West Seattle, Washington
21 Wednesday
Last October, we photographed Sharonn Meeks and Cindi Barker during a West Seattle Be Prepared Emergency Communication Hubs drill, simulating what might happen in terms of neighborhood communication during a major earthquake. Tomorrow, WSBP is part of another drill, this one citywide. From 9 am until noon, volunteer groups here and in several other Seattle neighborhoods, with the help of the city Office of Emergency Management and the Auxiliary Communication Service, will be involved in role-playing scenarios and radio communications. The hubs are neighborhood gathering places where volunteers will help coordinate communication in case of catastrophe – an expanded version of the premise that neighbors helping neighbors will be far more likely in the immediate hours and days after disaster than relying on the authorities to reach everyone who needs help. WSBP says this drill will “activate” two hubs – the one for the Fairmount neighborhood, at Providence Mount St. Vincent (4831 35th SW, northeast corner by the flagpole), and the new North Delridge hub (at the P-Patch at 5078 25th SW). You are welcome to come observe, but they don’t need extra help this time around; if you’d like to get involved with neighborhood preparedness in general, here’s how to reach WSBP!
P.S. WSBP has another training session coming up – featuring a movie about our region’s quake threat; it’s on May 16th and you can get all the details here.
Disaster Preparedness Month is almost two-thirds over – are you any more prepared now than you were when it started? If your answer is “no,” click “play” and at least listen to our video in the background for a while today. It’s our recording of last night’s special edition of SNAP – Seattle Neighborhoods Be Prepared – training, presented by the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network and West Seattle Be Prepared.
Trainer Debbie Goetz doesn’t just go through the rock-bottom basics; she has surprises along the way – did you know, for example, that your hot-water heater is eventually an OK source of drinking water, post-disaster? Another good reason you want to make sure it’s strapped so it doesn’t come down during a quake – preserve the supply, just in case. SNAP classes are offered around the city, including a few a year in West Seattle; you can watch this calendar for upcoming ones – including sessions focused on earthquake retrofitting (last Saturday’s WS session was a full house – about 50 people!). Next scheduled one is June 7 in High Point (details here).
If you are one of the few who can answer that question “Yes, we are as prepared as we possibly could be” – congratulations! If not, join West Seattle Be Prepared and the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network for another special FREE training session tomorrow (Monday) night, this time at the Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster), 6-7:30 pm. If you were among the 50 or so who attended the first one earlier this month (here’s our coverage, including video of the entire presentation), note that this one is different – with more of a focus on earthquake safety, among other things (here’s an explanation of how the two sessions are differentiated). Disaster Preparedness Month is only half over but this week is the big spotlight for quake survival – Wednesday is the statewide drop/cover/hold drill. Meantime, the perennial preparedness advice – be sure you know your Emergency Communication Hub!
Disaster Preparedness Month continues, as does our almost-nightly focus on earthquake readiness. You’ve likely heard what to do before an earthquake, to enhance your readiness … and what to do during one (stop, drop, hold) … but how about what to do afterward? The natural reaction is to be stunned. If you have a list of things that are vital to check on and attend to, though, your survivability likelihood will rise in a big way. Here’s that list – from a California source, but thorough (they’ve been through it more often than we have). Meantime – know your nearest hub (and make sure your family/neighbors know it too)!
Just two hours before we started writing this, local seismographs recorded a microquake near Mount Rainier (see the info here). During this Disaster Preparedness Month 2011, we’re focusing on quakes – and this time around, we have a simple one-minute video courtesy of 3 Days 3 Ways (which is sponsoring WSB this month). Their “preparedness challenge” (which starts here) includes 3 short videos, each demonstrating one of the “three ways” you can start getting prepared. The most important, in terms of survivability, is the one in this video clip: Store enough water for yourself and your family/household to get through three days – the minimum amount of time you can expect to fend for yourself. Radio host Dave Ross and city preparedness guru Debbie Goetz break it down fairly simply. So stock up on water ASAP. Here’s the accompanying flyer (including a reminder to rotate it every six months). Then go take the rest of the challenge! … REGULAR REMINDERS: Know your Emergency Communications Hub … and if you don’t have one nearby, volunteer to help create one! … Plus, browse around the rest of the West Seattle Be Prepared website.
