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.

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Disaster news and links of interest for Vashonites
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...
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...
By John Cornelison on 4/16/2012 10:26 AM


MakeItThrough_logoThere’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...
By John Cornelison on 4/13/2012 1:54 PM


4-13-2012 at 2.52.53 PMPBS 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

...
By John Cornelison on 4/13/2012 12:33 PM


Sound Shake Earthquake Preparedness Guide for Businesses 2011Click the following link to download a guide for facilitating earthquake preparedness at your workplace. Identify your organizational risks and hazards and develop an emergency plan.

Sound Shake Earthquake Preparedness Guide for Businesses 2011
By John Cornelison on 4/13/2012 12:24 PM


Drop! Cover! Hold On!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”...
By John Cornelison on 4/13/2012 6:47 AM


M8.6offSumatraWith 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...
By John Cornelison on 4/11/2012 9:29 PM


clip_image002Today’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:...
By John Cornelison on 4/11/2012 8:07 PM


imageArt 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.

...
By John Cornelison on 4/11/2012 7:26 PM

Vashon Emergency NewsThanks 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.

By John Cornelison on 4/11/2012 7:12 PM


clip_image002The March 28th edition of the Vashon Loop put notice of our Annual Meeting in the lead position at the top of page 1! Given the interest I’m hearing about, I think we may have a very full house, as we only have room for some 300 people in the Chautauqua Multipurpose Room on April 18th.

www.vashonloop.com/article/experts-talk-vashon%E2%80%99s-earthquake-and-tsunami-risks

By John Cornelison on 3/26/2012 8:20 AM


Vashon at Risk PosterVashonBePrepared is celebrating our 5th anniversary by sponsoring two of the state's foremost experts on Vashon's unique earthquake and tsunami risks. Recent scientific reports, a number based on lessons from Japan's devastating Tōhoku...
By John Cornelison on 3/26/2012 7:56 AM


SHIPS-SeattleUplift-fig6An ‘ongoing’ effort (but apparently in abeyance since 2002?!) to create an accurate seismic model for the Puget Sound region and British Columbia is the USGS’ Seismic Hazards Investigations in the Puget Sound (SHIPS) project. Since March 1998 SHIPS has conducted a series of seismic studies to better describe...
By John Cornelison on 3/26/2012 7:32 AM


Citizen Corps logo

The Community Preparedness Webinar Series provides up-to-date information on community preparedness topics and resources available to citizens, community organizations, and Citizen Corps Councils. These webinars will feature new community preparedness topics several times each month and are free to the public. Each webinar will accommodate the first 500 visitors that enter the website at the time of the webinar. In addition to airing live, each webinar will be recorded and viewable after it completes at your convenience.

View the current listings of webinars at:

http://citizencorps.gov/resources/webinars/webinarlibrary.shtm

...
By John Cornelison on 3/26/2012 6:46 AM

 

A 210 foot long fishing boat lost in last year’s March 11th Japan tsunami is about 150 miles off of the Canadian coastline according to a new news story on the Canadian Yahoo site.

By John Cornelison on 3/26/2012 6:32 AM
By John Cornelison on 3/24/2012 10:53 AM


Just another scarey photo - or an incentive for preparation?Some of our descriptions of potential disasters that might befall the Puget Sound region - and Vashon in particular - might sound a lot like crying “Wolf” to some. But there is a very serious reality out there, even if most of us haven’t been exposed to it in our brief lives here on earth.

Here's a tree bisected by a fault!The...
By John Cornelison on 3/21/2012 12:06 PM


YouTube3In digging through some old public relations materials for our new campaign, I came across this treasure of a VashonBePrepared promotional movie featuring long time volunteer Walt Stempek. (Walt has reported that Michael Monteleione filmed and edited this video. Most excellent!) Anyone have any additional stories about this?!

Watch it on VashonBePrepared’s new YouTube Channel:

...
By John Cornelison on 3/21/2012 10:08 AM


VashonTsunamiMost folks think of an overseas or Cascadia based quake as generating a terrible tsunami – and they are right. However such a tsunami is not likely to cause massive damage to Vashon from what I’ve heard – largely due to the moderating influence of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. (It will be interesting to verify this at our upcoming April 18th community meeting with Washington State experts).

