John's Vashon Preparedness Blog

All of John Cornelison's blogs are listed on this page chronologically. Use the Calendar or Search functions in the right column to search through time, via keyword, or look at the parent blog page to view all authors' posts.

John's Recent Blogs

Author: Created: 6/15/2010 5:35 PM RssIcon
Disaster news and links of interest for Vashonites
By John Cornelison on 9/28/2012 6:48 AM
Dongshi - September 20, 1999 Nantou Taiwan earthquake  - Image Credit: NOAA National Geophysical Data CenterAfter April’s huge strike-slip earthquake, the USGS reiterated the one earthquake doesn’t jolt others (out of the region) into existence.

However Fred Pollitz of the U.S. Geological Survey is now reporting...
By John Cornelison on 9/25/2012 8:55 AM
iPhone Screenshot 2Be ready for an earthquake with Earthquake by American Red Cross. Get notified when an earthquake occurs, prepare your family and home, find help and let others know you are safe even if the power is out – a must have for anyone who lives in an earthquake-prone area or has loved ones who do.

FEATURES: •Step-by-step instructions let you know what to do even before/during/after an earthquake, even if no data connectivity. •Get notified when an earthquake occurs; see the intensity impact to your area or those of loved-ones with notifications generated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). •Let family and friends know you are okay with the customizable “I’m Safe” alert for Facebook, Twitter, email and text. •Find open Red...
By John Cornelison on 9/14/2012 9:04 AM
President Obama has declared 20 more disasters than in 2010 and 2 times the numbers declared by President George W. Bush in his first two years in the White House.

Are there really that many more disasters though? Despite all the severe weather this year and portent for much more ahead (partially due to massive declines in Artic Ice levels) and resultant economic losses (e.g., a huge downturn in salmon runs), there may also be some politics at play, with Obama being pressured to declare disasters according to this ABC News report.

By John Cornelison on 9/1/2012 7:30 AM
President Obama has proclaimed September as National Preparedness Month.

Who Ya Gonna CallA 2009 Citizen Corps National Survey revealed only 57% of Americans have supplies set aside in their homes just for disasters, and only 44% have a household emergency plan.

...
By John Cornelison on 9/1/2012 7:11 AM

U.S. seismologists at CA’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography have released a study indicating fault zones weaken in select locations shortly after a fault reaches an earthquake tipping point. This can then transform a smaller series of quakes into a large mega-quake.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/08/30/Study-Hot-spots-may-up-earthquake-size/UPI-89401346363108/

By John Cornelison on 8/31/2012 7:49 AM
You only have seconds. Do you know exactly what to do the moment the ground starts shaking? If it involves a doorway, a triangle, or running – these are not quake-safe actions. Register now at www.ShakeOut.org/washington/register to learn more and practice updated quake safety. Be a part of Washington’s ShakeOut drill.

You are invited to join thousands of people who will Drop, Cover, and Hold On on October 18th at 10:18 a.m. in the 2012 Great Washington ShakeOut!

More than 12.5 million people were registered...
By John Cornelison on 8/27/2012 6:21 AM


The CERT equestrian group is ready to help at a recent drill. From left are Penni Symonds, Beth Kellner, Wanda Moore and Mary O’Brien. Craig Harmeling will join the team soon - Courtesy PhotoThe Vashon Beachcomber has just published a nice story about CERT’s new equestrian team which has been organized by Beth Kellner with help from Penni Symonds, Wanda Moore,...
By John Cornelison on 8/27/2012 6:08 AM


Vashon EOC in full operation during the June 5th 2012 Evergreen Quake Exercise. Photo ff_1283063 by John CornelisonAfter some 7 years in a conference room in VIFR’s main Station 55, the Vashon Emergency Operations Center (EOC) may be relocated next year to the VIFR Association Building across the street. Slightly larger, the room would be shared with King County...
By John Cornelison on 8/2/2012 9:48 AM


Drought over western North America from 800 to 2100.Western North America experienced the strongest drought in 800 years from 2000 to 2004 – but that may be the new normal for the next century. Reduction in carbon uptake during turn of the century drought in western North America – pg 551 – 556,...
By John Cornelison on 7/28/2012 12:44 PM


LocalFaults.800x490U.S. Geological Survey’s Brian Atwater has found evidence of a powerful tsunami near Bremerton recently – due to an earthquake which was “much more dangerous than previously thought”. Their conclusion: climb to safety after an earthquake.

Watch or read the full story at: www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-scientist-massive-quake-struck-area-1000-years-ago-could-happen-again-20120716,0,6181048.story

By John Cornelison on 7/27/2012 11:53 AM




Barb Graff, Director of Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management has just announced the hire of Tracy Connelly as Seattle Office of Emergency Management’s new Community Planning Coordinator. Tracy starts August 1st.

Tracy Connelly has been a Public Outreach Specialist at OEM working with access and functional needs, immigrant and refugee, homeless, and multi-cultural populations.

Citywide_hub_locations2small10-11In...
By John Cornelison on 7/27/2012 8:00 AM


Funny that DHS is getting criticism for NOT using drones, when my take is that drones further compromise our civil freedoms, but apparently their use helps some key corporations' bottom lines – and their use can be more palatable by using them for Disaster Response.

According to Homeland Security Department Secretary Janet Napolitano, they are considering drone use to gather situational awareness for forest fires or “large public safety” matters.

Anyways, here’s one story:

www.nextgov.com/defense/2012/07/homeland-security-experiment-rescue-drones-inside-united-states/57023/

another citing the value of drones:

www.stripes.com/news/spies-in-the-north-dakota-sky-signal-a-new-age-of-surveillance-1.184116...
By John Cornelison on 7/26/2012 8:58 AM


Department of Homeland Security Seal - Emergency Management Institute LogoAs they indicate below, this appears to be a pretty basic course, but by clicking on one of the initial pages you can see much of the complete course outline and quickly skim it to see how much of it is applicable to your family or business.