On this one-month anniversary of the Japan earthquake: Being ready for disaster is more than your responsibility to yourself and your family – it’s also your responsibility to your neighborhood and community. As Disaster Preparedness Month continues, so does our monthlong series of reminders and reports. This time – new online resources including the West Seattle Be Prepared recap of Saturday’s Community Summit downtown – story and photos here. The focus here, how you can help your community. Read the recap here; and after the jump, more updates:Read More
As Disaster Preparedness Month continues, we’ve talked about what you personally can do to be ready, and — if needed — to help. (Here’s our coverage of Thursday night’s West Seattle Be Prepared session, including video of the entire 1 1/2-hour presentation.) This morning, the focus goes wider, as the city hosts a Community Preparedness Summit at the Office of Emergency Management downtown, with WSBP and several other groups from around Seattle participating. As previewed by WSBP leaders, the summit will focus on a four-level “preparedness pyramid” – from you and your family, to city services. All are welcome if you want to find out where you fit in and how you can help. It’s from 9-noon at 105 Fifth Avenue South (corner of Washington; here’s a map).
In case you just couldn’t make it to the Senior Center of West Seattle last night for the first training session sponsored by the all-volunteer West Seattle Be Prepared – above, you will find WSB video of the session, in its entirety. The leaders were David Shannon and Sarah Rothman from the local branch of the American Red Cross. If you don’t have time for an hour-and-a-half video, here’s our report on the highlights (added 8:59 am):
By Katie Meyer
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
“Our volunteers are our most precious asset and resource, and without them, we can’t do it,” declared Deb Ticknor, Red Cross Readiness Manager, leading off the first session in a new West Seattle series with an overview of how the Red Cross responds to local disasters.
“If something happens here in Washington, say we have a major wildfire and a landslide at the same time, a lot of families would be impacted, and our local chapters would respond. We would bring in people from around our state who are Red Cross-trained, so when a disaster hits we’re ready to stand up and provide services that our community needs.”
However – you need to be prepared, too, and that was the point of the session – don’t expect somebody else will rescue you (not immediately, anyway).Read More
Did you know there was a 3.4 earthquake near Mount Rainier on Wednesday? Us either, till West Seattle Be Prepared‘s Karen Berge mentioned it in e-mail. Microquakes are common there, but this was a bit bigger. Not necessarily a harbinger of anything more, but just another reminder: Be ready! So, the most constructive thing we can tell you here in our sixth Disaster Preparedness Month spotlight is: Be at WSBP’s first free training session TONIGHT, 6 pm, Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction!
A flyer is worth a thousand words … see you there. (If you haven’t been to the Senior Center before, the entrance is on SW Oregon, east of West Seattle Coins – go immediately upstairs.)
If an earthquake hit now, what would you do? If you replied “Run for a doorway” – sorry, wrong. The advice these days is “Drop, Cover, Hold.” As our nightly Disaster Preparedness Month spotlights continue, with a focus on quake preparedness/survival – there’s a little more to “Drop, Cover, Hold” than those three steps. We’ve found a few videos that have extra information that can increase the chances “Drop, Cover, Hold” – or as some put it, “Drop, Cover, Hold On” – will save you. They’re right after the jump:Read More
As Disaster Preparedness Month continues in our state, with WSB committed again this year to nightly spotlights, with a special focus on earthquakes – it might be of value to make sure you’re not skeptical about the whole topic. 
The experts say too many people dismiss the concept of preparedness, when in reality, earthquakes are survivable. Want to hear firsthand from an expert in our state? ****Read this.**** (Thanks to Cindi Barker from West Seattle Be Prepared for the link; she and WSBP’s Karen Berge and Deb Greer are immensely helpful again this year in providing information we’re drawing upon for these nightly spotlights.)
So then, if they’re survivable, what do you do as soon as the shaking starts? Run for the door?
Here is THE LIST of what to do – if you’re indoors, if you’re outdoors, if you are in a moving vehicle, and even, if somehow you still get trapped in debris. This version of the list is from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Read that, know it, share it. (And once you have all that down – read the other summaries linked from that page, like what to do AFTER a quake.)
NIGHTLY REMINDERS: Know your nearest Neighborhood Emergency Communication Hub – go here to find it (and if there’s not one nearby, help make one happen!) … Make plans to be at the preparedness-training session that West Seattle Be Prepared is presenting this Thursday, 6-7:30 pm at the Senior Center in The Junction … And check out the “3 To Get Ready” campaign, which is sponsoring WSB during Disaster Preparedness Month again this year. This time around, they’re offering a contest as incentive for you to take their “Preparedness Challenge” – check it out here … Our archive of preparedness coverage on WSB, newest to oldest, is here.
