07.16.04
County discusses quake, tsunami preparedness and response capabilities
By Joel Gallob Of the News-Times
The Lincoln County Commissioners this week discussed Lincoln County’s preparations for, and ability to response to, the kind of natural disaster - a major local earthquake and/or tsunami - that, for a little while Monday morning, many here thought might be coming. Generally, all three commissioners said, the county is prepared. Commissioner Jean Cowan, in particular, also disputed the News-Times editorial on the subject.
Communications
Cowan said that she “took the call from the University of Washington” (along with Palmer, Alaska, an information collating center for the regional web of seismographs and other sensors) “as soon as we knew” of the event. Further, Cowan said, she was “in touch with our designated emergency broadcast system (EBS) station, KNPT, in about three minutes. I was on the phone to people at the radio station, and (County Emergency Manager) Jim Hawley was in contact with Dave Miller,” owner of the station.
“To suggest that emergency planning is not in place,” she said, “is not correct.”
The News-Times editorial had reported a brief faxed press release from the county commissioners’ office arrived more than an hour after the event.
“The information on the press release,” Cowan said, “was the information that we knew. And it was what people needed to know - that a tsunami was not coming,” Cowan said.
That first notice came from the commissioners’ office, not Hawley, in part because he and his assistant were at a meeting at the time, and in part because County Counsel Wayne Belmont is the county’s public information officer.
But, Cowan continued, the key communications mechanism in such an event is not the print media, but radio.
Hawley recounted he contacted KNPT radio - the station designated as the EBS station in Lincoln County - via “direct radio communication” because “the phone lines were jammed” with people calling his office for information. He reiterated his plea from Monday that people not tie up critical telephone lines, and make use of their radios instead - or go to the county website. (That site is at www.co.lincoln.or.us)
But there was a bit of a problem with the county’s web page design, it turned out. Hawley said he received calls from several people who, reading that website, stopped at the higher link to information about an earlier quake near Seattle. They did not scroll down to the next entry, which had information about this week’s quake.
The Weather Service in Portland usually does not give out information on quakes below magnitude six, Hawley said. This time, however, with a near-5 quake in tourist season, “they did give out the information,” on the radio.
If there is a tsunami heading for the Oregon coast, Cowan continued, it could either come from a distant quake, providing several hours lead time, or from the offshore subduction zone - which would give only minutes after the shaking stops for people to get to high ground.
“If the ground starts shaking,” said Cowan, “should go uphill.”
Water and food
But, Cowan said, “we can’t do everything for everybody. That is why people, families, businesses, should have plans in place. People need to be able to take care of themselves for 24 or 48 hours with water and food, and have emergency contacts known,” so they can contact one family member to get word to others without tying up the phone lines.
When asked about pre-positioning quantities of water at designated uphill shelters like the Waldport Elementary School, Cowan said it would be up to the families to take care of themselves and include bottled water in their emergency plans. “It’s difficult to pre-position large supplies of water and keep them fresh and potable,” she said.
“That is one thing we do not have on hand - water and food,” agreed Hawley. But people can drink rain water, in a pinch, and hot water from the water heating tank in each home, he said.
The water issue, Cowan said, is “one reason we have an emergency plan in place - to declare a disaster quickly and request assistance directly from the governor. A declaration frees up other government help, like the National Guard and their tanker trucks.
“This is a good time,” she continued, “to review all of that.” And, she added, to remind one’s family of the basic rule: “duck, cover and hold” - meaning, if one is indoors, to get away from windows and glass, duck under protection, and cover one’s head or hold onto a door frame for protection from falling materials.
Risk of isolation
Commissioner Terry Thompson warned “there are some small areas between the bridges, and when I was on the (American) Red Cross board, about three years ago, we identified some of them. But we did not have any services for it. We do have a plan,” he said, referring to the county and to the Red Cross, “and some equipment and some shelters. But the areas between the bridges could be cut off. It would be good to have blankets and things” in small communities likely to be isolated by collapsed bridges, he said Wednesday.
Hawley responded his office does work with the fire services in the county, and the Red Cross has blankets for such emergencies. “They have a stockpile at the Commons in Yachats,” he said. “They put it together for the event of a wildfire.”
Backup power
As part of Lincoln County’s emergency planning, Hawley said, “we have generators at four schools” around the county.
Cowan said “the courthouse is not in danger (from a tsunami), it’s not low enough.” Still, she continued, “we do have backup power in place … for the key offices.” That includes Hawley’s office and the commissioner’s offices. LinCom, too, and the other 9-1-1 centers (in Toledo and Lincoln City) also have backup power. Some time, ago, she recalled, the county provided backup power to the radio station during a natural disaster.
The commissioners’ hearing room, where they meet each Wednesday, added Hawley, is wired and set up to become an emergency operations center, with extra phone connections and other communications links.
Hawley, though, added, “If there was a really big quake, say 8.8 (on the Richter scale), 200 miles off (shore), the damage here and across the coast would be very substantial. The courthouse would not be able to be used as an emergency operations center.”
But the courthouse is not the only available operations center, Hawley said. There is also the LinCom office, and the 9-1-1 dispatch centers in Toledo and Lincoln City.
The fact that major funding required for a seismic retrofit of the courthouse is unavailable, added Cowan, is “part of the reason why we relocated the LinCom and 9-1-1 dispatch. We wanted to be sure it’s in a building that meets the seismic standards” set only after the courthouse was built.
Also, Hawley said, “we’re adding a mobile center. That vehicle is now being retrofitted to include a generator, radio, and U.S. Coast Guard radio communications. With the Sheriff’s Department Command Vehicle and this, you could have an emergency operating center.”
