By John Cornelison on
6/21/2012 5:43 AM
Cancel another innovative idea. According to a commentary published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, storing harmful carbon dioxide gas underground is not practical. Why? Because it would cause earthquakes! There is a long history of materials pumped underground causing earthquakes, and this report apparently finds this also likely in this situation. Although the quakes would likely be relatively small – they would be large enough to destroy the equipment used to pump the greenhouse gases down. Read more in the LA Times article, which ends up quoting experts encouraging putting development funds into renewable energy instead. That makes sense to me! ...
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By John Cornelison on
6/15/2012 10:31 AM
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By John Cornelison on
6/15/2012 9:46 AM
![VIFR VIFR](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/280/Windows-Live-Writer-Welcome-to-Nicole-Trent-of-Gig-Harbor-WA_93D6-VIFR_thumb.gif) Chief Hank Lipe has announced the hiring of Ms. Nicole Trent of Gig Harbor, WA to serve as an Administrative Assistant at Vashon Island Fire & Rescue – King County Fire District 13. A nine year veteran with Pierce County Fire District #16 (Key Peninsula), Nicole brings a solid background in Fire District administrative services and is excited to become part of VIFR’s team. Mark your...
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By John Cornelison on
6/7/2012 2:35 PM
Drill includes delivering critical supplies to Vashon Island by boat
![6-7-2012 at 3.24.59 PM 6-7-2012 at 3.24.59 PM](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/278/Windows-Live-Writer-92d08bcf6ae1_D7E7-6-7-2012_at_3.24.59_PM_thumb.jpg) King County joined with federal, state, and local agencies this week to test its capacity to respond to and recover from a major earthquake. The exercise, dubbed “Evergreen Quake 2012,” gave participants a chance to assess their disaster response plans and emergency communication strategies. Six counties, including King County, participated in the drill, along with the state of...
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By John Cornelison on
6/7/2012 11:19 AM
![ff_1283059 ff_1283059](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/277/Windows-Live-Writer-5458e5a6ce8a_90F3-ff_1283059_thumb.jpg) Nearly a hundred islanders took part in the regional Evergreen Quake on June 5th & 6th at the Vashon Emergency Operations Center.
It was fairly historic for a number of reasons:
- Initial test of Operation Lifeline (King County’s redirecting their passenger ferry or hiring a barge – to support emergency needs on Vashon)
- The Planning Section has adopted the standard ICS Planning Clock - and had the 1st real run-though of this during a major exercise
- The Public Information Team...
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By John Cornelison on
6/7/2012 8:43 AM
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By John Cornelison on
6/7/2012 8:00 AM
![RainierLahars.WA_DNR6Jun12 RainierLahars.WA_DNR6Jun12](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/275/Windows-Live-Writer-WA-DNR-Conducts-1st-Report-Estimating_74F2-RainierLahars.WA_DNR6Jun12_thumb.jpg) Every 500-1000 years the slopes of Mount Rainier produce liquefied mud flows called lahars that can flow like rivers but have a density similar to liquid concrete. Based on the last Electron Mudflow ~550 years ago, and using HAZUS software, the DNR...
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By John Cornelison on
6/4/2012 8:52 PM
![EQES_LogoV2x250 EQES_LogoV2x250](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/274/Windows-Live-Writer-a9f57b498cc4_12FB4-EQES_LogoV2x250_thumb.jpg) Washington Emergency Management Division is working with FEMA and a slew of local partners in the Puget Sound region to conduct the state's largest (i.e., most coordinated) earthquake exercise ever: Evergreen Quake 2012™. The exercise’s goal is to “improve the collective joint-operational readiness of emergency management and other...
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By John Cornelison on
6/4/2012 8:30 PM
![WA_State_Tsunami_Game1 WA_State_Tsunami_Game1](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/273/Windows-Live-Writer-Tsunami--Earthquake-Games_12CA5-WA_State_Tsunami_Game1_thumb.jpg) A few months back I notices an exciting new source of disaster preparedness info: Sesame Street! Yep, FEMA apparently hired them to start educating tots early – in a variety of languages too. Fun! (I wish I had received that contract.) Today I noticed that Washington State has developed some tsunami and earthquake games too. Educating kids is certainly an exciting new genre...
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By John Cornelison on
6/4/2012 7:47 PM
![Logo for the Great Washington Shakeout](http://www.emd.wa.gov/preparedness/images/ShakeOut_Washington_GetReady_728x90_000.gif) The ShakeOut™ moniker started a couple years back in California I believe – which perhaps accounts for it’s subsequent adoption thought the galaxy, and soon in Washington too! I’m a bit jaded about such marketing obviously, but it has generated LOTS of publicity and made many aware that otherwise wouldn’t have a clue. So it is a good thing that Washington State will mount up to conduct our own version of this on October 18, 2012. Details and much more entertaining graphics should arrive soon, but you too can be in the know on this by going to our very own subsite at: www.shakeout.org/washington/ Register Now! ...