There...
By John Cornelison on 3/21/2012 9:29 AM


SNAGHTML24b10f0e

When you notice a tsunami bearing down on you, you can now pull out your smartphone to learn which way to run! The Tsunami Evacuation NW online portal and iPhone and Android apps will also tell you if you work or live...
By John Cornelison on 3/21/2012 8:44 AM


imageThe Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed consolidating their grants program for fiscal year 2013. This was met with criticism in Washington DC Tuesday.  Democrats particularly questioned the proposed consolidation of 16 individual grant programs into the National Preparedness Grant Program (NPGP)  during a hearing of the House Homeland Security emergency preparedness subcommittee. There were calls for the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), port grants, transit grants and the State Homeland Security Grant Program to remain...
By John Cornelison on 3/20/2012 7:56 AM


imageTed Buehner, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service has announced a new Weather Spotter Training opportunity for the evening of April 26th. 

The National Weather Service will train new and veteran spotters on how to look for and report significant weather events. The training includes video demonstrations. Interested citizens, Amateur radio, CERT, Citizen Corp, Law Enforcement, Transportation (Metro drivers, DOT) Fire, Public Works staff, and those who have weather instrumentation such as an anemometer are invited to attend! Thursday, April 26th from 6:00-8:30 pm ...
By John Cornelison on 3/11/2012 9:15 AM


imageIn “Quake catastrophe like Japan's could hit Pacific Northwest, new data show” M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com also reports on last month’s reports at the American Association for the Advancement of Science – noting that the Cascadia quake has numerous parallels with Japan’s Tōhoku disaster one year ago.

...
By John Cornelison on 3/11/2012 8:43 AM


PNSN LogoAccording to Bill Steele, the public is woefully unprepared for a certain disaster: we just don’t know when. Mr. Steele is Seismology Lab Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network (PNSN) at the University of Washington Department of Earth and Space Sciences where he has worked since 1993.

In a widely reported story (covered by USA Today and many other major papers across the country), the Longview Daily News reports...
By John Cornelison on 3/11/2012 8:16 AM

Just a brief note to commemorate those whose lives have been disrupted and lost by the Tōhoku disaster one year ago today.

image

By John Cornelison on 3/5/2012 9:22 AM

Just a quick report that power (and phone) has been out for parts of the west side (near Redding's Loop Road at least) for ~3 hours. Apparently a large tree fell across the power line near 216th St. on 111th Ave. The tree has been removed at this point and crews are working on repairing the line. Hopefully power will be restored within a couple more hours or less.

By John Cornelison on 3/4/2012 3:24 PM


Text VASHON to 22828 to sign up for emergency alrt emails from VashonBePreparedVashonBePrepared uses Constant Contact to manage several confidential email lists. These currently have many hundreds of users on them. The lists are free, and a great way to get the latest, authoritative information during an emergency.

VashonBePrepared Emergency Alerts One list is for anyone who would like to receive emergency alerts by email. This is a great way to receive authoritative information directly from Vashon Island Fire & Rescue (VIFR) and/or VashonBePrepared during critical events affecting Vashon and Maury Island residents and businesses.

Periodic VashonBePrepared Newsletter I’m not sure that we have sent out very many of these in recent years but it is likely that we will start sending out seasonal newsletters to those who sign up for this list.

...
By John Cornelison on 3/1/2012 8:41 AM


The DHS recently released the FY 2012 guidance and application kits for seven grant programs that support the National Preparedness Goal. Grants total more than $1.3 billion, a reduction of nearly $1 billion from FY 2011 and $1.5 billion below the President Obama’s FY 2012 request. The DHS preparedness grants give priority this year to applicants in the nation’s highest-risk areas, including urban areas, with a focus on terrorism prevention. “Given the significant reduction in grant funding this year, we are maximizing limited grant dollars by setting clear priorities and focusing on the areas that face the greatest risk,” DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement.

- Read full report at http://urgentcomm.com/policy_and_law/news/preparedness-grants-cut-20120229/

By John Cornelison on 3/1/2012 8:27 AM


AreYourReadyNot too surprisingly, disaster preparedness is not at the forefront of most Americans priority – but many don’t even have any plans. The original research was done by the Persuadable Research Corporation with reports of the survey released by PRWeb and the Homeland Security News Wire.

...
By John Cornelison on 2/28/2012 9:58 PM


Basic Animal Emergency Services Training - 17-mar-2012Basic Animal Emergency Services Training (BAEST), taught by the American Humane Association, costs $180 per person though CERT Volunteers who register through Catherine Cochrane can get in free! Registration is on a first come, first served basis. The registration deadline is this Friday, March 2nd. Click graphic to the right for details.

...

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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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