Once again this April – Disaster Preparedness Month in our state – we’re spotlighting preparedness every night on WSB, with a special focus on earthquakes. As noted here last night, one of the in-person training sessions you can check out in West Seattle this month is an earthquake-retrofitting workshop on Saturday, April 16, 11 am-2 pm at West Seattle (Admiral) Library. 
But realize that readiness is about the little things, too. One of the preparedness experts who responded to our call for resource suggestions shared a link to a quiz about how to make your living room safer – through earthquake-proofing for the everyday items it just might contain, such as a wide-screen video monitor, a bookcase, glass/ceramic art pieces, mirrors on the wall. It’s a simple quiz with graphics and multiple-choice questions; we’ll confess that we only got half the answers right, so we learned a lot. It’s from a California agency, but don’t let that stop you – the quiz starts here. Even if you only take away one or two things you can easily do in your home to earthquake-proof some of its smaller contents, that’s progress. Till tomorrow – we’ll close with another important reminder: Get to know West Seattle Be Prepared – especially your nearest Neighborhood Emergency Communication Hub.
April is Disaster Preparedness Month in our state, and for the second year, WSB is committed to a nightly focus on preparedness, with a particular emphasis on being ready in case of earthquakes, given our area’s history and risk, as well as the heightened awareness and concerns resulting from last month’s quake/tsunami disaster in Japan.
Our first report gave a quick refresher on the Neighborhood Emergency Communication Hubs that are part of an amazing volunteer-led effort that has given West Seattle the preparedness edge so far – West Seattle Be Prepared. But the relatively small group of volunteers who have come forward to join in the planning and preparation this far won’t be able to do much in case of disaster without backup and help from hundreds, even thousands of others in the community. That’s why your participation in training is vital as part of Preparedness Month – and the good thing is, you don’t have to seek it out on your own. Here are 3 West Seattle opportunities coming up in the next two and a half weeks, all free – you just have to show up!
THIS THURSDAY (APRIL 7TH): West Seattle Be Prepared launches a new training/education series. 6-7:30 pm, be at the Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction (California/Oregon). An hour and a half is a small investment considering the potentially lifesaving information you get in return – here are full details from WSBP.
APRIL 16TH: Find out about retrofitting your home for earthquake safety, with a free workshop at the West Seattle (Admiral) Library Branch – full details here. (Though the class is free, registration is requested – 206-233-5076.)
APRIL 18TH: WSBP and the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network team up for a preparedness-training session, 6-7:30 pm at the Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster).
Those are all from the West Seattle Be Prepared events calendar, where you will also find a reminder of April 20th – the day for a statewide “drop, cover, and hold” earthquake drill at 9:45 am. More here tomorrow night, and we’re still interested in your suggestions for what you most want to know about earthquake readiness (we’ll be working on the questions raised in last night’s comments!).
Once again this year, WSB is taking time every night in April – proclaimed Disaster Preparedness Month in our state – for at least a tidbit of special coverage (sometimes more) to help you get closer to the goal of being ready for anything. This time, we are going to focus specifically on earthquake preparedness, still so top-of-mind following the recent Japan megaquake/tsunami disaster, preceded by the New Zealand quake. But first out of the gate, the most important thing we can do is make sure you are tapped into West Seattle Be Prepared, a volunteer-led effort with online and offline components. The biggest one is the designation and mapping of “Neighborhood Emergency Communication Hubs” around the peninsula. As explained on this page of the West Seattle Be Prepared website, the hubs are “emergency community gathering sites in case a major disaster occurs that makes it impossible to get information and help in the usual ways.” Check the map (above, and here, with a downloadable/printable version here). Know your nearest hub. If you don’t see one near your neighborhood – that’s only because volunteers haven’t come forward yet to designate and plan one (maybe you can help?). Hub or no hub, bookmark and browse West Seattle Be Prepared; also check out its new blog-format site, with more-topical information, like a newly launched events calendar; join the WSBP group on Facebook; and “follow” @wsbeprepared on Twitter. Saturday night, we’ll start getting down to quake-preparedness specifics. If there’s anything specific about earthquake preparedness or earthquake risks you’ve long wondered about, leave a comment or e-mail editor@westseattleblog.com, and we’ll be sure to find experts to address it during our month of coverage.