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By John Cornelison on
6/4/2012 7:37 PM
![Emergency Management Division - Washington Military Department Emergency Management Division - Washington Military Department](http://www.emd.wa.gov/images/emdLogoHeader.png) Quite a bit apparently! They don’t crow about it much, but they are fairly consistently busy apparently with some 4372 state-wide incidents to track last year! They only activated 14 times, but obviously spent a lot of time tracking activities throughout the state, but especially olde King County – with 865 of those 4372 incidents: 670 of our county’s incidents were Hazmat, 121 Search & Rescue, 73 Other & 1 Fire incident. The EMD also organizes training program state-wide, exercises & drills, business & citizen education and probably a bit of accounting/administration too. For more information go to their: April 2012 Report...
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By John Cornelison on
5/29/2012 7:22 AM
![Ready_or_Not_2010 Ready_or_Not_2010](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/270/Windows-Live-Writer-WA-Tops_723E-Ready_or_Not_2010_thumb.jpg) Arkansas, North Dakota & Washington all received perfect 10 out of 10 scores in the most recent “Ready or Not? Protecting the Public from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism” study, conducted by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Key findings: Seven states cannot currently share data electronically with health care providers; 10 states do not have an electronic syndromic...
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By John Cornelison on
5/16/2012 9:41 PM
![2012 Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference (Acct #2152)](https://www.cm.wsu.edu/file_uploads/234eb0e81f90028c9d40456c4a6772c6_PEP-eTouches-Banner-no-date.png) The Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference is an annual meeting held in Tacoma that is an excellent way to network with others in the disaster preparedness field – and get an excellent overview of the state of the art. Though a good deal, it doesn’t always fit folks schedules and may be too big a time and financial commitment for others. Fortunately, they make many of the presentations available after the conference. Here they are: Visit www.cm.wsu.edu/ehome/piepc/68406 for live links to the following presentations: Keynote: Dr. Grady Bray Changes in the National Incident Management System and how it will affect Federal, State and Local...
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By John Cornelison on
5/15/2012 9:11 PM
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By John Cornelison on
5/14/2012 9:08 AM
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By John Cornelison on
5/14/2012 8:16 AM
![American Preppers Network](http://americanpreppersnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/NewAPNMastheadImage111.png) The Seattle Times published an interesting look yesterday at a new hobby (as they call it) – Emergency Preparedness. Less than 1 in 1,000 might be members of this new group of “Preppers”. At times the similarities to survivalist mentality sound some personal warning bells – though much of what they do is working in communities – not isolating themselves. ![](https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/373598_238057072914045_1600293045_n.jpg) ![image image](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/266/Windows-Live-Writer-86f2658203db_7E15-image_thumb.png) They...
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By John Cornelison on
5/14/2012 7:29 AM
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By John Cornelison on
5/10/2012 7:44 AM
![NPR](http://media.npr.org/chrome/news/nprlogo_138x46.gif) National Public Radio’s Lucy Craft has a number of interesting posts about life in Japan post last year’s tsunami and earthquake. Today’s post, “After The Quake, Japanese Shop For Survival”, notes that local stores are selling lots of all-in-one emergency flashlights-radios-etc. – but concludes with the observation from one survivor of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, “city dwellers should focus on how to keep their furniture from crushing them alive” – not storing food as that will quickly arrive. While less true for isolated Vashon, it still makes me wonder if we’re doing enough to...
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By John Cornelison on
5/3/2012 11:03 AM
![SNAGHTML674e522 SNAGHTML674e522](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/263/Windows-Live-Writer-c51734f48078_D275-SNAGHTML674e522_thumb.png) Today, FEMA and its partners released the National Preparedness Report (NPR). The Report identifies significant progress the nation has made in areas of prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery. Overall the Report found that the nation has increased its collective preparedness, not only from external threats, but also for natural and technological hazards that face its communities. The Report was developed to meet the requirements of Presidential...
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By John Cornelison on
4/19/2012 6:06 AM
As mentioned at last night’s annual meeting, preparedness efforts on Vashon made strong strides over the past year. These successes are only partially due to VashonBePrepared’s efforts, and mainly by our various partners, including some independent accomplishments by others in our community. Here’s the listing presented:
Business Neighborhood Emergency Response Organization created, numerous meetings led by Vashon Chamber of Commerce
Enhanced relations with King County Office of Emergency Management:
Operation Lifeline - Plan & contract for hiring a barge or dedicated ferry to shuttle supplies if normal ferry operations are down
MOU with Vashon Island School District to serve as a Disaster Campus
MOU with Camp Burton to house disaster workers from off island
Vashon integration w/ county computer alerting/management systems
Enhanced integration of CERT & MRC & EOC Team with VIFR ops
Disaster Emergency Response Trailer...
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By John Cornelison on
4/19/2012 5:53 AM
A new board was seated last night at VashonBePrepared’s Annual Meeting.
