Emergency preparedness event gets county ready to rumble

Vancouver resident Chris Able doesn’t know whether the massive Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake that’s forecast to devastate the Pacific Northwest will happen in his lifetime.

But he’ll be prepared, said Able, 45, whose motto is: “Plan to thrive, not just survive.”

“Plan ahead. Don’t go in empty-handed,” he said. “This is going to be worse than (Hurricane) Katrina.”

Thursday, Able was among hundreds of people browsing the booths at an emergency preparedness event at Washington State University Vancouver called “Prepare for ‘The Big One.’ ”

Vendors sold freeze-dried food and demonstrated water purification kits, insulation cookers (which work like a nonelectric Crock Pot), biomass cookstoves and water storage systems. At one table, a WSUV Public Safety officer demonstrated how to knot a 6-foot length of paracord into a 6-inch keychain that could be unraveled for a variety of uses in an emergency.

“I figured I should come and at least find out what the basics are to be prepared,” said Tony Lugo, 65, of Vancouver, recalling how the Columbus Day storm of his youth and severe ice storms had left the community without electricity for days.

Sponsored by the Associated Students of WSU Vancouver and WSU Vancouver Public Safety, Thursday’s event at the Dengerink Administration building featured an hourlong presentation by Scott Johnson, emergency management division manager of Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency. The packed auditorium was standing-room only for Johnson’s talk regarding what Clark County should expect and how people should get ready for the mega-quake that’s expected to be a magnitude of at least 9, generate a 40-foot tsunami on the Oregon and Washington coasts — and strike at any time.

Each step on the Richter scale of earthquake measurement is 10 times more powerful than the previous number. So a magnitude 6, for instance, is 10 times more severe than a magnitude 5.

Before taking the stage, Johnson noted that people can become so frightened by the Cascadia earthquake information that they shut down and take a fatalistic attitude. His goal is to ratchet down the fear and motivate people to create an emergency plan for themselves and their families.

“If 459,000 people have a plan, then we create a level of community resilience that will help us face any type of disaster more effectively,” Johnson said, referring to the population of Clark County.

Based on the historic pattern of Cascadia earthquakes roughly every 300 years, we’re 16 years past the due date for a tremendous temblor, Johnson said.

It would be a catastrophe, meaning it would overwhelm every jurisdictional capability to respond, he said. Roughly 9,000 people would die in the five minutes or so the ground would shake. Many more would be injured, but more than a third of the region’s 112 hospitals likely would be unusable. Cellphone towers would be damaged and the drinking water system would fail, he said. Highways and bridges, if not destroyed, could be on the verge of collapse.

“Make sure you have good walking shoes,” Johnson said.

There’s one bright spot. Because Clark County is so far up the Columbia River, a tsunami would cause the river to rise only about 2 inches in Vancouver, he said. Also, the Bonneville and Lewis River dams are designed to withstand major earthquakes.

Surviving the quake and beyond

When the ground begins to shake, get under a table and hang on to the legs to remain covered. Don’t run for a building exit. Avoid glass display cases, face away from windows and protect your head from falling objects. After the ground stops moving, don’t smoke or light a flame due to chemicals and gases that may be airborne. Be prepared for aftershocks.

And don’t call 911.

“We know the earthquake happened,” Johnson said.

In advance, designate a friend or relative (out of state, far away) whom family members can call to relay personal status reports. Remember that text messages use less bandwidth than phone calls. Also in advance, copy your most important documents onto two USB drives. Keep one for yourself and mail the other to your family contact.

In the aftermath of a Cascadia quake, Clark County would be divided into “micro-islands,” areas blocked off from other places by broken bridges and fallen trees. People within those areas should offer each other assistance and share resources to build up the resilience of their micro-islands, Johnson said. That’s why it’s important to map your neighborhood in advance and find out who has tools, medical skills, an abundance of frozen meat, and so on.

“When we all come together we create greater resilience,” Johnson said.

Rather than food, water or shelter, the biggest risk to people’s health will be poor sanitation. Injuries can get infected and people will ingest things from dirty hands. Stay as clean as you can, and use buckets as toilets, he said.

Relief begins to arrive

Around the third day, Clark County’s designated National Guard relief command element will arrive by helicopter somewhere in the greater Vancouver area. Its goal is to make contact with local leaders, who will request the help local residents need most. They’ll need to find out what’s going on throughout the county — which will be aided by information coming from the micro-islands.

The resources requested by local leaders should begin to arrive around the seventh day, such as engineers to help clear roads, medical personnel to set up mobile hospitals and trucks to move rubble. The county will put out the word where people should go for communal help.

As part of the National Response Authority, food, water and supplies will be brought in and distributed, starting with the areas that have the least resilience. However, such supplies probably won’t arrive for seven to 10 days to Clark County, and distributing it will take another few days, Johnson warned. Meanwhile, mass migration from the worst-hit areas is expected.

And so, people should stockpile at least a week’s worth of water, food and supplies at home and as much as possible at work. (One gallon of water per day per person). Keep an emergency kit in the car — anything is better than nothing, Johnson said. The most handy, versatile items in an emergency kit are heavy-duty contractor-grade trash bags. They can be used as a tarp, poncho, suitcase, bandage, or to carry water.

For tips on assembling an emergency kit, making a family plan and more, go to http://cresa911.org and click “Prepare, Be Ready.”

“Nobody can make a plan better than you,” Johnson said.

But even after help arrives, life will be far from normal. It will take up to six months to restore the power grid, up to nine months to restore drinking water, a year to repair major highways and two years to rebuild major bridges.

In the meantime, the best thing you can have is “a fundamental belief you will persevere,” Johnson said.