John Cornelison on
9/30/2011 6:17 AM
After 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.
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By John Cornelison on
9/29/2011 9:49 PM
UPI 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...
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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.
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By John Cornelison on
9/23/2011 2:35 PM
"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...
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By John Cornelison on
9/23/2011 7:12 AM
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By John Cornelison on
9/21/2011 11:32 AM
Connect 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...
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By John Cornelison on
8/26/2011 4:48 AM
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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…
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By John Cornelison on
8/13/2011 11:58 AM
The 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,...
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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!) ...
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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...
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By John Cornelison on
7/9/2011 9:54 PM
Oregon 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...
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