As set out in our bylaws, we have two classes of directors – ex-officio directors as set out by our bylaws – primarily the chief representatives of our partners – and those elected by the membership at our annual meeting: our at-large directors.
VashonBePrepared 2012 Board of Directors
John Cornelison (past Prez)
Donna Donnelly (at-large)
Synthia Downs (at-large)
Jill Janow (EOC Team)
Tim Johnson (at-large)
Hank Lipe (VIFR)
Daniel Luechtefeld (ARES)
John “Oz” Osborne (at-large)
Scott Rice (CERT)
Debi Richards (NERO)
Catherine Rogers (VEPC)
Bob Smueles (at-large)
Ed Steyh (EOC Team)
Rex Stratton (VIEMA)
Rick Wallace (EOC Team)
The new board then unanimously elected the following directors to the Executive Committee, that subset of the board that meets monthly and tends to the daily business of our corporation:
VashonBePrepared...
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By John Cornelison on
4/16/2012 10:26 AM
![MakeItThrough_logo MakeItThrough_logo](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/260/Windows-Live-Writer-50e5e0afdf0e_9F58-MakeItThrough_logo_thumb.png) There’s a new Puget Sound regional disaster website up and live today, known as www.MakeitThrough.org. It looks good and emphasizes having at least 7-10 days worth of supplies – not just the old message of 3 day, 3 ways. (I suspect this replaces the old www.3days3ways.org website, but don’t know for sure.) The list...
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By John Cornelison on
4/13/2012 1:54 PM
![4-13-2012 at 2.52.53 PM 4-13-2012 at 2.52.53 PM](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/259/Windows-Live-Writer-Liquidific-what_D06F-4-13-2012_at_2.52.53_PM_thumb.gif) PBS Newshour just did a special segment about the risk to northwesterners of liquidification during quake tremblers. Thanks to Jill for noticing this. Read the transcript and see the video on their site here: www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june12/liquefaction_04-12.html ...
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By John Cornelison on
4/13/2012 12:33 PM
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By John Cornelison on
4/13/2012 12:24 PM
![Drop! Cover! Hold On! Drop! Cover! Hold On!](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/257/Windows-Live-Writer-1f538ae9c55a_BB7A-Drop!_Cover!_Hold_On!_3.gif) Earthquakes are one of the greatest natural hazards for Washington residents. Practicing what you should do when the ground begins to shake is an important part of being prepared. On April 25 state broadcasters will initiated the “Drop, Cover and Hold” earthquake drill through the Emergency Alert System. Tune into KIRO radio (97.3 FM) at 9:45 a.m. to join local residents and businesses as we “drop” to the floor, take “cover”...
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By John Cornelison on
4/13/2012 6:47 AM
![M8.6offSumatra M8.6offSumatra](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/256/Windows-Live-Writer-3746c051c415_63E5-M8.6offSumatra_3.gif) With all the recent earthquakes around the ring of fire it isn’t too surprising we want to connect these occurrences as having some pattern. But we shouldn’t, according to Lucile Jones, Science Advisor for Risk Reduction at the USGS, in an interview with ABC News. She did note that yesterday’s 8.6M strike-slip...
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By John Cornelison on
4/11/2012 9:29 PM
![clip_image002 clip_image002](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/255/Windows-Live-Writer-3f5cc5bff061_1380B-clip_image002_thumb.jpg) Today’s Vashon Beachcomber had a bunch of great quotes that Susan Riemer got from next week’s expert speakers. She especially covered the little reported tsunami risk that could damage our ferry docks, certain waterfront locations (those perpendicular to the surge), and perhaps the isthmus between Vashon and Maury Islands. Some information on this can also be found on our tsunami page.
Read her Beachcomber article here:...
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By John Cornelison on
4/11/2012 8:07 PM
![image image](/Portals/1/Blog/Files/1/254/Windows-Live-Writer-13b39dbf276d_644D-image_thumb.png) Art Frankel and Craig Weaver of the U.S. Geological Survey gave a presentation to the Seattle City Council on Monday (as noted in this agenda) that has raised some eyebrows – and reaffirms our sensitivity to upcoming seismic disturbances. See their PowerPoint presentation or read on for a few copies of a few of their slides.
In 2014, there will be a regular 6 year update to the National Seismic Hazard Maps. A workshop on the Pacific Northwest Portion of this was held locally on March 21-22, 2012. ...
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By John Cornelison on
4/11/2012 7:26 PM
Thanks to the EOC Team’s Public Information lead, Jill Janow, for cleaning up how emergency bulletins will be posted to our web site in a future disaster. All Emergency Bulletins will be put on a dedicated page, so they will have the full width and will download as fast as possible.
Note that we will post here with any updates from our EOC when activated. Other key source of emergency news can be found on our News page’s Vashon Emergency News Links section.
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By John Cornelison on
4/11/2012 7:12 PM
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