For all the time you may have spent in the past few days watching those jaw-dropping videos from the Japan earthquake/tsunami/nuclear zones, spend some time watching/listening to this one. Monday night’s North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting was almost entirely devoted to disaster/emergency preparedness, and we put the 43-minute heart of the discussion on video for those who couldn’t be there. The topic actually had been planned before the Japan quake. Information was presented by Debbie Goetz from the city, which presents SNAP preparedness classes (next two in West Seattle are June 7th at 6:30, High Point Library, and November 3rd at 6:30, Southwest Library), and Cindi Barker from the all-volunteer West Seattle Be Prepared. The presentation led to a discussion about the need for North Delridge to have its own Emergency Communication Hub as part of WSBP (as Cindi reiterated, these are places you would go for information in case of catastrophe). North Delridge will keep the conversation going (NDNC meets the 2nd Monday of each month, 6:30 pm, Delridge Library); if you are in another neighborhood – check to see where YOUR nearest hub is:
(Video recorded at a home in Japan during the earthquake)
We’ll leave the information about the huge, magnitude 8.9 Japan earthquake to those who are covering it directly – but a couple of notes: First, the federal websites providing tsunami information are finally working properly (until a half-hour or so ago, they were not reflecting the watch that is in effect for the ocean coast) – here’s where to go for that information. Note that even though any wave generated in a situation like this is technically a “tsunami,” if one actually hits this side of the Pacific, it could be barely a ripple – we have seen that scenario play out time and again – BUT it is never a reason for complacency. “Watch” means lowest level of “keep your radar up.” We’ll be keeping an eye on the situation all night.
Second, until we get information about relief efforts to help the quake survivors, here’s something you can do to not feel so powerless in the face of the horrifying scenes from the Japan quake zones – THINK PREPAREDNESS. Start by knowing your Emergency Communication Hub location. Here’s the West Seattle-volunteer-created, info-rich West Seattle Be Prepared website, as a place to start.
2:50 AM UPDATE: This table has the projected height of whatever “tsunami” might hit the Washington ocean coast. Note the highest is about three feet.
In case you missed it earlier tonight — as part of their coverage of the Nisqually Earthquake’s 10th anniversary tomorrow, our friends at KING 5 News talked to the preparedness gurus behind West Seattle Be Prepared – Cindi Barker, Karen Berge, and Deb Greer (not pictured above, but if you click “play” you’ll see the story). As we often mention, it’s vital that you check out their website and know where your nearest Emergency Communication Hub is – in case of catastrophe, if all other channels of communication go down, you can go there to find out what’s going on and how to get help. Watch the KING 5 story above (and/or read the text here), then check out the Hubs page and the rest of West Seattle Be Prepared. (And if you can get involved in this all-volunteer effort that’s setting an example for the rest of the city as well as for our entire peninsula, please do – they would love more help.)
We had been planning a reminder story about this anyway, given that next Monday is the 10th anniversary of the big Nisqually earthquake, but New Zealand’s deadly quake brings the point home again, and an immediate reminder seems in order: Quakes strike without warning; they strike big cities as well as small villages. Don’t put off preparedness thinking you’ll “get around to it.” Do realize that the official agencies, like police and fire, will be so busy/overwhelmed, it’s not wise to expect they will reach you immediately and/or be able to tell/show you what to do. (This page explains that further.)
In West Seattle, we are lucky to have dedicated volunteers who, as reported here over the past three years, are working to help make sure we’re all able to help each other, and ourselves, in some semblance of an organized manner even in case of mega-catastrophe. A key component of the effort: The West Seattle Neighborhood Emergency Communication Hubs – now nine in number, and located on the Google map above (which is taken from the West Seattle Be Prepared website). If you’ve missed previous coverage – these are nine places (and yes, they’d love to have more, but more volunteer power is needed) around West Seattle where you will be able to go to get and share information in case disaster takes out all the regular channels. Know your nearest hub; make sure your family does, too. And have your disaster kits ready – at home, in your car (note that the New Zealand quake struck in the middle of a busy workday, as did, for that matter, the Nisqually quake). Here are some hints from 3 Days, 3 Ways. You can also go to this WSB archive to browse our coverage (newest-to-oldest) of local preparedness efforts – drills, and the daily tips we ran during Preparedness Month last April (more ahead this year, but don’t wait till April to be ready!).
P.S. Preparedness efforts for yourself and your family are priority 1 – but if you can devote time/effort beyond that, get involved with West Seattle Be Prepared; contact info is here.