This outline serves as a great reminder of all the steps we should be taking – and a reminder for us to complete those missing action items that we’d not completed (or refreshed) recently!

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is pleased to announce a new web-based, independent study training course, IS-325—Earthquake Basics: Science, Risk, and Mitigation.

...
By John Cornelison on 7/26/2012 7:39 AM


These undated handout images provided by NASA shows the extent of surface melt over Greenland’s ice sheet on July 8, left, and July 12, right. Measurements from three satellites showed that on July 8, about 40 percent of the ice sheet had undergone thawing at or near the surface. In just a few days, the melting had dramatically accelerated and an estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet surface had thawed by July 12. In the image, the areas classified as “probable melt” (light pink) correspond to those sites where at least one satellite detected surface melting. The areas classified as “melt” (dark pink) correspond to sites where two or three satellites detected surface melting. Nearly every part of the massive Greenland ice sheet suddenly and strangely melted a bit this month in a freak event that concerned scientists had never witnessed before. NASA says three different satellites saw what it calls unprecedented melting from July 8 to July 12. Most of the thick ice remains, but what was unusual was the widespread area where some melting occurred. (AP Photo/Nicolo E. DiGirolamo, SSAI/NASA GSFC, and Jesse Allen, NASA Earth ObservatoryAccording...
By John Cornelison on 7/23/2012 10:38 AM


Puget_Sound_earthquakesThe University of Washington Seismology Lab, has released a new map of major semi-recent quakes and fault lines around Puget Sound.

Read more about this at: www.heraldnet.com/article/20120722/BLOG48/707229962#Major-modern-quakes-of-Puget-Sound

I still...
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!

...
By John Cornelison on 6/15/2012 10:31 AM


6-15-2012 at 11.30.25 AMThe Vashon Beachcomber has done a nice article on a key aspect of last week’s 2012 Evergreen Quake exercise. Entitled, “Emergency drill shows a marine lifeline could be established for Vashon”, Editor and author Leslie Brown included a number of great quotes from islanders and county officials...
By John Cornelison on 6/15/2012 9:46 AM


VIFRChief 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...
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 PMKing 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...
By John Cornelison on 6/7/2012 11:19 AM


 

ff_1283059Nearly 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...
By John Cornelison on 6/7/2012 8:43 AM


If you like maps and haven’t checked out the Washington State Geologic Information Portal, it is a wealth of useful information! More than just interactive maps, they also have geoscience data and collections and links to other earth science information sites.

Of especial interest to Vashon residents might be the geologic map (showing faults on the surface, liquefaction, of geologic structures), the landslide map, and the subsurface geology map.

DNR-WAInteractiveGeologicMapDNR-LandslidesOfWAStateDNR-SubsurfaceGeologyInfoSystem

By John Cornelison on 6/7/2012 8:00 AM


RainierLahars.WA_DNR6Jun12Every 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...
By John Cornelison on 6/4/2012 8:52 PM


EQES_LogoV2x250Washington 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...
By John Cornelison on 6/4/2012 8:30 PM
WA_State_Tsunami_Game1A 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...
By John Cornelison on 6/4/2012 7:47 PM


Logo for the Great Washington ShakeoutThe 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!

...
By John Cornelison on 6/4/2012 7:37 PM


Emergency Management Division - Washington Military DepartmentQuite 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...
By John Cornelison on 5/29/2012 7:22 AM


Ready_or_Not_2010Arkansas, 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...
By John Cornelison on 5/16/2012 9:41 PM


2012 Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference (Acct #2152)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...
By John Cornelison on 5/15/2012 9:11 PM


eoc-ant.800x1206The local ARES team worked on the antenna candelabra at VIFR Station 55 last spring as noted in this post:

http://vashonbeprepared.org/News/Blogs/tabid/146/EntryId/77/Antenna-Remount-at-VIFR-Station-55.aspx

Then maybe 6 months back, the dedicated 2 meter antenna was replaced with a tri-band antenna covering 6 & 2 meter and...
By John Cornelison on 5/14/2012 9:08 AM


An April 23rd Air Force intelligence brief allows unmanned drone surveillance of Americans to be used for up to 90 days if obtained in scenarios like natural disasters or environmental cases.

- www.infowars.com/air-force-document-drones-can-be-used-to-spy-on-americans

...

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Recent Comments

Re: What to do if you have confirmed or suspected COVID-19 or are worried that you may have COVID-19
No on ventilators. They require a paramedic to insert the tubes and at that point should be off island in a proper care facility. Low flow oxygen is easily available, but those needing it only for COVID should also be in a proper care facility.
Re: What to do if you have confirmed or suspected COVID-19 or are worried that you may have COVID-19
The large national company, Lab Corp, announced that they can do testing as of last Friday. I believe they are used by both clinics on the island. Local clinicians just do a nasal swab as I understand it and then send those in for testing. The test kits reside at the laboratory.

In addition other test facilities exist, but are unlikely to be used directly by island providers. Contact their websites and offices before you go in with any respiratory issues. Their information is likely to change frequently until more is known about the virus.

I don't know about ventilators, but will ask. Thanks for your comment!
Re: What to do if you have confirmed or suspected COVID-19 or are worried that you may have COVID-19
Will Vashon be getting testing kits soon in the hands of all doctors and first responders on island? Can the Gates Foundation help in this regard? Can we get the Neighborcare Clinic better prepared in this regard?

How many ventilators are on island? This is where critical shortages seem imminent.

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