Local emergency agencies to take part in disaster exercise
June 3, 2016 in News by RBN Staff
Source: CDA Press | By JEFF SELLE/Staff Writer
COEUR d’ALENE — A massive multi-state disaster exercise called Cascadia Rising will be launched next week, activating thousands of emergency workers, at least 500 of whom are from North Idaho.
Kootenai County Sheriff Lt. Stu Miller will be the local public information officer during the four-day exercise that will play out across the Pacific Northwest on June 7 through the 10th.
However, the kicker is nobody knows what to expect, Miller said.
“It’s going to be a big surprise,” he said. “All the players have been given little tidbits of information, but nobody knows what to expect.”
Cascadia Rising is designed to test the region’s emergency response capabilities in the event of a large scale natural disaster.
According to a Boundary County Emergency Management press release the “functional” exercise involves simulation of first responders reacting to an incident in real time.
“A full-scale exercise will involve functional aspects as well as actual deployment of resources in a coordinated response, as if a real incident had occurred,” the release said. “More than 800 people across Idaho will participate in the Cascadia Rising exercise.”
The effort is being organized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is coordinating all of the emergency management agencies in Washington, Oregon and Idaho that will be involved in the exercise.
According to FEMA’s website, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone and the resulting tsunami is the most complex disaster scenario that emergency management and public safety officials in the Pacific Northwest could face. The Cascadia Subduction Zone spans the entire coast of Washington and Oregon.
The Cascadia Subduction Zone has been building up pressure for more than 300 years, and it is believed to be overdue for an earthquake. When it gives way, scientists predict a massive disaster that will impact the entire Pacific Northwest.
Cascadia Rising is an exercise to address that disaster.
CASCADIA RISING: How a massive quake would alter life here
Starting on Wednesday, Emergency Operations and Coordination Centers at all levels of government and the private sector will activate to conduct a simulated field response operation within their jurisdictions and with neighboring communities, state emergency workers, FEMA, and major military commands.
Miller said Kootenai County will activate its Emergency Operation Center on Wednesday, and the Coeur d’Alene City Police are going to send an officer to the state Emergency Operations Center in Boise to help coordinate the local efforts.
Miller said he expects to see the multi-state event get into full swing on Thursday and Friday, with most of the activity wrapping up Saturday.
While Miller has not been given many details of what to expect, he did say local residents could expect to see an increased number of emergency vehicles around the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, Panhandle Health District and Kootenai Health.
“Most of the public presence will be out at the airport,” Miller said, adding that something is being staged there.
FEMA’s website said one of the primary goals of Cascadia Rising is to train and test this whole community approach to complex disaster operations together as a joint team.
Miller said a local assessment of the county’s emergency management plans will also be conducted during the exercise to determine strengths and weaknesses in the plans.
Idaho may not physically feel the effects of the massive quake, but communities along the Interstate 90 corridor are sure to see a massive influx of refugees in need of basic services and shelter.
“While Idaho is not inside the expected physical impact area, we are testing our ability to support our neighbors should a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami happen,” Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security Chief Brad Richy said in a press release. “One of these functions would be to provide support to evacuees and displaced individuals from our neighboring states. Idaho’s participation in this exercise is part of an ongoing effort to maintain an optimal level of readiness.”
It is not a matter of “if” the Cascadia Subduction Zone is going to give way, but “when.”
Recent subduction zone earthquakes around the world underscore the catastrophic impacts the Pacific Northwest will face when the next Cascadia earthquake and tsunami occurs in our region:
Indonesia (2004): M9.1 — 228,000 fatalities
Chile (2010): M8.8 — 500 fatalities
Japan (2011): M9.0 — 18,000 fatalities
Richy said the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security is working with nine northern Idaho counties, the Department of Health and Welfare, all seven Idaho Public Health Districts, as well as Oregon and Washington to test the state’s response plans. Emergency operations centers in Boundary, Bonner, Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, Kootenai, and Shoshone counties will be activated.
“This is a great opportunity to test local emergency plans that will demonstrate our ability to host and provide assistance to evacuees from outside the area, at the same time supporting the needs of our local communities impacted by a large influx of disaster victims,” said Sandy Von Behren, director of Kootenai County Emergency Management.
Additional information about the Cascadia Rising Exercise can be found at https://www.fema.gov/cascadia-rising-2016