You’ve heard a lot about preparedness here, thanks to the amazing group of West Seattle volunteers working on projects like West Seattle Be Prepared, but here’s another way to get involved: West Seattle resident Dave Nichols e-mailed with a call for volunteers to join the Public Health Reserve Corps for Seattle & King County. He explains, “This group of volunteers augments Public Health during a medical emergency or disaster.” And you don’t have to be a health-care professional. Read on to see what they’re looking for and how you can help with this “just in case they’re ever needed” team:Read More
Cindi Barker and Sharonn Meeks are two of the volunteers at the Fauntleroy Emergency Communications Hub (explained here), one of three hubs, along with Highland Park and Admiral, that are part of an earthquake drill this morning. It’s a followup to a May drill – meant to simulate what the hubs might deal with in the not-as-immediate aftermath of The Big One. The scenario given to volunteers is that it’s about 30 hours after a major quake hit the region, affecting power and transportation, and breaking or overloading major communications systems, so Community Hubs are up and running, and ham-radio teams are in action. Today’s participants are acting as if they are relieving the first group that’s been working since just after the quake, and have to deal with “a large amount of message traffic” – note the radio and the bulletin board in the photo. The volunteers will be attempting to relay those messages, among other parts of the drill. (This is the same one for which we put out a call for “actors.”) What can you do? Know where your nearest Emergency Communication Hub is – that’s where you would go to find out information and how to get help when the conventional ways of doing so have failed. Also, don’t just think of a disaster kit as “we’ll get around to it” – be ready now – weather disasters may be partly predictable, but earthquakes still aren’t. Find tips on the excellent, volunteer-created West Seattle Be Prepared website.
It’s been a while since we’ve talked about the West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs (above) – neighborhood-designated sites around the peninsula where you would be able to go in case of disaster/major emergency, to get information and help (here’s where to find the one that’s closest to you). This morning, we have a request for you to help the Hubs during an upcoming “fake quake.” From Cindi Barker:
On Saturday, October 16, there will be a citywide drill of volunteer Emergency Preparedness organizations. In West Seattle, the Emergency Communications Hubs will set up 3 of their Hubs and conduct a live drill of an earthquake scenario, complete with aftershocks. To make this as realistic as possible, we would like to have citizen “actors” come to the Admiral, Fauntleroy or Highland Park Hubs to report damage, request assistance or offer resources (we’ll provide the script ideas). We would especially like to invite SNAP groups or Block Watch members to help, so you can see how the Hubs could interact with your neighborhood group. The drill will run from 9:00 am to noon on the 16th and you can participate for part or all of the drill. If you can help, please contact us at info@bepreparedseattle.info.
These aren’t happening IN West Seattle, but the recruiting notice for volunteers to help with two drills is shared by WSB’er LyndaB, and given our peninsula’s leadership role as a hotbed of disaster preparedness, somebody out there just might want to help. And the volunteers for the first one can be as young as 14 – high-school students, that means community-service credit! Read on:Read More
The preparedness volunteers who gathered at Ercolini Park to join in Saturday’s “Rattle in Seattle” drill (explained here) admit at least one person was a bit startled – walking by and overhearing radio transmissions, incoming and outbound, like this (listen closely – it’s only 10 seconds long):
That particular “catastrophic failure” was supposed to involve the 35th/Myrtle reservoir/water tower site. But that was just one of numerous hypothetical catastrophes reported in the drill, which took on an old-time disaster-movie feel after you’d been watching/listening long enough – gas-station fires, and more. Most important of all – each of these volunteers was tracking what was being reported in her/his neighborhood:
They are the “focals” – key contacts/organizers – for the Emergency Communication Hubs around West Seattle, mapped on the website we’ve told you about many times before, West Seattle Be Prepared. If a true disaster happens and takes out standard lines of communication, overwhelming city services (that line was heard at one point during the drill, “City services are maxed out”), volunteers will set up at the “hubs,” equipped with the radios they used during this drill, to join a communication network that not only will make sure authorities are aware of what’s happening, but also will communicate, neighborhood-to-neighborhood, what’s needed – so that other volunteers can be dispatched where they’re needed, whether their expertise is first aid, search-and-rescue, or something else.
The Communication Hubs are also where you will be able to go to find out what’s happening and to seek help – and that’s why it’s important to have them in all neighborhoods, so that you or someone representing your family/block/etc. wouldn’t have to go far, even if you had to walk or bike. But they only work through volunteer power – and there’s room for lots more help – start by joining the West Seattle Be Prepared Facebook group – if you’re not on FB, there’s contact info on the main WSBP website too.
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